KCPR Presents: Feeble Little Horse at the Libertine

Disclaimer: KCPR hosted Feeble Little Horse at Libertine Brewing. The reporter who wrote this story was not involved with the planning or promotion of the event.

Wednesday Nov. 5.

A Feeble Little Horse stole My Heart That Night.

 The night’s air was filled with anticipation and whimsy as fans crammed shoulder-to-shoulder into Libertine Brewery. 

A weeknight like any other, except it was anything but that, as Feeble Little Horse was about to make their San Luis Obispo debut. Cal Poly students and locals knew better than to miss an evening like this.

Pittsburgh college friends turned stars, the four-piece band puts their spin on music altogether – thriving on unpredictability and raw emotion. Feeble Little Horse is commonly tagged to fall under the shoegaze marker. However, across their releases the band has consistently pushed against the limitation of any single genre label.

Sword II

Opening act Sword II kicked off the evening with “Damage,” a single off their 2023 album “Spirit World Tour,” transporting the crowd into another world for the night.

The band maintained a seamless presence, conjoined as each member’s bodies draped and melted into their instruments in a display of onstage fluidity. Lead singer Mari Gonzalez’s vocals were light yet hypnotic, filling the room with layers of a dreamlike atmosphere as they performed “Halogen” and “Even if it’s Just a Dream,” teasing their latest album release before it dropped. 

Sword II held a grace unmatched — a display of what occurs when a band’s connection seems to make the music move through them rather than come from them. 

Feeble Little Horse

Shortly after it struck 9 p.m., Feeble Little Horse took the stage. 

Upon entering, lead singer and bassist Lydia Slocum established the band’s idiosyncratic style, wrapping tassels and a pair of miniature pink boxing gloves around her mic stand. 

The band opened with “Sweet,” one of their most recognizable tunes to those amongst the packed venue. With the crowd feeding off the band’s energy, mosh pits erupted. Bodies collided in the brewery-turned-sweat-soaked-venue throughout the set’s entirety. 

The night was entirely theirs, consisting of infectious reverb-heavy guitars and Slocum’s piercing screams. A sound authentic, and at times erratic, refuses to be boxed into one category. 

At one point, Certain Zuko and Travis Arnold of Sword II made their way from the stage, diving into the crowd to surf above the frenzy-driven audience. 

Reaching the set’s halfway point, Feeble Little Horse mellowed the evening’s energy with “Picture,” a song off their 2021 album, “Hayday.” Everyone swayed under the same melody, the crowd becoming one unified body. 

Offering Slocum little time to adjust her white-iridescent wig, the band jumped into their next track, maintaining hold of the night’s unfolding. Yet without fail, she leaned into the mic after each song to share a faint “thank you.” The gesture was quiet and intimate, a stark contrast to the audible assault our eardrums had just experienced. 

Before their final song, Slocum was joined by bandmate Sebastian Kinsler in a statement regarding the importance of playing a certain track last at every show. Failure to do so would result in something “bad happening.” 

Feeble Little Horse pulled a range of tracks from their discography and spared no expense in meeting our expectations. Experiencing the band live served as a reminder to break away from single genre labels in a scene where shoegaze has become shorthand for a band with reverb pedals. 

The chaos and ear-shot buzzing lingered as the crowd stumbled their way out of the brewery, dazed and disoriented. Was it just me?  One look around confirmed it– the realization that we had just witnessed Feeble Little F*****g Horse.