NXNE 2013: Del Bel @ Creatures Creating by Cody McGraw

SATURDAY — One of the most lovely discoveries we made during 2012 was the hauntingly beautiful Oneiric by Del Bel, an album filled with catchy-yet-dark and orchestral tracks that's as solid as it is puzzling. After several reminder tweets, we finally got our tails out to see this band live and they did not disappoint one bit.

The crowded basement of the new art gallery and studio space, Creatures Creating, was the perfect setting for Del Bel's mixture of dark pop and jazz. Its atmosphere, with foil-covered walls brigthening the dankness, was quite fitting with our woozy, Saturday, beer-soaked minds (and our livers conspiring to go on strike).

After the show, one of our fellow LRU-ites suggested that it was the best set of the festival. No one was arguing with her. Well played, Del Bel. Well played.

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Find all of our coverage of NXNE here.

Photos by Carmen Cheung.

Cody McGraw is many things but the thing you can actually call him to his face is the Managing Editor of The Little Red Umbrella. See more posts from him here or follow him on Twitter @cody_mcgraw.