Like a Tornado of Sound and Light, Sleigh Bells Tore Up Denver

By: Sierra Voss

Sleigh Bells ripped through Denver, CO's Gothic Theatre Friday night like a tornado of sound and light. The intense mixture of punk, rock, and pop seemed to captivate the audience, who made way for mosh pits and crowd surfing mid-show. And frontwoman Alexis Krauss basically ravaged the stage in her glory. She had concert-goers hypnotized with her dance moves and jumped onto the pit’s guardrail singing songs that span Sleigh Bells’ seven-year discography.     

The duo, comprised of guitarist Derek Miller and singer Alexis Krauss released their first album, Treats as Sleigh Bells in 2010. In the following three years, the band took hold of their moments to shine and pushed two additional albums. Their most recent album, Jessica Rabbit, came out three years after their 2013 album, Bitter Rivals. The three year gap seemed to give the band time to redefine their sound and take more risk, which they’ve arguably nailed on this new record. Songs from Jessica Rabbit also break from Bitter Rivals in that they allow Krauss to explore and showcase her vocal range with raw, intense melody lines in front of a collage of sound.

Alexis Krauss. 

Alexis Krauss. 

Opening the door for Alexis Krauss to run free and drop into a deeper level of her artistry was the right choice for Sleigh Bells on Jessica Rabbit, and the energy at their Denver show proved it. Like a slap on the face with life gets you numb, Sleigh Bells breathed life into their crowd. Krauss holds her spot on my top badass lady artists list, and the pictures prove it. 

Check out their recent music video for song, “It’s Just Us Now” from Jessica Rabbit:

-Sierra

All photos per the author. All videos and embedded tracks per the artist featured and those credited. This feature was edited for brevity and clarity by BolderBeat.