Allen Stone performing at Neptune Theatre. // Photo by Quinton Peters

Though the finals were done and the students gone, Neptune Theatre was anything but deserted on Sunday, December 16th. The floor was crammed tight when opening act Sisters took the stage, and it didn’t take long to see why.

Comprised of Emily Westman (vocals, drums) and Andrew Vait (vocals, keys, sax, flute), Sisters made the stage its own with a thick sound, dynamic instrumentation, and an energetic presence that engulfed the audience in a ideal surreal. Sister’s music is a layer cake of sound — at times weaving many simple parts together, at others indulging in complex beats, and consistently leaning as much into silences as sounds to squeeze interest out of each moment.

In doing so, the pair easily found itself at precise valleys and peaks of tension. During the valleys, there was a particular clarity in their expressions, as if the air had thinned and allowed a direct channel of emotional resonance to pass from their mannerisms to the crowd’s collective being. During the peaks, they accelerated into intense solos with sudden instrument changes. These solos ranged from psychedelic keyboard jams to powerful saxophone prose to a flute layer that seamlessly melded with the background synth and echoed an aged era of 70’s classic rock (a la The Mamas & the Papas).

All the while, these two were silly hooligans on stage and encouraged the rest of the room to join in the shenanigans. Vait danced around the keyboard, appearing to fly in circles, and Westman’s head and arms were flailing behind the drums with the rhythm of her creation.

Toward the end of their set, they spoke sincerely to the crowd about how they wished to help make a space for people to feel comfortable being themselves; strangely enough, it felt like that intention was either assumed or learned through their set, but the statement, in the very least, cleanly wrapped the sentiment and tied a bow on top. As the intermission lights came on, a distracted anticipation reawakened for the show’s headliner.

Band members assumed their positions and began playing, setting the stage for the peach-colored suit and beanie that was Allen Stone. His entrance generated an eruption from the eager listeners in the room, and he slid into song as comfortably as a favorite pair of sweats after an honest day’s work.

The composition of the set created a recurring tide that pushed and pulled listeners intensely and cozily over the course of the night. Very much so picking up where Sisters left off, Stone and company equally delivered the savory soul of their pop-R&B sound with the happy-go-lucky indie demeanor of their fervid frontman. At one moment, Stone clasped the head of the mic like a harmonica and played with myriad acoustics and timbres in the palms of his hands. At another, the crowd cheered the end of a song, and he did nothing but stand motionless at the back of the stage with awe written on his face.

The musicians on stage played together as if they were each extensions of the same melodic marionette. Driven by an intangible maestro, they felt and responded to each other and their audience in real time. I found myself so caught up in the music that I had to remind myself shows like this didn’t happen automatically. The band was tight. The cutoffs were crisp. The groove was ever-present.

The set brought with it several moments of pure genuinity. Stone relayed that he recently got married and wrote a song for his wife on their wedding day; while he played it, the atmosphere grew noticeably viscous as if poignancy were an airborne syrup liquifying into dewdrops on the pricked hairs of the people in the crowd.

Members of the band also commented on the death of former keys player Mark Sampson, recounting their experiences with him as well as the experience he had communicated as a member of the group. They spoke to the power of making music together and the relationships and experiences it had brought them. They dedicated the rest of the night’s set to Sampson, and, in sincere respect of him, continued pouring themselves into the music. They embodied joy and affection in his name, and showed the rest of us a bright and invigorating profundity to soul.