“Throughout the set, the Catskills were filled with an amalgamation of voices from both the crowd and the stage; it was like choir-based group therapy.”

It’s not often I go to a show “blind” nowadays; my concert experiences are typically reserved for bands I know and love, local or otherwise. But this past Friday night, I took the trek down 88 into the foothills to see two bands I’d never listened to before. And boy, am I glad I did.

To be frank, it didn’t really matter to me what a band called Rainbow Kitten Surprise sounded like. What mattered was that, when the show was announced, my daughter urged me to take her. Of course I said yes because, as any parent of a teenager knows, it’s rare they actually want to hang out with you. Walking into Brewery Ommegang, a few extra Dad points in my pocket, I was immediately reminded why it’s one of the best places to see a summertime show. I’ve been lucky enough to see some of my favorite bands there over the years – The National, Death Cab, and Bon Iver, just to name a few – and I was beyond happy to have the chance to go back and see another show beneath the stars.

After we scarfed down burritos filled with mac and cheese, pulled pork and corn chips (seriously delicious), we headed to the standing area of the vast field/campground and opener Medium Build took the stage just a few moments later. The drumless quartet from “Nashville by way of Anchorage, Alaska” performed a solid set of Americana-tinged songs, backed up by pre-programmed beats that came off surprisingly intimate. Frontman Nick Carpenter had a voice reminiscent of Ruston Kelly, which occasionally would stretch to the point of breaking, making for some truly powerful moments. It’s for this reason that the many references in his songs – Adam Sandler, Californication and “charms on crocs”, for example – came off authentic rather than silly.

Then somewhere near the end of their set came a song called “In My Room” and I damn near lost it. Rife with even more incredible cultural references from yesteryear, it was one of those songs that can make you feel nostalgic for something you didn’t even experience firsthand. “There's a kid who tried on all his brother's clothes / Who hates the way he looks and is bad at sayin' no / Who's tryin' so damn hard to never let it show / And sometimes he's alone when he's at home,” Carpenter sang near the end, followed by me immediately Googling the song and saving it to my Tidal library. (Quick Ted Talk: What’s Tidal, you ask? It’s the #1 alternative to Spotify in terms of paying artists – look it up.)

In between sets, the crowd nearly doubled in size, and it was clear that I’d been living under a rock for quite some time. The way the crowd exploded when the six members of Rainbow Kitten Surprise walked on stage was infectious. And I was about to find out why.

Singer Elo Vela commanded the stage from the onset with a powerful vocal delivery that could go from a warm croon to a light falsetto to an anthemic yell all within the same song. Throughout their entire 90-minute set, she didn’t miss a note, and only seemed to get more comfortable as the night went on, dancing in place and rolling around on the stage to the delight of the audience.

The most fascinating part about Rainbow Kitten Surprise is how they can’t be contained by a single genre, and they proudly wore this on their sleeves Friday night. 2018’s “When It Lands” served as a perfect example; the band bounced around between funk, hip-hop, indie-rock and even found time to include an epic arena rock breakdown. It made for a mindblowing watch mid-set. Elsewhere, we were treated to dance-forward songs like “Hide,” which sounded like a better version of a Vampire Weekend song and belonged in an Apple commercial. “Drop Stop Roll” was particularly melodic and moving, delivering one of a few intimately meaningful moments in the set. And then there was “Run,” which almost came out of left field. The song closed their main set in grandiose fashion, with shred-worthy riffs and a slide guitar solo that was played with a beer bottle.

Throughout the set, the Catskills were filled with an amalgamation of voices from both the crowd and the stage. Four of the five other members often joined Vela either in harmony or unison, and when adding the crowd into the mix, it was like choir-based group therapy. Hearing “Very lovely morning / Try not to kill yourself today / Think of all the things you'll be missing…” from “Painkillers” in this fashion was especially unforgettable, cementing the fact that I needed to dive into their discography as soon as possible.

Earlier this year, the band released Love Hate Music Box, their first album in six years and one that didn’t come easy. At 22-songs long, it is a magnum opus in every sense of the word, and their first since Vela both came out as transgender, and was diagnosed with – and hospitalized for – bipolar disorder. The record is an open book, full of vulnerability and passion which shines through even better in a live setting than it does on recording. The instruments are a bit more in-your-face, the vocals cut a little deeper, and seeing the emotion on Vela’s face was the icing on the musical cake. “I would’ve been meticulous if I knew wishes came true,” she sings on single “Meticulous”. Friday night, Rainbow Kitten Surprise brought an emotional, genre-bending party to Cooperstown, and they were nothing if not meticulous.