Watchhouse plays to a sold out crowd with the local Cicada Choir
On a hot, and humid for Colorado standards, July evening, Watchhouse played to a sold out crowd at the Denver Botanic Gardens. The band formerly known as Mandolin Orange, is made up of musical and life partners, Emily Frantz and Andrew Marlin. Hailing from Chapel Hill, NC, the band stays true to the local scene and produces some of the best folk music from the triangle. The mixture of 40% humidity, the strum of the mandolin, along with the cicada choir, transformed this venue out west, right back to the piedmont.
Seeing a show at the Botanic Gardens is unlike anything you’ve experienced. The stage sits at the bottom of the hill, surrounded on all sides by concertgoers. People bring picnics, wine, candles, anything they can to make the night even more magical. They were quite mellow until “The Wolves” came on. Rather than the classic claps and cheers to end the song, there were a good bit of howls to thank the band for the performance. Throughout the set, audience members called out their requests. Some may see it as disruptive, but the band was appreciative. As soon as the band gave their approval for people to call out, the voices overlapped, hearing damn near every song in their discography. I called out for my favorite song “Wake Me”, but it fell upon deaf ears. Which is fine by me, since I hope this is my first of many Watchhouse shows.
I’m well aware everything will come to an end at some point, but the hardest thing to cope with when it comes to that is my friendships that I hold so dear. That’s why the standout from Watchhouse’s discography will always be “Old Ties and Companions". The lyrics and the folksy sound bring me back to my people, despite them being hundreds of miles away. The Cicadas were so loud that Andrew double checked with the crowd to make sure he wasn’t hearing things. This song changed the energy of the night, inviting patrons that it was ok to sing along.
After a brief departure from the stage, Watchhouse ended the night with the popular request, “Waltz About Whisky”. The once lonesome love song held a new meaning, as the crowd was ready to get up and swing each other around. They thanked the crowd for always being so welcoming to their tunes whenever they rolled through town, as Denver has treated them well over their career. Chatter from the crowd as people were leaving was raving about their performance, excited for the next time we get to come back together to the tune of Watchhouse.
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