Lucius

Lucius at the Beachland Ballroom 3/35/16

Finkelstein

The Ballroom was filling up by the time the opening act, Pure Bathing Culture, played their 2nd song and we walked in. Lucius’ third show in support of their new record “Good Grief” sold out the Beachland Ballroom and served as a home-coming for Holly Lessig. My fiance and I have long been craving our ear candy that is Lucius, as we hadn’t had our fix since 2014 at the Bowery. Our Uber dropped us off just as the opening act took stage, but being my first trip to the BB&L, I took in all the sights, sounds and smells of the aging venue. The house was small (500 capacity), not overcrowded for a sell-out, security lax and the people friendly. The merch table did not feature any unique posters for this show, just Good Grief tour posters (bummer) and nothing else new to purchase so I didn’t linger long. On the bar side, someone spun records pre, post and during the concert, while the fans came and went sucking up the $5 cans of Goose Island IPA. The crowd was a mix of 16 year old girls, hipsters and hipster-yuppies in their 40’s and 50’s. I typically love age-diverse crowds, but this group of fans were too cool to dance… and that sucked. At one point of the night, Jess actually thanked “those of you who actually danced.” It is also the first show that I have EVER attended that I didn’t smell one joint being smoked. Not that THC and other substances weren’t consumed at this Lucius show, they were, but vape pens have forever altered the olfactory experience at concerts. PBC did an apt job at warming up the crowd and had a few people bobbing their heads saying, “pretty good… they sound fantastic… who are they again?” Lucius took the stage at approximately 9:45 and opened with Dusty Trails, they followed that up with Tempest. They sprinkled in old and new songs and stayed close to the setlist they have had the first two tour dates. Emotions came bubbling over during the first song of the encore, Two of Us on the Run. Holly (playing a hometown show) pushed back tears and, I assume, a multitude of emotions as the band performed a special rendition of the song. I’ll always think of a particularly tender moment between Jess & Holly during the song when listening to TOUOTR. The best moments came with Genevieve/ Better Look Back and with thier cover the We Five’s You Were On My Mind . The energy and synergy between Jess/Holly/the rest of the band was amazing. I personally thought that Andy seemed to be a little distant and bored. He wore shades nearly the entire set but did take a panoramic photo of the fans before leaving the stage at the close of the performance. Lucius’ overall sound and musicianship are as good as any touring band. At the start of this tour, the band seems fresh, lively and professional, however, I can’t help but feel that cracks may be forming for one of my favorite bands. There is a feeling/vibe/aura that maybe the band continuing to grow… maybe their ambition is evolving… what they thought they wanted, no longer feels as important… their confidence, skill and artistic vision seem higher than ever before, but something feels like this special 5-piece may not be around forever as one whole. However, I hope I am dead wrong. Lucius are one of my favorite bands and I hope that one day I get to take a road trip to watch their Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame induction performance with Jeff Tweedy or Jim James giving their introduction speech. David Byrne, Roger Waters, Mavis Staples know talent when they see it. Don’t miss out on experiencing Lucius live. The setlist & the link to future shows are below:

Setlist - Beachland Ballroom & Tavern, Cleveland OH 3/25/16

1 Dusty Trails
2 Tempest
3 Nothing Ordinary
4 Almost Makes Me Wish for Rain
5 Madness
6 Truce
7 Turn It Around
8 Something About You
9 Born Again Teen
10 Gone Insane
11 Almighty Gosh
12 How Loud Your Heart Gets
13 Genevieve
14 Better Look Back

Encore:
15 Two of Us on the Run
16 Go Home
17 You Were on My Mind
(We Five cover)
http://www.ilovelucius.com/tour/

