Haim are known as a unique rock-pop, all-girl trio with attitude, style and of course, music. indieBerlin went to Columbiahalle on the 8th June to watch their newest in songs and performance.
Haim kicked off a Friday night, 8th June at Columbiahalle, with gusto and drums. Signature Haim Time things. You could say I have seen Haim a “few times” over the years and even then you may be underselling it, but I could never imagine any point where I would see an acoustic guitar grace the stage in Danielle’s hands. A little less shredding and a little more emotion – seemed to be the overarching changes in Haim’s ascent. The seminal Let Me Go outro – was no more, being replaced with a more popular and pop-y, Right Now, prompting a crowd sing along.
It was hard to imagine them as guitar-based rock stars, the days of Este crowd surfing and smashed sweaty bodies bouncing together in unison to guitar solos seems long gone. But, that’s what happens when you get older, right? The days of youth fade away and you become more refined, calmer, and perhaps tired. There was no lack of enthusiasm from the crowd, but everything seemed perfunctory in a way that happens as bands mature and grow big.
Haim’s new material is cleaner, slicker, and perhaps more beige than their old, leading not only to a newer sound, but a different performance style. Truth be told, I yearned for their Oh Well (Fleetwood Mac) cover, which was one of the first times I fell in love with the guitar. But they didn’t play it and maybe that was the right decision; it may have felt out of place and forced after their new material and I couldn’t bear to ruin the memory of those previous performances.
Synchronized dance moves are the new Haim, leaning into their 90’s and R&B influences full force, you get more polished and less rock n’ roll. But their edges where always rough from a bass face, to the end of their denim a clean cut Haim isn’t what I fell for and I hope they don’t forget what they used to do. But their performance of My Song 5 had inklings that they still clearly remember, giving us a glimpse of that off-beat guitar driven sound that made Haim become the world’s darlings.
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