Sondre Lerche
Columbia City Theater, Seattle, WA
04.27.17

The feeling of being pleasantly surprised never gets old, especially when it comes to live music. It is easy to pigeonhole musicians immediately into one persona when you are first introduced to them. But all of that can change when you see them live. This is what Sondre Lerche did during his recent set at Seattle’s Columbia City Theater, at least for one patron.

The only thing I knew of Lerche—a baby-faced man from Bergen, Norway—was his work on the Dan In Real Life soundtrack. Folksy pop with smart lyrics and a coffeehouse feel. This is what I thought the crowd was going to be treated to, and boy was I wrong. At the start of his set, he brought the energy of an 80’s pop star and his music was more discotheque than coffeehouse.

In Lerche’s early years, H.P Gundersen (the man who discovered him playing clubs while underage) exposed him to diverse musical genres including world music, and 80’s pop, and that came through in the winding road that was his set. He brought an in-your-face, front-man style during his high energy tracks and then cooled off during what sounded like smoky jazz lounge swing, with a lot of other genres in between (including the aforementioned coffeehouse pop of crowd favorite “Modern Nature”). The varying influences in his life were evident in his agile vocals.

What was most striking about Lerche was how accessible he was during his performance. “We are here to bring pleasure, that is our goal tonight,” he exclaimed to the crowd. It was reciprocated tenfold. During his set, his pedal board started acting up and he took it as an opportunity to explain how pedal boards worked (with the aid of his drummer, holding the microphone) and shared anecdotes from his hometown of Bergen.

The best parts of the night were his interactions with the crowd. The CCT is a great spot for intimate performances and Lerche took full advantage. Sitting on the edge of the stage singing an intense ballad, he took the time to look people in the eye and share a part of himself with those in the front row on both sides of the stage.

Lerche is an enigma of sorts. He has been in the game for nearly half of his life and has dipped his toes in a lot of different pools. There was a HUGE black banner hung on one of the brick walls at the CCT with just his name in BIG white letters. However, it didn’t seem to fit the unassuming musician. All he needed was his band and a crowd to share these tiny pleasurable moments with.

Review and photos by Phillip Johnson

Sondre Lerche