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| Lost In Society |
Upstairs
When I saw the announcement that Lost In Society and dollys would be holding their joint record release "upstairs at Convention Hall," I became intrigued. I wasn't exactly sure what they meant, but I'm always interested in new places for shows.
It turns out that Friday's show took place in, I guess, what you'd call the western, upstairs lobby of Convention Hall -- the one with the bars. Even though I've been up there many times, the space registered with me as quite a bit bigger than what I thought I remembered. There was a temporary stage at the south end of the long hallway with merch tables at the opposite end, at the top of the stairs. Lights and having the stage backed up to the south-facing windows made for a pretty dramatic look. Sound was going to be a challenge, I thought, as Convention Hall is pretty much a huge, boomy, concrete box.
Friends and former tour mates of Lost In Society, Derek Rossi and Kyle Trocolla, started things off with acoustic sets. The pair had driven down from Boston together that day to hop on the show as they set off on their own tour. Both delivered sets that moved between the folky and the punky, the heartfelt and the humorous. Like the carousel house over the summer, the natural reverb of the space made both acoustic sets sound very big.
The full-band portion of the evening started with gods. I popped in my earplugs as gods set about filling the room with their manic psych rock. I was glad I had them. If the acoustic acts sounded "big," then gods were absolutely massive, Sam Bey's drum hits ricocheting around the place like artillery fire. gods are great at what they do, and I'm always happy to see them on a bill.
The space had been filling steadily since the first acts; and, by the time we saw Natalie Newbold's small drum kit being set up at center stage, the audience stretched to near the back of the room. dollys played every song from their just-released low year during their set, and the crowd up front sang along with most of it. At one point, ROMP's Mike Linardi took over on drums as Newbold came downstage for lead vocals on a cover of David Bowie's "Suffragette City." That was a fun moment; but when dollys are locked in on their own songs, they're hard to beat. Jeff Lane's solo on "how charming." Erik Romero's bass part on "friendly." Newbold's vocal on "i know" or "cornerstones." As usual, when the band announced the last song, everyone wanted more.
Lost In Society closed things out in front of what, at this point, felt like the old crowd from Asbury Lanes. Frontman / guitarist Zach Moyle and bassist Nick Ruroede are non-stop motion onstage. I was, unfortunately, once again unsuccessful at satisfyingly capturing Moyle during one of his airborne moments. There were plenty of photographers in attendance, though, who got great shots (Phil Shepherd, Jeff Crespi, Chris Spiegel, and, and, and, ...). Look for those.
Lost In Society's set covered material ranging from "this is a really old song" to songs off of the band's latest release, Modern Illusions. Many of the new tracks have been part of the band's live show for some time, so I noticed quite a few people mouthing every word throughout. As I said, a scan of the crowd made it feel a little like we were back at Asbury Lanes; and that just felt right.
In all, the show in the new space was a success. All of the bands turned in great sets. The room looked great with the stage, the light show, and balloons strewn all around. It is incredibly challenging from a sonic perspective, and there were times when we were swimming in a wall of noise. That did little to dampen anyone's enjoyment, and it will be interesting to see how the powers that be adjust to that if they hold more shows in the space. I'd like to see them give it a few more tries.
Pictures from the evening are up in the galleries (hi rez) or over on the CoolDad Music Facebook page (Facebook rez).
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| dollys |
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