Photo of Khruangbin by David Black
w/ Arooj Aftab
When this trio from Texas last moseyed through St. Louis, they sold out The Pageant. It was 2021, in the wake of Covid shutdowns, and we stood shoulder to shoulder, most of us masked, while bassist Laura Lee Ochoa and guitarist Mark Speer strolled up and down ramps from their respective platforms onstage.
Returning to St. Louis three years later, everything about Khruangbin seems to have expanded: their sound, their set, and their audience. Like many other venues on their A La Sala tour, The Factory hosted Khruangbin for two nights in a row. It seemed an ambitious feat, packing a venue that size not once but twice. But apparently this was an informed decision, as most folks I know went on Night 1 and Night 2 still appeared to be a nearly full house.
Opening the set was Arooj Aftab, a Pakistani-American singer and composer, along with a three-piece band. The virtuoso guitar and upright bass proved to be a fitting accompaniment to Khruangbin’s technical artistry, with Aftab’s smooth and understated vocals—in Urdu and English—enhancing without overpowering the instruments. Aftab called us a “sophisticated” audience for appreciating her music, and it served her well to set the tone for quiet appreciation despite the crowded room. Songs ranged from jazzy solos to delicate poetry, holding the packed floor in rapt attention. Aftab mentioned a few of her many accomplishments and recognitions, including receiving a Grammy in 2022, and I am thankful to Khruangbin for using their tour as a vehicle to introduce this magnificent-if-lesser-known musician to a wider audience.
Khruangbin took a similarly minimalist approach to the stage construction this time around, opting for nothing but a grand set of four stage-length steps with three windows in the backdrop of the highest platform. The band entered the stage each standing in front of one window frame, with DJ Johnson on drums at stage left and Ochoa in the center frame, decked out in a voluminous black and orange party dress with a giant orange bow headband to match. While the set served their stroll-and-strum stage presence well, the placement of the drum set was a real bummer for those of us on the right-hand side of the venue, as our view of Johnson was obscured by the retracted curtains. Fortunately, there was a little wiggle room remaining in the balcony, and many of us relocated ourselves just a smidge toward the center to get a slightly fuller perspective.
The first half of the evening was dedicated to their newest album, A LA SALA. It’s a chill cruise of an album, with Ochoa’s gently musing vocals drifting over ambling desert guitar and soothing, light-touch drumwork. Each song brought a different color scheme to the window panes and a new stride from Ochoa, who punctuated each dip in the bass groove with a dip in her step, each slide up the frets with a slide of her booted foot, a playful run with a slow twirl on her toes. She and Speer worked their way up and down steps, down and back across platforms, generally encased in their own melodic bubble, sometimes drawn together in ambulatory sync, occasionally engaging Johnson in his remote corner of the stage.
Khruangbin’s overall sound has a distinctly Texan soulful psychedelic vibe. The 2024 release A LA SALA is probably the most ambient of Khruangbin’s albums, with slower rhythms and moodier guitars, and some relatively somber tracks. The entrancing spell of psych grooves in the first half of the evening was almost too magical, lulling the audience into a meditative labyrinth of thoughtful picking and fluffy percussion. The second half of the evening, however, sampled from the rest of Khruangbin’s catalog, with selections that hit more like funk and disco than lullaby. Accordingly, folks in the balcony who could no longer be contained by reserved seating rose to the railings and initiated the dance party everyone was waiting for.
It’s hard to put a finger on the parts that sum up to place Khruangbin at the vortex of so many audiences. The bass is groovy, the guitar is intricate, the drums are enchanting, and the urge to move in time with the band is irresistible. To draw such tremendous crowds two nights in a row (and some tour stops feature a stunning three-night engagement) is a remarkable accomplishment. Quiet spaces in the evening heard little underlying din from the audience, suggesting they really had our full attention. I’ve read Speer talking about becoming an expert in their “box” rather than trying to get outside of it, and it seems that’s precisely what Khruangbin has done. They’ve perfected a recipe that appeals to discerning listeners who are hungry for new sounds and value the consistency and continuous perfection of their art.
The evening ended with Ochoa tossing her headband out at the crowd, to be caught by a tall guy who passed it down to his female companion, whose beaming victory was visible from above. It made me wonder if this, too, was part of the recipe. Did she have a new headband to toss every night? Or was Ochoa sticking just one limb outside the moving vehicle? Every audience wants to feel their night is special, and I’m going to choose to think she was so overcome with feeling that she had to throw some kind of caution to the wind. Doesn’t really matter if that’s true—the effect was the same. Start to finish, it was a masterful production and performance, and they actually needed every bit of two nights to accommodate the massive following they have justly cultivated. | Courtney Dowdall
