Concert Review: The Antlers at The Grey Eagle

Some musicians intentionally change their artistic approach in order to breathe new life into a project. Peter Silberman was forced to do it. 

In the period following his band The Antlers’ lovely 2014 album, Familiars, the frontman suffered sudden hearing loss in his left ear. As someone who’s dealt with this ailment to some degree, I can attest that this is a pretty frightening experience. For Silberman, it was potentially career-threatening. Fortunately, he recovered some of his hearing, but was advised to reduce auditory stress. As a rock musician living in persistently noisy Brooklyn, this news pushed him to make some changes to his life, and to his approach to writing and recording music.

Silberman relocated to a quieter town a few hours north of the big city, and began work on what became his 2017 solo record, Impermanence — a quiet album that reflected his new surroundings. The wall of sound on previous Antlers releases had been replaced with delicate, sparse arrangements.

During the tour that followed, Silberman suffered another career-altering scare: a lesion was found on one of his vocal cords. Doctors were able to successfully remove the damaged area, but it resulted in him having to learn how to sing all over again.

Nevertheless, Silberman persevered, and, in March 2021, he and drummer Michael Lerner released Green To Gold, the first new record by The Antlers in seven years. Much like Impermanence, it’s a more subdued, atmospheric affair that utilizes open space to present an easy-breezy aura. It’s also an album of rebirth and growth.

Back on the road for the first time since 2019, The Antlers graced the stage at The Grey Eagle on May 9. Performing as a quartet, their set mostly consisted of tracks from their latest record. Past fan favorites “Kettering,” “Sylvia,” and “Putting the Dog to Sleep” were left off of the setlist, despite some shouted requests. The audience was, however, treated to beautiful renditions of “Bear” and “No Windows,” while the magnificent “Stubborn Man” and “Green to Gold” also proved that The Antlers can still produce exquisite new songs.

For me personally, the encore rendition of “Parade” was the highlight of the night. A standout from the very under-appreciated Familiars (2014), the ballad coaxed the crowd into a quiet sing-a-long, inspiring momentary transcendence.

In other words, it’s good to see Peter Silberman back on stage, singing heart-felt songs in his elegant falsetto.

(Photos by Jonny Leather)