The Oh Hellos: Yours Truly Tour Concert Review
Photo Credit: Kat Seibert
Indie folk band The Oh Hellos brought their farewell tour to two nights at The Bellwether, an intimate venue in downtown Los Angeles. Known for their song “Soldier, Poet, King,” which went viral five years after its debut and has been the inspiration behind many a fandom animatic and internet quiz, The Oh Hellos hail from Texas and consist of siblings Tyler and Maggie Heath, supported on tour by a band covering strings and drums. The band hasn’t released any new music or toured in a few years. Thanks to their viral revival, they decided to return for a final tour for their new fans before finalizing the end, at least for the foreseeable future.
The night opened with another sibling duo, Small Fools, whose music is what I imagine you might hear in a medieval tavern, at least if your imagination has been influenced in any way by fantasy role-playing games. It was peppy and folksy, and they spent nearly an hour sharing the medieval fun facts that inspired their various songs. The band also invited plenty of audience participation and banter. Just like the music that was playing as the crowd trickled in, which sounded like the streaming queue after finishing an Oh Hellos playlist, Small Fools was the perfect choice to prepare the audience for the main act.
The Oh Hellos began their set with the instrumental “A Kindling of Sorts”, then transitioned into “Rio Grande,” both songs off their two latest EPs, Boreas and Zephyrus, which they hadn’t yet had the opportunity to play live. “Bitter Water” from Dear Wormwood, whose tenth anniversary they were celebrating, followed. With five EPs and two albums under their belts, the band had plenty of songs to choose from across their catalogue. They noted that this was the longest setlist they’d ever played. The show went for two hours, with songs from across their albums. They hit all the popular ones like the gentle “Hello My Old Heart,” the reflective “Constellations,” and of course the famous “Soldier, Poet, King,” as well as playing plenty of songs from Boreas, Zephyrus, and Dear Wormwood.
Both the crowd and band were lively. Maggie was often dancing around the stage, and I heard plenty of enthusiastic singing from the crowd, as well as clapping and cheering befitting this “stomp and holler” genre. Many were decked out in their best whimsical, cottagecore outfits. The show ended with a medley of “Rounds” off Zephyrus and the reprise of “The Valley” from their first album, but the band was called back to the stage for what they called a “threatening” encore. “That actually sounds very intimidating,” Tyler said as he got back on stage, remarking on how loud the call for an encore was. They played three more songs from their early album and EP, and ended the night officially with the hopeful and nostalgic “Trees,” a perfectly bittersweet ending. In a way, the encore itself is a picture of the whole reason for the tour, the band called back to performance by crowds of new fans who wouldn’t let them fade away so easily. As a fan since “Soldier, Poet, King,” I am grateful I got to say “goodbye” to The Oh Hellos.
