On June 12th, Reuben And the Dark played at the iconic San Diego venue, the Soda Bar. I love the venue and I was interested in seeing what the band sounded like live. The Canadian indie band has been on tour with bands like Boy and Bear and Vance Joy before so I knew they were bound to be good. This was my first time seeing the band and I was ready to be impressed.
The opener for their San Diego stop was Lindsay Perry who had no problem holding her own, rewarding the early attendees with what she had to offer. She sang her heart out with her acoustic set of her own original songs and even did some renditions which included Gorillaz's "Clint Eastwood". A mashup of Eazy E's "Boyz In the Hood" and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song followed soon after. It was great to see a San Diego artist open up but I was excited to see the band after.
Fronted by Reuben Bullock, a bearded man with with an air of mystery around him, the Calgary-based seemed ready to rock the venue. Songs like ‘Rolling Stone’ and ‘Bow & Arrow’ were definitely highlights of the sets. The backing members of the bands harmonizing with Reuben only added to the songs and made them more impressive. Reuben even walked off the stage and sang with the audience. He really wanted to get intimate with the crowd and encouraged us to sing along with him. Maybe it was because he was wearing white but it seemed like he had a certain radiance to him which contrasted the name of the band.
Reuben And the Dark's set stood out to me and exceeded my expectations. The Soda Bar is great venue and have had several great artists come and perform there. Reuben And the Dark came made the venue like a cozy hole-in-the-wall spot and made their set seem like an intimate performance. I cannot wait to see them again once they come back to San Diego.
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