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The Golden Hours found an unusual way to transform a live performance: blindfolding audience members so they could experience the music without visual distractions.
“It gets people to listen in a different way,” said multi-instrumentalist David Wax. “You kind of don’t know what’s going to happen.”
NPR host Kallao also tried the experiment, describing feelings of anticipation, surprise and joy. He said it reminded him why he first fell in love with music.
Word spread, and more people wanted to experience a blindfolded performance by the group. “All of a sudden, it became a thing, people loved it,” Wax said.
The idea emerged from a Dark Dining Experience organized by Daniel Goans and Laura Goans. Dark Dining events ask diners to wear blindfolds during a curated three-course meal, with the goal of heightening their other senses.
The experiment is one of several distinctive elements the Charlottesville-based indie-folk group brings to the stage. The Golden Hours unites Suz Slezak and David Wax of David Wax Museum with Lauren and Daniel Goans of Lowland Hum.
The band’s debut album, “Terra Nova,” is scheduled for release this year. The group describes the record as lush yet distilled, emotionally probing and broad in concept.
Its tour includes stops in Harrisonburg, Richmond, Pennsylvania and New York, along with an April 14 performance at Jammin’ Java in Vienna. The venue has traditionally been the musicians’ preferred Northern Virginia stop.