Wednesday 20th August. The Lexington. Lucius. Two trips in the space of a week to the Lexington and 23rd gig of the year. Shaping up to be a great year on the live music scene. Me and my good lady tonight as my usual gig buddies were not interested. So the conversation usually goes “Darling, fancy a night out in London” “Ooh that would be nice” “Well I’ve got us a tickets for a great new band you wouldn’t have heard of” “Ok then”. So it’s off to Islington. After a swift one in the Wetherspoons at the Angel it’s off for some tapas along Upper Street. I am really looking forward to this gig as I love the album, its pure pop. For those who don't know them Lucius are a five piece band from Brooklyn fronted by two platinum blonde singers who play a variety of instruments throughout the night ranging from cowbells, synths and drums. In fact the whole band all appear to have a drum as one of their instruments which for a frustrated drummer like me is no bad thing. The three lookalike guys that complete the band exude cool rock chic which I think comes from being in a band that is clearly on the way up demonstrated by this sold out show and their return to these shores in October to a venue three times the size. We do our best to blend in with the uber trendy Islington set that are here tonight and luckily I spy a couple of old timers that make me feel better. The band hit the stage with the girls in a blur of blond hair, matching dresses and begin to beat the bejesus out of their drums and cow bells for the opening number. I am hooked from the first note. It’s a twin vocal lead on every song with their voices complementing each other perfectly. The harmonies are further enhanced by all three of the guys and the sound is spot on all evening. They rattle through their debut album in the next forty minutes and I’m in power pop heaven. Clear highlights for me were Wildewoman and Turn it Around which starts with some heaving had clapping from the whole venue and segues into a couple of choruses of Whitney’s I want to dance with somebody which we duly oblige. Band exit stage right and we wait for them to return and they do, not on stage but into the middle of the audience a foot away from us armed with only two acoustic guitars, a drum (obviously) and two beautiful voices. It’s a spine tingling performance of Two of Us on the Run and it’s a joy to watch five musicians at the top of their game in perfect harmony. We leave in good spirits with Anne thoroughly enjoying the night. Gig of the year contender. Absolutely.

A live act like Lucius is rare indeed. Musically, they are so tight, so razor sharp, they border perfection. I was reminded of so many great bands last night--fleetwood mac, the mamas and papas, crosby, stills, and nash...the harmonies were so mind-blowing. They are down-to-earth, warm, gracious, and each band member is so, so, SO talented. At last night's show, they orchestrated an elaborate lie in order to help someone propose marriage on stage--which brought the house down. They were angels about it. The songwriting, the clap-alongs, the quirky costumes, and couldn't-be-more-real talent of Holly and Jess was one of the more memorable and enjoyable musical experiences I've had in a long time. If you ever have the chance to see this band, DO NOT HESITATE.

An incredible show in an already classic and majestic venue. The acoustic of the Union Chapel set the perfect atmosphere to host the stunning voices of Lucius that were complemented with slightly softer strings than usual to fit the promotion of their latest acoustic album.

As a bonus to the show, towards the end they invited Roger Waters on stage for him to sing "Mother" (Pink Floyd cover) and "Goodnight, Irene" (included in the album).

This was an incredible show that provided a more delicate and deeper tune of the band than the one shown in the previous shows some years ago (Koko, Camden).

Looking forward to the next chance to see them performing.

The Portland show on 11/18/15 was my first Lucius show but I've been a big fan of theirs pretty much since they released their first album years ago. I knew they would be good live because I've seen some recorded live performances on the Internet. They were so much better than I could've ever gathered from live recordings! Just phenomenol. I've never seen a band act with such synchronicity, it's seriously impressive, and their voices sounded amazing, almost more polished than the vocals on the studio recordings, which were already very polished. Just amazing. Can't wait until the new record comes out!

Really amazing show. Not just songs, but also costume changes. They started out in these custom pale pink dresses and capes, and then changed into black fringed outfits halfway through. They sang while walking through the crowd, and walked right up next to the barricade. Beautiful voices, wonderful night. Would recommend to and everyone. Merch was SO COOL and priced very reasonably. They played their old album and their new one, probably 60-40? They played for two hours, and never lost energy.

Sadly due to a thunderstorm and a broken down tour bus, the show was first delayed an hour to 8pm and then after the opening act finished their set, it was deemed too much of a risk for the band and the show was cancelled with a claim of rescheduling. It was completely understandable and although slightly disappointed, I would rather have missed the show than have the members of Lucius be shocked by their equipment continuously and risk their health.

I loved the vocal oriented, Appalachian feeling songs. The vocal interplay between the 2 singers is incredible.
Seeing 4 people on stage drumming at the same time was fun too. Could do without some of the 80's style dance pop.
Very good performers. All in all an enjoyable show.

Absolutely amazing show! The harmonies will blow you away live. Every song was an adventure and an experience, and a great mix of new tracks and classic old ones. You will not be able to stop talking about this show for weeks after it's done!

They gave a truly amazing show! They performed every song with so much energy and sang even better than their recordings. I would definitely go to see them again. The venue was cool too, because it was smaller so we were right up front. :)