Ephney Tsai As part of their review of us U.S. tour, Korean indie band SURL performed in Los Angeles on a rainy Wednesday evening. Despite the weekday show, the intimate Lodge Room was filled with passionate fans ready to sing and dance along to the band’s vast variety of music.
Opening the show was Kaz Moon, who pumped the audience up with his easygoing personality and catchy songs, such as the newly released “Regressa.” He joked around with the crowd about his song “Twice,” which is named after the K-pop girl group, and abruptly ended his set mid-song with a quick “goodbye” only to return and wrap it up, leaving the crowd in high spirits ahead of the main act. Presenting a perfect balance, Kaz Moon’s silliness contrasted well with SURL’s slightly quieter, more reserved mannerisms.
The four members of SURL casually walked onstage to take their places by each of their respective instruments, before beginning a slow jam session to kick start their set. Diving right into it, the band followed up with “Cilla” and “Dead Man,” and then briefly introduced themselves as a collective. The band blew through song after song, including slower ones such as “Walking in Dream,” and several more upbeat songs like “9Subway.” Soon enough, the members were sadly announcing the last four songs of the show, as the sixth stop on their stateside tour was winding down to a close.
While the band put together a diverse setlist with their fans in mind, the highlight of the show was still surprisingly easy to pinpoint. Performing without pause and pulling off a smooth transition from “No Jam” to “What Time Is It Now,” the audience’s energy hit an all time high during these two songs, despite being the final pair before the encore. One of the best things about performing with a live band is being able to control the pace of your music, and SURL used this to their advantage, sandwiching just a small instrumental break between the two edgy yet vastly different songs. The band grooved around the stage as they performed, and even interacted with their fans in a special way. Asking the crowd to get down during the bridge of “No Jam,” SURL jumped up together with them on cue, increasing the tension even more. Fans jumped, screamed, head banged, and fervently danced along to the two songs until the end.
Finishing off the show after a quick hour-long show, vocalist Hoseung made sure to thank the audience sincerely for their support with both a short speech and a song. Performing “I’m Home” to end the encore, SURL exited the stage slowly, high fiving as many fans as they could, with promises to return to LA again with more music.
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