Sara Lov at Home

In a sea of glittering chandelier lights and heavy velvet curtains, Sara Lov and her merry band transformed popular Silverlake restaurant Home into an intimate concert space blanketed in lush, ethereal noise.

In the half hour before Lov and crew took the stage, the anxious diners were treated to a small set from Horse Stories, otherwise known as Australian-born Toby Burke, who proved to be fantastic.

As far as acoustic sets go, his was one of the best I’ve seen. It’s rare when just one man can command the crowd as well as Horse Stories did. Distracted, preoccupied diners suddenly became compelled to stop talking and eating to focus on what was going on in the back of the room, as Horse Stories breathed into the microphone tales of love, loss, and hope. It was a very pleasant surprise, actually, considering his name wasn’t on the bill. I can definitely see Horse Stories gaining popularity in and around the Hollywood area, especially as he will be playing at Home again in late March.

Once Horse Stories finished up, those of us who had been there for at least an hour solely to see Lov began to grow fidgety. What was once an empty space for waiters to walk through soon became packed with people trying to get as close as possible. Luckily, Lov — the joyful songstress — soon after took the makeshift stage wearing a bright pink dress and a big smile.

Amid a ringing phone, casual conversation, and waiters relaying orders to one another, Lov asked the crowd if they were ready to “rock, gently” and proceeded to grab her guitar and do so, filling the restaurant with a bright, airy feeling, punctuated only by the smell of liquor and the sound of heels against the wood. She debuted many of the songs on her new upcoming record, Seasoned Eyes Were Beaming, including the gypsy-esque “A Thousand Bees” and the dreamy, soulful title track, “Seasoned Eyes Were Beaming.”

As the night wore on, so did Lov. At the start of her set, I had already had two and a half fish tacos and plenty of water, so I was feeling a bit on the sluggish side, but Lov’s unyielding enthusiasm constantly brought me and the increasingly inebriated crowd back to attention. The audience, comprised of Lov’s friends, loyal supporters, and interested diners, cheered Lov on after every song.

She wound down the set with “New York,” a familiar track from her 2008 three-song EP, a passionate cover of Arcade Fire’s “My Body Is a Cage,” and finished with “Fountain,” another song from her new album.

If this short and thoroughly enjoyable performance is any indication of what we can expect from Ms. Lov in the future, then her album is definitely and absolutely worth waiting for.