Magnetic Fields perform at Buskirk-Chumley

“Hey are you still into The Magnetic Fields?” Savannah Hall called to ask her friend Lydia Kirby.

“Hell yes,” Kirby said.

Kirby and Hall traveled by bus from Fort Wayne to attend The Magnetic Fields performance Friday.

“Once you hear that they are playing here, you can’t afford to miss them,” Kirby said.

Since it was her first time seeing The Magnetic Fields perform live, Kirby said she didn’t know what to expect, but afterwards was excited the band had played both new and older, familiar songs.

Off their new release “Realism,” they performed “You Must Be Out of Your Mind” and “I Don’t Know What To Say,” while older tracks included “All My Little Words” and “I Don’t Want To Get Over You.”

Kirby said listening to The Magnetic Fields takes her and Hall back to their college days at the University of West Florida.

“We would have random dance parties, drive around playing them and make up really fantastic dance moves while listening to The Magnetic Fields,” Kirby said.

Kirby said she enjoys lead singer Stephin Merritt’s vocals.

“They are bassy, but dry, in a way. He isn’t trying to impress anyone, he’s just honest,” Kirby said. “It’s a unique sound, almost sarcastic, but it makes you feel good nonetheless.”

Opener and Canadian folk artist Laura Barret brought a uniqueness of her own by performing with her signature instrument, the kalimba, an African thumb piano.
“Her voice was phenomenal, and it made her really unique,” Bloomington resident Paul Knettel said.

As a musician in the local band Because We Are Human, Knettel said he enjoys opening act performances because it gives less-known musicians a chance to make a name for themselves.

Clicking her kalimba, Barret performed “The Wood Between Worlds” from her album Victory Garden and “Robot Ponies” from her Earth Sciences extended play.

“She was endearing, and her humbleness was reflected in her music,” sophomore Joe Thomasen said.

Thomasen said he begin listening to the band three years ago because he liked the title of their 1999 album “69 Love Songs.”

“The sexual energy Stephin Merritt transmits through his music is very raw and stripped down at points,” Thomasen said.