On Wednesday, Nov. 9, the Cavalier Theater in downtown La Crosse hosted The Staves and their opening act, Sleeping Jesus. The main act, The Staves, are English with a folky-rock sound. The Staves are sisters Emily, Jessica and Camilla Staveley-Taylor. More specifically, the sisters are from Watford, Hertfordshire, England. While it was their first time in La Crosse, Wisconsin, it was not their first time performing in the United States. The sisters have opened for various widely known bands including The Civil Wars, Mumford & Sons, Florence and The Machine, and Bon Iver. To finish therie 7 day Midwest Tour, The Staves performed to over a hundred fans at La Crosse’s Cavalier Theater.

While the event wasn’t on the UW-L campus, The Racquet helped promote a contest created by The Staves to find local talent as their opening act through the online newspaper’s Facebook. To reach out to local talent, the band stated, “We want to get to know these cities and the people in them and what better way than to have local talent support us on stage.”  Out of all of the submissions, the Winona indie rock quintet Sleeping Jesus was chosen to perform as the opening act. Sleeping Jesus commented on their experience opening for a famous band like The Staves.

The band stated, “The experience was completely humbling. We are so honored to have been able to play with such an amazing group and to such a wonderful audience.”

After Sleeping Jesus’ performance, The Staves were welcomed to the stage and performed many songs from various albums including “Steady” and “Black & White” from their 2015, If I Was. They also performed new songs that were published this year entitled, “Sleeping In A Car” and “Roses.” Throughout their performance, the sisters switched their spots on the stage as well as their instruments. They used different types of guitars, an electronic music board and a key board. In addition to the sisters, they performed with a drummer who also added a hand shaker for musical effect.

UW-L 5th Year Senior, English: Rhetoric and Writing Student, Ellen Weber, attended The Staves’ performance. Weber commented on when she started listening to the band and why she attended the concert.

Weber stated, “I started listening to them a few years ago and didn’t want to miss out on seeing them live right at home. The concert was really awesome.”

She also discussed her experience at the concert by saying, “Their songs were absolutely beautiful live, and their famously haunting harmonies offered everyone the chance to forget about all the stress of the day.”

The Staves will continue their North American tour in February starting in Seattle, WA at the Tractor Tavern. If you would like more information about their tour or band, you can visit their website: http://www.thestaves.com/splash/tour2017. In addition, if you would like to learn more about the opening act, Sleeping Jesus, you can find more information on their website: http://sleepingjesusmusic.com.