Ra Ra Riot the young indie band from Syracuse New York delivers a live performance that is not only exceptional but enjoyable as well.  I say this because I have seen many bands that put on a show that lets the audience know they are great musicians, but take themselves too seriously for the audience to feel apart of what happened.  Ra Ra Riot is a youthful band as evidenced by inviting members (and friends) of the other acts, Princeton and Too Many Dynamos, to join them in on stage during their last song.  By the end there were almost twenty people on stage falling into each other, playing tambourines, and holding up a flag that stating “It’s Party Time.”  This youthful optimism does not detract from their professionalism or integrity as a band.  

    Ra Ra Riot is a band that just three years ago were college seniors at Syracuse University and only playing house parties.  Now here they were on stage at the Ottobar, on the last night of their third headlining U.S. tour, playing with the skill of a band that has been around for a decade.  They were working the crowd and making us have as much fun as you could see they were having on stage.  To watch them move, bounce, and run into each other gave me the impression that the music was playing them rather then them playing it.  They were smiling, laughing, dancing, and singing along just as mush as the members of the audience. This is a band that has every reason to be serious about what they do having lost a band mate to a drowning accident, received rave review after rave review, and performed the gambit of late night talk shows. Watching them I could tell that none of this has changed how they approach their music.  It started at as an excuse to have fun during their last year of college and continues to be an excuse to have fun.  
    
    From the moment the first strings of the cello and the violin were played and bass and guitar splashed together to create the rhythm I recognized as the song “Each Year” I knew my ears where in for a treat.  Then I was hit by the thick yet soft, like a warm pillow, voice of Wes Miles and I was taken over.  The music put a spell on me and soon I was bouncing along to the beat unable to keep my feet still.  I had come to the show expecting a lot as I have been listening to Ra Ra Riot’s debut album, Rhumb Line, since September and loving every second of it from start to finish.  I was already, within the first few moments of their set, getting much more then had I expected.  I could tell by the looks on the faces of those in the crowd around me that they were experiencing the same level of excitement and astonishment.  They did not let up as each song added to the frenzy of the crowd.  They took us to the top of a musical mountain, making sure we danced all the way there.

    By the time they had completed their set they had play every song on Rhumb Line and a few off of their self title EP.  This meant they were not on stage very long considering Rhumb Line has a run time of thirty-five minutes and three seconds.  Although the crowd was not graced with their ethereal sound for long, we did not feel cheated as one may feel when a band you like plays a short set.  I was left wanting more; yet strangely satisfied at the same time.