Preview: City and Colour with Band of Horses at Firefly Distillery

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Preview: City and Colour with Band of Horses at Firefly Distillery
Published: August 25, 2024

This Friday, August 30th, City and Colour hit Charleston’s Firefly Distillery alongside Band of Horses, who bring with them local music scene hero Brett Nash on guitar. Both groups are touring in support of recent releases: City and Colour’s acclaimed 2023 album The Love Still Held Me Near is a deeply emotional exploration of grief and resilience, while Band of Horses continues to ride the success of 2022’s Things Are Great and their latest live album, Acoustic at the Ryman Vol. 2.

City and Colour is fresh off a Canadian arena tour that included sold-out dates in Victoria, Edmonton, London, and Oshawa. Now, they hit the U.S. with a 12-date co-headline tour with folk-rock favorites Band of Horses.

City and Colour – “Meant To Be” Video (2022)

Dallas Green, the songwriter behind City and Colour (formerly of Alexisonfire), is known for emotionally powerful, evocative lyrics set to cozy rock arrangements. The single and opening track “Meant To Be” was paired with a cinematic music video featuring hazy shots of the band playing the song, juxtaposed with rooftop scenes of Dallas, edited like old film photographs.

Watch the “Meant To Be” video below.

City and Colour – The Love Still Held Me Near (2023)

The Love Still Held Me Near (2023).

The Love Still Held Me Near is an album of deep loss and grieving, inspired by the death of two close friends of Dallas Green within the span of one year. This brooding, reflective energy is woven throughout the album, decorated with some of the most rock-forward instrumentals in the City and Colour catalog. Hear the distorted, subtly psychedelic guitar solo on “Fucked It Up,” the groovy arrangement on “Hard, Hard, Time,” and more.

Band of Horses – Acoustic at the Ryman Vol. 2 (Live) (2024)

While Band of Horses will be performing as a full band on this tour, I couldn’t end this preview without giving a shoutout to the Band of Horses Acoustic at the Ryman Vol. 2 release from earlier this year. This was on full rotation at Extra Chill HQ this winter. I especially like the J.J. Cale cover, “Thirteen Days.”

Band of Horses – Things Are Great (2022)

Recorded in Charleston with producer Wolfgang Zimmerman, Things Are Great represents some of the strongest Band of Horses material to date. They lean more into the indie rock side of their sound here and deliver a really nice listen from front to back. Highlights for me are two of the singles: “In Need of Repair” and “Crutch.”