The MGM Music Hall at Fenway hosted one of the summer’s most visually intriguing musical performances Aug. 3 with Lord Huron’s “Cosmic Selector” Tour.
Set against a psychedelic retro-western backdrop, the group played to a sold-out crowd of nearly 5,000. With recent sold out shows in Chicago and New York, this alternative rock project is proving itself to be a must-see performance in 2025.
There was no better act to kick off the night than soul singer Lee Fields. Backed by his band, The Expressions, Fields energized the crowd with his R&B hits like “You Can Count On Me” and “Ladies.” Fans in the front row were treated to call-and-response moments, creating an intimate connection between performer and audience.
Having opened for the Philadelphia stop of the tour, Fields’ modern soul contrasted Lord Huron’s folk-inspired rock. Closing with “Forever,” Fields guaranteed a memorable gig for the Boston audience.
As soon as The Expressions departed the stage, a number of production coordinators efficiently assembled the stage for Lord Huron’s set — a desert mound, a massive film projector and a custom jukebox all arose swiftly in the dark, providing a landscape for the headlining act. With so much emphasis on media technologies in the arid environment, audience members began to wonder what they were about to witness.
Taking to the stage with “Who Laughs Last,” Lord Huron was greeted with a roar from the crowd, who made it clear the band was long awaited. The 2025 single features a narration by Kristen Stewart — an enticing opener that built excitement for the performance ahead. Followed by additional singles “Bag of Bones” and “Looking Back,” the group asserted confidence in the latest material it had released leading up to summer.
Thanking the crowd for the high appraisal, lead vocalist Ben Schneider made a friendly greeting to New England. He then transitioned into “Wait by the River,” a popular song from the band’s 2018 release “Vide Noir,” which the audience clearly loved. Throughout the performance, Schneider traversed the landscape-like stage, reaching for a rusted payphone and singing to the mic inside. With music that was lyrically rich in storytelling, the show’s staging brought constant movement and interactivity.
As the show progressed, performers were introduced through choreographed dance sequences that added dimension to the visuals projected above the stage. Two dancers came into view, interacting with setpieces like the payphone as they drifted together and apart, portraying an entangled love story to accompany the songs off of “The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1.”
Halfway through the night, Schneider took a moment to inform the audience: “There’s something my manager said I gotta talk about — Jerry, what was it?” He asks while projecting backstage. “Oh yeah, we have a new album out,” he joked to the crowd, referring to their tour’s namesake release. With the band’s last album as the score to the film “The Starling Girl,” Schneider put an emphasis on narrative storytelling in music, encouraging the audience to listen to their new album “the old fashioned way — front to back” in order to find new meaning.
Throughout the night, the band played theatrically, meeting high acclaim for its newly released work and satisfying its fanbase with popular hits such as “Meet Me in the Woods” and “The Night We Met,” which both summoned a sea of phone screens to record the performances.
Lord Huron’s summer tour is a cinematic experience for fans of western aesthetics and alternative rock alike. Through elaborate staging, choreography and playful interaction with props, the band delivers a performance that feels as much like a play as it does a concert. Beneath the spectacle lies a quiet narrative that urges the audience to look beyond the noise of media and cherish connections.
