The Antlers @ Oxford Art Factory

Beloved albums can be an albatross for a band, stopping them from playing the new material they’re more interested in. Hence, most gigs are a compromise between what the audience wants to hear and what the band wants to play. The best gigs find an equilibrium between the two. In the case of The Antlers’ appearance at Oxford Art Factory, they were playing solely for themselves, and the audience members’ enjoyment hinged entirely on how much they liked the latest album, Familiars;the band played the whole record, in order, only broken up by four old songs.

Melbourne’s Hayden Calnin opened the show, and with his reverb-soaked guitar and evocative voice, he was the ideal support. He doesn’t offer much in terms of diversity – mostly indie-folk played with just guitar and vocals, occasionally backed by skeletal beats – but he delivers his songs with full conviction, and the rapturous applause from the crowd was well earned.

It’s easy to see why The Antlers are so insistent on performing the Familiars material live. Removed from the dream-pop studio sheen, the New Yorkers’ songs truly come alive in a concert setting. Pete Silberman delivers his songs flanked by two keyboardists/trumpeters who, with the aid of a multitude of loop pedals, create an immediate ambience that Silberman consistently cuts through with his soaring voice, one of the best of his generation.

But even the biggest fans of Familiars can see that the album lacks variety. That works for the record; it gives it consistency. Live, however, 90 minutes of the same kind of material starts to bring diminishing returns. What thrilled at the start of the set (the looped trumpet lines, the ambient noise, Silberman’s vocal reach) started to dull by the end.

Some bands make a name for themselves by being uncompromising. They do what they do, and you’re either with them or you’re not. The Antlers aren’t the type of band that can afford to be uncompromising. Their music is obsessed over, creating special individual meaning for everyone who listens. The sooner they take this into account live, the better.

By the end of the set, individual members of the crowd could’ve been in one of two minds – either enthralled and now convinced that Familiars is a masterpiece that the rest of the world didn’t understand, or mildly disappointed from watching a brilliant band squander its talents.