Friday night, Los Angeles got a double-dose of what could be the future of alternative rock as K. Flay and Sir Sly pulled in a sold-out crowd at the Fonda Theatre.
K. Flay may be from Illinois but she reps my Bay Area home super hard as a former Stanford student and her NorCal pride is how I first became familiar with her (though she now lives in LA). She’s risen to be an alt-rock radio favorite and has the talent and performance chops to continue to climb up the ladder at the rate she’s going.
It’s no surprise K. Flay sold out the Fonda — she played the festival circuit pretty hard the last few years and often came to mind when I asked people who their favorite sets were of performers they were unfamiliar with. She has a way of leaving a lasting impression and her show at the Fonda was no different.
She brought an awesome stage production with some sweet video screens behind her that had visuals that served as a nice complement to her tunes. The crowd popped for her track with Louis the Child “It’s Strange” and like Sir Sly, she blends hip-hop with alt-rock in a way that is made for where radio is at today and where it is headed.
Los Angeles natives Sir Sly have hit their stride on the strength of their 2017 record Don’t You Worry, Honey and the lead single “High”. If you listen to SiriusXM’s Alt Nation, you’ve likely found yourself humming along to the catchy-as-fuck hook of that song.
The band proved during their opening set Friday they’re more than one catchy song. Their record was one of the year’s most underrated in my opinion, and lead singer Landon Jacobs really took a step forward with the songwriting on the album. The band’s crowd was as packed for their set as I’ve seen for many headliners in Los Angeles, and despite a couple technical snafus, they had the crowd in the palm of their hand.
They didn’t let sound issues mess with their mojo too much, and a Jacobs rant in autotune about Donald Trump and his “shithole countries” comments was very Kanye-esque in that he stumbled across a couple good zingers while rhyming.
The song “Altar” is a perfect representation of their alt-rock radio-hit ready songwriting. “You do what you want / Sleep with who you want / I can’t stop you,” Jacobs sings after a pretty nifty drop, launching into a heartfelt rant that the crowd wooed in response to. It was the highlight of a very solid set.
Sir Sly will be hitting the 2018 festival circuit pretty hard with appearances at Coachella, Shaky Knees, Governors Ball, and Bonnaroo setup. Don’t miss them!
I’d be shocked if K. Flay and Sir Sly don’t continue their ascent as the years come on, and we’ll be wondering how we got to see both of them in a venue the Fonda Theatre’s size together.
Photos by Danielle Gornbein / FULL GALLERY BELOW
