It’s a great high, but a terrible crash. Junip, the band formed many years ago by Jose Gonzalez, Tobias Winterkorn and Elias Araya, popped up at the Eagle Rock Arts Center on Wednesday. They played a rousing set, with new material from their upcoming album FIELDS (due this September) and gave a double encore. Well, that’s not entirely true. Moments into the last song, the lights went out. It was a very somber moment – the instruments still echoed throughout the room and the crowd was hush for about three seconds. There we were, enclosed in this big womb like environment, with nylon strings and drum skins still being scratched in the dark and then the shock gave way to a bit of anger.

The set was a sample of what’s to come, as Junip prepares its first tour together. Ever. Gonzaelz, Winterkorn and Araya formed the band in the ‘90s, but never put much coal into the engine – releasing the occasional EP. Fast forward to the present and now they’re eyeing a North American tour. At the Eagle Rock Arts Center, Gonzalez’ voice echoed throughout the room, his string work incredibly delicate and the drone of the percussion and bass (not to mention the moog synth) enveloped the new material, like Loops or Far Away. And so when the lights went out, (due to the venue being in a neighborhood), it felt like it wasn’t enough. My ears were ringing (having parked myself in front of one of the speakers), but it was that crash, the air outside, that made me want to wear that blanket again.