Lions After Dark - Farewell Gig, FUBAR, St Pete
Posted By Paul Grimsley On Monday, February 22, 2016
Lions After Dark played their last gig this Saturday - it was a very celebratory gig, and I think most of the crowd were friends or family of the band, who have been an integral part of the St Pete music scene for a while now.
Maddie Pfeiffer opened with an acoustic set, which really showcased some of the aspects of her music which draw people in - powerful delivery coupled with great lyrics and a diamond cut melodicism. She was joined on stage by Scott Perez, Andrew Roden, and Kurt throughout this set. Maddie wasn't feeling particularly well, but you wouldn't have known from the performance.
The first support act was WD Han, and Spencer, Lea, and Cal brought some great punchy energy to the stage. WD Han are an exciting band to watch. You have Spencer's powerful vocals, coupled with some nice virtuoso turns on the guitar from Cal, and Lea's never less than impressive drumming. You get swept along watching and listening to them - Cal even gave us a little bit of a Hendrix thing (playing the guitar with his teeth).
I'm going to detour for a second to give some of my own personal history with the bands here - I used to work with Spencer and Maddie, and they were given to impromptu performances sometimes ... Spencer pulling out his guitar, and Maddie with a tiny wooden piano, and sometimes we would get previews of their latest tunes. I got hooked to the sound of both bands from that point, but scheduling issues meant I never got to see them live ... I just had the digital recordings for the longest time ... so, this was a real treat (and I got to pick up CDs as well).
So, the next act up was Kerry Courtney, who by his own account was in a transitional state with his band. They were the only band on the roster that I wasn't familiar with, but I really enjoyed their sound - which kind of reminded me of Jeff Buckley, but with a sensibility reminiscent of some melodic seventies rock band like The Byrds, or maybe The Band. I believe they played the longest set outside of Lions, and it was compelling throughout. I now have some of their music to listen to at home as well.
Lions After Darks last album Loud was a heavier effort than their previous outing - a new direction that translates really well to a live setting. It was interesting to see the band and understand what a captivating front-person Maddie is; I mean, if you speak to her you know she's whip-smart and funny, but she really commands the audience when she is up on that stage.
As a live band Lions After Dark really amp up the emotional rawness present in their music, and Kurt's pounding rhythms really drive that home. You watch the band up there on stage and you see how cohesive they are, and you can see the chemistry that always made their music so interesting. It's interesting when your first experience of a band playing live is their last gig, and I know I wasn't the only one experiencing this - you get pretty excited and then the bittersweet nature of the affair hits you.
The cool thing though? The thing that is patently obvious if you have been watching the band for any length of time at all - whatever anyone in this band does next, it is going to be something worth listening to. You can't cage that much energy - so maybe not so much a last roar, as just the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next.
Maddie Pfeiffer opened with an acoustic set, which really showcased some of the aspects of her music which draw people in - powerful delivery coupled with great lyrics and a diamond cut melodicism. She was joined on stage by Scott Perez, Andrew Roden, and Kurt throughout this set. Maddie wasn't feeling particularly well, but you wouldn't have known from the performance.
The first support act was WD Han, and Spencer, Lea, and Cal brought some great punchy energy to the stage. WD Han are an exciting band to watch. You have Spencer's powerful vocals, coupled with some nice virtuoso turns on the guitar from Cal, and Lea's never less than impressive drumming. You get swept along watching and listening to them - Cal even gave us a little bit of a Hendrix thing (playing the guitar with his teeth).
I'm going to detour for a second to give some of my own personal history with the bands here - I used to work with Spencer and Maddie, and they were given to impromptu performances sometimes ... Spencer pulling out his guitar, and Maddie with a tiny wooden piano, and sometimes we would get previews of their latest tunes. I got hooked to the sound of both bands from that point, but scheduling issues meant I never got to see them live ... I just had the digital recordings for the longest time ... so, this was a real treat (and I got to pick up CDs as well).
So, the next act up was Kerry Courtney, who by his own account was in a transitional state with his band. They were the only band on the roster that I wasn't familiar with, but I really enjoyed their sound - which kind of reminded me of Jeff Buckley, but with a sensibility reminiscent of some melodic seventies rock band like The Byrds, or maybe The Band. I believe they played the longest set outside of Lions, and it was compelling throughout. I now have some of their music to listen to at home as well.
Lions After Darks last album Loud was a heavier effort than their previous outing - a new direction that translates really well to a live setting. It was interesting to see the band and understand what a captivating front-person Maddie is; I mean, if you speak to her you know she's whip-smart and funny, but she really commands the audience when she is up on that stage.
As a live band Lions After Dark really amp up the emotional rawness present in their music, and Kurt's pounding rhythms really drive that home. You watch the band up there on stage and you see how cohesive they are, and you can see the chemistry that always made their music so interesting. It's interesting when your first experience of a band playing live is their last gig, and I know I wasn't the only one experiencing this - you get pretty excited and then the bittersweet nature of the affair hits you.
The cool thing though? The thing that is patently obvious if you have been watching the band for any length of time at all - whatever anyone in this band does next, it is going to be something worth listening to. You can't cage that much energy - so maybe not so much a last roar, as just the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next.
