The Paper Kites Kick Off The If You Go There, I Hope You Find It Tour in Austin, TX

RIYL: Gregory Alan Isakov, Fleet Foxes, Hollow Coves, Lord Huron

Indie Folk band The Paper Kites opened their If You Go There, I Hope You Find It tour in Austin, TX last night and absolutely blew the crowd away. The fans gathered at Emo's to see what awaited them with the opening night of the tour. They drew in an incredible crowd; it was some of the most packed I've seen the venue.

The night started off with Donovan Woods. The Canadian artist started off his set talking to the crowd about his first interactions with the band, having just met them that day. He continued by not playing songs for the first few minutes and proceeding to crack jokes about how he was talking instead of playing and that he'd get to it eventually. When that time came, Woods instantly captured the crowd's hearts, with fans shouting "We love you!" and "You're so good!" in between songs. Towards the end of the set, fans started to connect him with his music when the opening chords to his 2016 song "Portland, Maine" rang through the venue. After his set finished, I heard several groups of fans talking about how they loved that song when it released but didn't know that it was him. It's always so cool to see fans have that moment of recognition.

The Paper Kites entered their set huddling around the delphina microphone center stage and performing the first part of Morning Gum. The community building was instant, with fans huddling together in groups in the crowd singing along. All night long, fans shared in these songs together - often singing along in groups, holding each other, or sometimes even dancing. It was so beautiful to watch everyone share in the music together and just take in hearing their favorite songs live.

The band really took their aesthetics of this tour to heart and did everything possible to include the fans in the show visuals. At one point in the set, lead singer and guitarist Sam Bentley hops off the stage and onto the barricade, pointing the mic at fans to sing along and interacting with everyone on the barricade and beyond.

My favorite visual came from a giant lantern ball being held in the crowd during Deep. The crowd was quiet, observing the lantern and feeling the lyrics as the ball passed by them. It felt equally as magical as the lantern scene from Tangled and was truly enchanting to witness. I can't wait to hear more from fans about this experience as the tour continues.

If you've never heard of The Paper Kites, but you've been in the indie folk genre, you've definitely heard "Bloom". It's easily one of their most popular songs and personally one of my favorite songs ever. When playing this song towards the end of their set, the crowd was singing along in a choir of the softest, sweetest sounds. I was crying over how beautiful and moving the experience of singing along was.

Getting to see The Paper Kites on this tour was an incredible reminder about how moving and spiritual of an experience that live music can be. The band is truly masterful in crafting a live show that speaks to their fans. This is not a tour to miss! Check out their dates here and listen to their music below or wherever you listen to music.

Check out our full gallery of the show!