Indie rock band The Bends played The Lyric on Thursday before the highly anticipated Ole Miss versus LSU game. Accompanied by opener Yazoo, the concert offered both teams’ fans a chance to enjoy musical calm before the storm of game day.
“We’re from Baton Rouge, Louisiana,” Hayden Field, The Bends’ lead singer, said to the Lyric crowd. “But hey, we’re all from Ole Miss tonight.”
Formed at LSU in 2023, The Bends is currently on a fall tour with upcoming stops in Charleston, S.C., and Statesboro, Ga. Their name is a tribute to the 1995 Radiohead album of the same name.
Self-proclaimed “hardcore fan” of both The Bends and Ole Miss, Garner Cassidy watched the band perform at other venues and did not hesitate to purchase a ticket to this stop on the tour.
“I saw them at a guy’s birthday party, and they rock,” Cassidy said. “Then I saw them at Proud Larry’s, and I thought, this is some good (expletive deleted). And then they played their single, and I thought this is really good, and I listen to them every day. All my friends listen to them, and the reason I’m here is to listen to them.”
Yazoo, a local Oxford band, opened with their most popular songs, with “Angelina” being the crowd favorite that got the loudest cheer. They had an unusual assortment of instruments, including bongos and a saxophone that made for a full sound.
Merrill Nordstrom, mother of the bassist, came up to see her son Eli Nordstrom perform and talked about how her son’s involvement in the band is quite recent.
“My son started playing the bass about a year and a half ago,” Merrill Nordstrom said. “This is his third time playing with the band. His father and I are here and we’re excited to watch. … He asked for a bass for Christmas and the rest is history.”
Several friends of the members of Yazoo also commented, saying that they were excited to hear “Angelina” and had come out to support the new band.
“So, we’re actually from an hour west of Baton Rouge, so we’ve heard about The Bends at LSU,” Amelie Bienvenu, a sophomore finance major, said. “I’ve wanted to see them in concert for forever and I was so excited to see they were coming to Oxford.”
When The Bends finally came on stage, the drum set was marked by their signature checkers, and they launched into their set list without a beat to spare.
The headliner mostly played covers, notably “Come a Little Closer” by Cage the Elephant, “Yellow” by Coldplay and “Freaking out on the Interstate” by Briston Maroney. However, they also played some original songs.
“The energy is immaculate,” Field said toward the end of the concert.
Field thanked Oxford before walking offstage, having kicked off the festivities for the big game weekend.
