Every Thursday from July through Aug., the Lake Morey Resort — located at the southern tip of Lake Morey in Fairlee, Vt. — hosts weekly concerts for a summer concert series. Last Thursday, Icelandic blues rock band and global superstar KALEO gave an inspiring performance I won’t forget.
Reverberating bass emanated from the stage, occupied by a man wearing a suede fedora, loose cardigan and playing the guitar as he belted out the notes of blues rock. It was a somewhat surprising sound given KALEO’s Icelandic roots.
The fashionable frontman was KALEO’s lead singer, Jökull Júlíusson. Although Júlíusson grew up in Iceland and Denmark, his blues voice was deceiving enough to sound like the band got its start busking on the streets of Nashville.
I arrived at the concert only aware of the band’s most popular 2015 single, “Way Down We Go,” which peaked at number one on Billboard U.S.’s Rock and Alternative Songs chart in 2016 and 54 on Billboard’s Hot 100 list. Sometimes, when attending concerts of performers with one or two well-known hits and otherwise unknown music, the energy in the crowd can feel flat while everyone anticipates the ‘main event.’
However, the crowd was almost constantly moving with each song. The band’s stage presence and tremendous energy played out as one cohesive rock and roll sound. The atmosphere was more reminiscent of a big-time arena than a lakeside resort.
My friends and I did not know the lyrics to any of the band’s other songs. However, the songs all sounded distinctly Americana — enough so that it did not feel necessary to know the lyrics to grasp the vibe of the song. In a cliche sense, the music felt like the soundtrack to a night at the local bar in a small town after a full day of work.
Bopping our heads along with the crowd and attempting our best at a four-person do-si-do, the experience conjured an image of driving through Illinois corn fields and hot Midwestern summers, the latter of which I only get to experience occasionally as a born-and-raised Chicagoan. To me, the songs were also an ode to how sweet and simplistic life is as a young person.
Unlike concerts held in cities or huge venues, the atmosphere at Lake Morey was at once peaceful and energetic. If future concertgoers are seeking a more laid-back experience but still want the feel of being in a lively crowd, a Lake Morey Resort concert might just strike the perfect balance.
Yaniya Gilford '27 is a staff writer for both Mirror and news. She is from Chicago, Ill., and is double-majoring in English and Government. On campus, Yaniya is involved in the First-Generation community and Greek life. Yaniya has a passion for creative writing and plans to pursue a career in the field.
