I guess one thing that sucks about early show is that you don’t have the luxury of being a little late. Love as Laughter was headlining the early show at the Echo on sunday and when Appleseed Cast left the stage, LAL was nowhere in site. I had been waiting about five years to catch LAL and I wasn’t giving up that easy.
A sign of a true rock n’ roll band is one that can roll into a club and be playing within ten minutes. That’s exactly what happened. Things were already almost an hour behind schedule so there wasn’t much room to squeeze in a set. All of a sudden Sam Jaynes and crew were laying into “In Amber”, the first track off their exceptional new LP, Laughter’s Fifth on Sub Pop. Somehow it surprised me that they were only a three piece. So much rock come’s out of that band you’d think it was more.
They stuck mostly to the new album but somehow missed one of the tracks I wanted to hear most, “Makeshift Heart”. I couldn’t complain though. I was getting my belly rubbed and rockin’ out to “I Won’t Hurt You” and “Dirty Lives”.
Sean and I were talking after the show and wondering why they weren’t huge.
Early shows on Sunday’s should really include BBQ’s. Then I know to show up before the food runs out. I didn’t want to miss LAL and got there around 7 to catch a good chunk of the Minus Story’s set. They rocked a bunch of songs off their new LP. I really appreciated a varied approach to pop-rock. They mixed it up enough to keep it fresh and new. Frontman, , chilled in front and center on the keys for most of the set but it didn’t that didn’t take away from the grit he was spittin’. If you’re in the East, they’re heading your way with Okervill River soon. Don’t miss either of those bands.
Appleseed Cast hit the stage with a song that sounded so familiar. It was an instrumental indie-jam piece with some high-end guitar licks that I made me wonder where the hell I had heard it before. It wasn’t until after their set when the DJ started playing Explosions in the Sky that it all rushed back to me. Good stuff but didn’t move me enough to stay standing.
It’s a good day when a band thanks you for being cool. People could have been bitches and whined about LAL being a bit late but instead the waited patiently and thanked them accordingly when they delivered. They squeezed in one more track, “Every Midnight Song” then place was flushed. It was a nice break to not get back to Long Beach from LA at 2 in the morning.
