Hey Marseilles singer Matt Bishop closed his eyes most of the way through his new love song, but he opened them just in time to see a young girl in a pink dress twirling in front of the stage.
After he finished strumming his guitar and singing, a red-faced Bishop smiled to the crowd and youngster, saying: “Someday, girl, someone’s gonna write a song like that about you. Girl, you’re already breaking my heart.”
Many of the nearly 1,000 St. Edward State Park concertgoers gushed and cheered at Bishop’s remarks Aug. 19 during the popular Seattle band’s evening performance to close out the Kenmore Concert Series.
The orchestral folk-pop band consisting of seven members — playing instruments like the viola, cello, trumpet, accordion, drums, bass and guitar — grabbed the crowd’s attention from start to finish of its two-hour performance.
“These guys are good, there’s a lot of French influences there I’m picking up,” Kenmore Mayor David Baker said.
Added Bishop after the band covered Daniel Johnston’s “True Love Will Find You in the End” and received maximum applause: “This is our first time playing in Kenmore. This was entirely unexpected — we should play Kenmore more often.”
During the band’s first hourlong set, a group of teen fans sat in front of the stage to sing and clap along to the Hey Marseilles tunes while two young girls leaned on and stretched across the stage. At the break, a throng of fans enthusiastically greeted the band at its merchandise table, taking pictures and buying T-shirts and CDs.
Northshore teen Winnie Baker and her friends created a Facebook event for the concert, inviting fellow fans and “attractive people,” she said with a laugh.
Baker’s friends pointed to her as being the super-fan of the crew, and she explained her attraction to Hey Marseilles: “They’ve got really great influences, and it’s all very romantic and very well-orchestrated. I play the violin, and I love the way they use the cello and the viola and the accordion. I love the variation of instrumentation.
“I bought their CD when I was volunteering at a Vera Project show a couple of months ago (in Seattle). I saw them and they were really, really awesome. I met the guys and they’re all really nice.”
Hey Marseilles drummer Colin Richey and guitarist Nick Ward praised the sound guy and the sunny weather for making the concert a success. While relaxing under a backstage tent during the break, the guys said they were looking forward to digging into the band’s extensive back catalogue for the second set.
Richey, who has two children, noted that the family atmosphere at the Kenmore gig was enjoyable.
“We’re used to playing club shows, people in an enclosed space and they’re having beers. I feed off that energy,” he said. “So anytime we’re outdoors at a festival, people are sitting and really mellow, you have to find a different spot to pull your energy from.
“I guess it’s weird to throw the old-world influence stuff at little kids and have it make sense to them.”
Added Ward: “It’s really nice to play to different audiences. Kids aren’t gonna fake it: If they like it, they like it.”
