Milky Chance Visits San Francisco – A Concert Review

     Milky Chance is one of the larger-font bands at this year’s Bonnaroo Festival, which is a high profile U.S. festival. On the festival’s lineup poster, they share a line with other readily recognizable names, including Kaleo and Tegan & Sara. So, it was a surprise when Milky Chance announced a San Francisco appearance at a venue that accommodates only 500 fans. Better yet, they were coming to The Independent. The appearance was even mentioned by Conan O'Brien on his late night show the day before the March 10 visit (unfortunately, the mention was cut from the Conan video that is included in this post).

We arrived at The Independent with an appreciation for the music of Milky Chance. We left with a greater appreciation for their sound, a better understanding of their individual skills as musicians, and a recognition of the showmanship of the band. Their performance at the 2015 Outside Lands Festival was a hit, but Milky Chance has taken great strides in the almost two years since then. With a second album about to drop, they now have more songs from which to select. For example, one of the highlights of the setlist  at The Independent was “Cocoon,” the last song before the band's return for a two-song encore.

The Kassel, Germany duo is Clemens Rehbein (lead vocals, guitar) and Philipp Dausch (percussion, backing vocals, much more). They are joined during concerts by Antonio Greger (guitar, harmonica, bass). Greger’s harmonica provided a depth that is uncommon for the instrument, since it’s typically a support instrument and not a feature. We apologize to the additional drummer for not catching his name.  
     [Thank you Katie Craik of Whiteboard PR for your help in our ability to attend the concert.]

      “Cocoon” on Conan the day before their SF visit

     “Stolen Dance” at The Independent (the video was posted by someone else - thank you!