PHOTOS: Blood Orange at Great American Music Hall 4/15

Blood Orange //
Great American Music Hall — San Francisco
April 15th, 2014 //

Dev Hynes and his musical project, Blood Orange, are responsible for a couple of studio albums in which every note seems to have been predestined to exist in that time and place. His latest and greatest, Cupid Deluxe, is a fine example of an album meant to be digested as a whole, but listened to piece by piece, taking the time to digest each arrangement as an independent entity. The fact that Hynes is a talented producer that has worked and collaborated for a long list of musicians and bands make the spotless element of his own albums something to be expected. But at Tuesday’s night sold out show at the Great American Music Hall, Blood Orange was not being judged by their unquestionable ability to create beautiful music, but by their ability as live performers (two very different things).

And the results? A class-A show, where Dev Hynes and company gifted us with a performance abundant in groove and energy. The crowd intensity quickly translated from the stage onto the entire venue, with the London-native acting as the master of ceremony, surrounded by talent. Samantha Urbani’s (Friends singer and Hynes’ girlfriend) vocals on “It is What It Is” were beautiful and hypnotic, and put the audience in a soothing stage that was only broken when Dev Hynes decided to bring the house down with an explosive version of “Uncle Ace”.