Sunset at the Lodge: Kaleo Marks a Decade of A/B with a Night of Icelandic Blues Rock (Gallery + Show Review)

Stepping through the trees onto the grounds of McMenamin's Grand Lodge, you're greeted by a sea of fans getting settled into their chairs and cozy on their lawn blankets to kick off this year's concert season on a breezy July evening. With beer in hand, the USA FIFA World Cup game playing over the speakers, and the promise of great music ahead, it felt like the quintessential Oregon night.

The chatter of the crowd dimmed as the stage lights flashed and cellist Rob Lowman took the stage with a haunting rhythm. Moments later, singer-songwriter Vincent Lima headed to the mic and brought his largely Greek mythology-inspired storytelling to the listeners with songs like "Atlas," "Orpheus," "Eurydice," and "The Fire." I last saw Lima on his more intimate headlining tour when it stopped through Portland about a year and a half ago, and was very excited to see a much more confident and relaxed-looking musician on the Grand Lodge stage this evening than the one who filled the room at Polaris Hall. The set was short and sweet and left me excited to see a full set hopefully return to the area in the future.

Headlining the night just as the sun dipped behind the stage awning, Icelandic blues rock band KALEO kicked things off with "Still No Good," a new rendition of their hit "No Good," in celebration of the release of A/B (DELUXE EDITION). The evening was filled mostly with songs from A/B, like "All the Pretty Girls" and "Way Down We Go" later in the encore, but the band also threw in some favorites like "Bloodline" and "Break My Baby."

The band is currently touring in support of this deluxe edition, released for the 10th anniversary of A/B, which put the band on the map in 2016. The album landed at number one on Billboard's Alternative Rock and has since amassed nearly 4 billion streams. The new double LP features new versions of fan favorites, previously unreleased tracks, and live recordings.

While frontman Jökull Júlíusson's (JJ) soulful, gritty vocals are truly the star of the show, this set left a little to be desired at the beginning, with the rest of the band pushed so far back on the stage. It felt visually more like a one-man band, rather than showcasing the beautiful instrumental layering you could hear through the speakers, but the set picked up as the band moved around the stage a bit more throughout the night and fans came out of their seats. Regardless, the band's chemistry and JJ's magnetic stage presence were enough to carry the evening with a bluesy, folk-rock energy you just can't help but move to. The crowd sang every word back during their 3-song encore as the sun set on the first night of another Oregon summer of outdoor shows.

KALEO's Way Down We Go tour will run through early September with dates across the United States and Canada. Take a listen back through A/B here and check out the full gallery below!