Band of Horses keeps on rolling at the Chelsea

Erik Kabik

Band of Horses performs at the Chelsea on May 26.

By Brock Radke (contact)

Tuesday, May 30, 2017 | 2 a.m.

The Band of Horses concert at the Cosmopolitan’s Chelsea Friday night may very well have gotten lost in Las Vegas’ densely packed Memorial Day weekend, but no one in the room was wishing they’d made other plans.

Despite the fact that the Southern-ish indie rock band lost two members of the group less than a month ago, it has soldiered on in style, carrying on the summer portion of its tour behind last year’s acclaimed album Why Are You OK. After the powerhouse show at the Chelsea, they wrapped their holiday weekend at BottleRock restival in Napa Valley.

The last time Band of Horses was at the Cosmo, it performed a rollicking and well-received set outdoors at the Boulevard Pool. This time, the Chelsea’s superior sound and staging paved the way for an uplifting experience, a perfectly paced show from a band that clearly loves playing its music. Perhaps its current newbies, Matt Gentling on bass and Richie Kirkpatrick on guitar, help to bring defiant energy to recent shows. Anchored by the keys, guitar and harmonizing vocals of Ryan Monroe and guitar, vocals and charm of frontman Ben Bridwell, the group started a slow burn with some older tracks before dipping into newer material, keep the crowd’s attention all the while. Favorites like “The Great Salt Lake” and “No One’s Gonna Love You,” and “Is There a Ghost,” stood out, culminating in the quiet-loud anthem “The Funeral,” a song which is hard to beat performed live. “The General Specific” served as an appropriate encore, unleashing a satisfied audience to make the most of the weekend.