Shout Out Louds - Milwaukee, WI

Given the circumstances, the Shout Out Louds, a Swedish quintet playing amped up Belle and Sebastian fare, rocked like they were on a mission on a pleasant Friday evening at The Rave in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Opening for the co-headlining Kings of Leon and the Suicide Machines tour, the Shout Out Louds had a mere 30 minutes the show their merit to a crowd that could go either way. Fortunately on this night, the early arriving crowd came with open minds and could very well have been converted to fans by the third song of the six song set.

Balancing himself on the small swath of open stage between amps and monitors, Adam (the lead singer) lead the band on stage and immediately kicked into a song from their debut album Howl Howl Gaff Gaff. Rarely looking up from the mic, he and the rest of the band were intent on playing their best and keep the chatter and pause to a minimum.

After a few short words, the band kicked into "The Comeback," a great piece of power pop with a "Pole Position" Moog synth intro, and instantly made believers out of the fans. Rarely have I seen a crowd pay so much attention to the opening band of a three band evening, usually they are off planning their exploits or trying to get a good buzz going. Not tonight, the Shout Out Louds commanded their attention no matter how modest the band is.

Walking into the Rave, it was hard to not notice who the opening band was. Posters were plastered everywhere and to begin the set, a large banner on the left side of the stage was unfurled with another advertisement for whom was playing. By the end of the set, all the posters were gone, thus the crowd had been converted.

"Very Loud," the apparent single being serviced to media outlets, was another crowd pleaser with the band kicking a tambourine around on stage. With little back and forth between the band and the audience, it still was obvious that the band was enjoying themselves and basking in their ever growing popularity.