The Accidentals take their Bay Area fans on a musical odyssey in support of their latest LP

The Accidentals //
Café du Nord – San Francisco
October 4th, 2017 //

Bay Area fans of The Accidentals set sail on a musical odyssey at Café du Nord inside the Swedish American Hall, with the trio putting on an electrifying performance as part of a national tour in support of its third LP Odyssey.

Multi-instrumentalists/vocalists Katie Larson and Savannah Buist as well as drummer Michael Dause were joined by guest keyboardist/guitarist Jake Allen, who added to the group’s rich instrumentation of its indie, alt-Americana repertoire.

Hailing from Michigan, The Accidentals made the basement of the Swedish American Hall feel like the basement of their own house, where concertgoers were welcomed like friends coming over to hang out. It was also easy to see that these 20-something musicians enjoy what they do.

The stage lights at Café du Nord were dim, but The Accidentals still lit up the room with their animated stage presence and continual head-banging, even jumping off the stage to perform amid the crowd.

Finding strength in vulnerability is a theme expressed throughout Odyssey. And though the band’s members are self-proclaimed introverts and bookworms, performing live presents a kind of vulnerability for them. Consequently, they radiate joy and have no shame divulging some embarrassing stories to the audience.

In between songs, The Accidentals shared anecdotes about the hardships of life on the road, from urinating in a Starbucks cup and breaking down in the middle of the night — twice, in fact — while on tour to more of the happier moments like cuddling with the inn keeper’s cat and enjoying all things cookie dough.

Besides playing music and sharing stories, what else do friends do while they’re hanging out in a basement?

Poke fun at each other.

While explaining the origin of the band’s name, Dause credited Buist as the inspiration due to her being the clumsy one who causes accidents onstage, often knocking over instruments no matter how spacious the stage. But the real reason comes from the musical term “accidental”, which describes unexpected off-key notes. The authenticity of The Accidentals’ lyrics, though, is no accident — it’s animated by their outlook on life.

“The No. 1 thing we try to take away is to be present, to observe the things around us and take that with us,” Buist said.

Making music in this day and age certainly has its challenges, but The Accidentals choose to continue on “not without fear, but in spite of it,” said Larson as she described her and Buist’s choice to dedicate themselves to their band rather than go to college to study music.

Their dedication is not in vain. There is no doubt that the authenticity, lyrical depth, musical deftness and energetic stage presence of The Accidentals will launch their musical odyssey to the top of the charts.