Lake Street Dive’s return to Brighton was highly anticipated. The band are known for their clever balancing of jazzy complexity with poppy relatability, which appeals to music purists and casual listeners alike. They’ve been on a steady climb for the past couple of years, that has only accelerated since they signed to Nonesuch Records and released their sixth album, Side Pony. It’s the combination of stunning musicianship with total frivolity that gives them their charm while causing eyes to open wide. They played a mammoth set of over twenty songs – too long for some, but most audience members seemed happy to listen for as long as the band were happy to play.

Lake Street Dive’s musical expertise insists on recognition; the smooth opener, ‘God Awful Things’, planted a flag that said: “serious musicians playing here”. From the start they played with a subtle confidence, built on their rhythm section of Calabrese on drums and Kearney on the upright bass, and supported by Olson on guitar and trumpet. Enveloping vocal harmonies falling somewhere between folk and gospel tied the sound together, and above it all towered lead vocalist Rachael Price, whose voice could be strong or soft – but was always impassioned and captivating.

The opening of their set transitioned smoothly through several of the strongest tracks from the new album. In general these songs came off better live than on the record; they felt looser and more relaxed, as if the band have become more comfortable with their own material since the release. The pace of the songs increased towards the middle of their set, mirroring a venture within the album towards a floor-filler style – however these songs tended to lack the absorbing intensity of their slower songs, and, although energetic, failed to completely capture the imagination of the crowd.

Having said that, Price was a confident and animated performer who worked well with the audience. The band too, as a whole, presented a friendly face, sharing details and anecdotes as they played that involved and invested the crowd in them as people, as well as performers. The fact that racy dancing never quite took off didn’t matter, because they delivered where it mattered, and indeed where people expected them to deliver: their music.

Their tribute to Prince, ‘So Long’, was moving and perfectly executed, coming towards the end of the set. It was followed by a three-song visit to their preceding album Bad Self Portraits. It seemed odd to round off the concert like this, but worked well, reminding everyone of their old favourites, and ensuring a climax where everyone knew the words.

Finally they returned to Side Pony for ‘Call Off Your Dogs’, before quitting the stage. When they returned for their encore, it was to perform a devastating a cappella version of ‘What I’m Doing Here’, where Price hit her vocal peak. It was a hard song to top, but instead of leaving the stage, they embarked on Bohemian Rhapsody as their finisher. It was extremely ambitious, especially with only four people, and for most bands would have been a very unforgiving attempt. There were a lot of sceptical looks in the crowd, but on the strength of their vocal harmonies and some imaginative use of the trumpet, they knocked it out of the park, raising a bar they had already set sky-high.
Ben Noble

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