In Tall Buildings takes on the U.S. in celebration of new album, ‘Akinetic’

I could feel the anticipation in the air as I entered the Back Room on March 23.  As luck would have it I ended up sitting pretty close to the stage. The lights dimmed, revealing a man with white-rimmed glasses that introduced himself as J.E. Sunde, the opening act.

He began to fingerpick a complex pattern and sing a tune. Immediately his voice rang throughout the Back Room. He sounded quite similar to Jake Bugg and The Lumineers. His guitar and his voice are so strong and so powerful. Considering it was just him and his guitar, he was able to fill the entire room with his melodic voice.

In between songs, Sunde told us a story about how the brain is a funny thing and how we randomly think of all sorts of things. I thought this interlude was very relevant to his songs.  Sunde’s gift for remembering his past and reflect upon it definitely is prominent in his songs. His lyrics are so poetic and at times heartbreaking. His performance was quite artistic and at times cathartic to watch the emotions pour out of him on stage.

Twenty minutes after Sunde concluded his act, the drummer followed by the rest of the musicians of In Tall Buildings began to take the stage. Once Erik Hall, the frontman of In Tall Buildings, came out the crowd began to cheer in anticipation of a wonderful show. In my opinion, the band exceeded the crowd’s expectations by far.

In Tall Buildings definitely knows how to rock. Their strong guitar leads and creative synthesized beats echoed throughout the Back Room. The crowd swayed along to their M83-esque sound.

This being their first time in Milwaukee and hopefully not their last, they made a long-lasting impression on the audience and they certainly did an excellent job in doing so.