Photos and Review by Sarah Smith
Galleries: Eagles of Death Metal, Thelma and The Sleaze
Everyone knows what the Eagles of Death Metal suffered through in Paris back in November. No one needs to talk about it, or read about it. Simply put, America was lucky enough to finally get one of its most loved rock bands back touring the United States since that horrific night in Paris. Their first night back on the American tour began in Burlington, Vermont. The crowd had excitement written all over their faces and the heaviness in the atmosphere was only subtle and masked with mixed drinks and laughter.
Thelma and the Sleaze opened for EODM that evening, a hard rock group consisting of all super up-beat women. They were fun and clearly really excited to be there. Their interaction with the crowd was something I truly enjoyed; they were flirtatious and adorable as they shred hard on their instruments with long hair waving all around them. They grabbed everyone in the audience that night. Although I had never heard of them, their performance was irresistible and impossible to ignore.
After an excruciatingly long gap following Thelma and the Sleaze, the stage finally went dark as Eagles of Death Metal took stage. Vermont welcomed them with pure excitement and love and the band responded in the same manner. Frontman Jesse Hughes, from behind his red aviators, gazed across the crowd with a grin I’ll always remember. He grabbed his guitar as they wasted no time getting into I Only Want You. The crowd sang and danced hard, couples kissed and booties were bouncing all over the floor. Hughes’ voice was impossible to compare to any other, he sang each note in chorus with high energy and involved the crowd often. He was loved by every soul in that venue and he loved them all back.
EODM went on to play more of their fans’ favorites, Silverlake, Complexity, and a Duran Duran classic Save A Prayer. Hughes danced to the beat of his own drum throughout each song. The venue was filled with happiness and love. I have a hard time comparing their music and performance to any other band. All though they are no where near Death Metal, they are along the lines of Sexy Rock that makes everyone want to get up and dance. I looked again at the band’s expressions that evening, and they seemed truly happy to be back. I speak for the rest of the country when I say how much we missed these guys, we love them all the time, and we could not be happier to have them back to us.
Eagles of Death Metal at The Higher Ground – Burlington, VT
