Las Vegas Weekly

Five reasons to check out The Features at Beauty Bar

The Features will be playing this Friday at Beauty Bar.

Heidi Ross

1. They’re pumped about performing. Friday’s show will be the first Las Vegas performance for the indie rock foursome, and they’ve promised to deliver. “[Performing] is probably our favorite part of playing music,” lead singer Matt Pelham says. “We’re different people when we’re not on stage. … We’re all pretty quiet and mild mannered [normally], but when we’re playing it’s like [there are] not that many inhibitions.”

2. They keep it real, Southern style. Lead singer Matt Pelham knows that people will compare The Features to Kings of Leon, who are also based out Nashville, Tenn., but he doesn’t mind. He says he’s just happy at the thought of his hometown being known for something other than country music. “There’s a really good rock scene in Nashville. There have been really great bands,” Pelham says. “It seems like most of the attention goes to L.A. or New York. … I’m glad a band (Kings of Leon) has broken through.”

3. They’re not Kings of Leon! The two do have similar sounds at times, and the Features are signed to KoL’s label imprint, but still. “We’ve toured together and we’re friends, but I feel like if you’re a music listener and you actually love music, you’ll see obvious differences,” Pelham says. “Hopefully, people will take time to be able to tell the difference.”

4. Deer head. When the time came to create a video for their upbeat and dangerously catchy song “Lions,” The Features used every hipster trick in the book, and we greedily ate it up. The video features plaid shirts, stop-motion graphics, cartoons and a deer head mounted on the wall. What more could you want, other than maybe a second performance at the Bunkhouse?

5. Duh. Because we told you so.