October 18, 2012 | 11:05 AM | By

A night with Daughter and more at Kung Fu Necktie (photos, recap)

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Photos + Videos, Concert Reviews, Events, Choir of Young Believers, Daughter, Kung Fu Necktie, Lucy Stone

The London-based band Daughter is comprised of three members, all incredibly soft spoken and reserved. At Kung Fu Necktie on Monday night, lead singer Elena Tonra channeled Phantogram’s Sarah Barthel with her pageboy haircut and her bangs hanging in front of the mic. The band opened with “Run” from their new release Smother, and continued with “Landfill” from 2011′s His Young Heart EP. Tonra whispered something about a Philly cheesesteak with a nervous giggle before sliding into “Love,” , while “In the Shallows” (like many of Daughter’s songs) was heartbreaking and sobering. The tipsy fans behind me sang every lyric to “Candles” with all their heart. “Youth” was the most addictive song of the night, and its lyrics “we are the reckless / we are the wild youth / chasing visions of our futures / one day we’ll reveal the truth” captured the energy of the audience. While KFN is a fantastically intimate venue, I couldn’t help but think that Daughter deserved a quieter audience for their beautiful set.

Also on the bill was Danish band Choir of Young Believers, who started their set as just a duo, but quickly filled the stage with three other band members. The majority of their set was slow ballads, followed by a few booming tracks filled with a combination of 80′s synth and orchestral pop. “He sounds like a Scandinavian Bono,” my boyfriend remarked. It was true – at times The Choir of Young Believers could have been the bizarre combination of U2 and Swedish band The Shout Out Louds.

Philadelphia darling Lucy Stone opened the show with a few tracks from her Would You? EP including “Would You,” “Out of Time,” “Tell Me To Go,” and even managed to squeeze in a couple newer songs and a cover of Young the Giant’s “My Body,” which had first-time audience members pleasantly surprised.