Fourth in the lineup was the insanely talented string-rock quintet Darlingside from Northampton.… With their distinctive instrument choices, Darlingside seamlessly melded hook-drenched classical-rock melody lines with substantially infectious grooves, thanks in no small part to arguably the meatiest drums one has ever heard played under a string section. Even more impressive is that despite the overwhelming instrumental presence, the vocals were, if anything, even more noteworthy, as they resonated clearly and truly without being buried by the amazing instrumental skills. Arguably, Hampden Courtyard has never heard such serene and well executed harmonized vocals, much less from a quintet of string rockers.

What a kind, kind man. In other news, the Darlingside household has been Spring Cleaned! Springed Clean? Clean Sprung? Anyway it looks great, and the leaves are coming back in, and what a wonderful world, and all you need is love. Whoop!

“The unique combinations of instruments were mesmerizing. Every song was unexpected … as soon as the six-song show was over everyone wanted more … Their music was so powerful and beautiful … I can see them going far.” — Dominique Exume, Williams Record

We’re really thrilled to be featured in the Record, and a million thanks to Dominique for her kind words (and for coming out to the gig!). We really enjoyed our first-ever interview, and we noticed that we’re actually really good at being interviewed, because we do things like think outside the box, like when we answer totally different questions than the ones we’re being asked, or when we ramble for as long as possible on obscure tangents while our interviewer is shivering in the cold. We’re the biggest thing to hit interviews since case studies. Since verbal reasoning skills. Since Katie Couric.