This Saturday I was blessed with seeing one of my most favourite bands, La Dispute in concert. My concert experience began like most, standing in a queue but this time it was raining. The concert was at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, North London which is one of the many, many, many venues in that area. The queue was long but for a sold out show it seemed about right. After awkwardly talking to the lady behind me about gigs we were out of the rain at last. I grabbed a cup of water from the bar (essential) and found my spot - about five rows back from the front, slightly to the left side. As a non-mosher, I take standing position pretty seriously, not too near the middle otherwise your gonna get pushed out the way - however, I was actually pushed anyway lol.
Pijn & Vs Self
Pijn (pronounced pain, but I really thought everyone was saying pie), the first support band were incredible. I hadn't listened to them before so I was totally taken aback when they proceeded to play the most beautiful never-ending post-rock set. It was kind of like being in a dream I was so confused but totally happy. The next band were Vs Self who I had good reason to believe they were gonna be great - the guy next to me told me he was only there to see them. And they were great! Vs Self are a classic midwest emo act that had the whole crowd jumpin'. Their set marked the first time I was pushed from my original place, affirming again that they are very good.
La Dispute
To say that I was shaking with nerves waiting for the band to come on would be an understatement. I felt a bit like a shaken bottle of coke and mentos - slightly nauseous and bursting with anticipation. And when they finally came on I did loose it a bit, not exactly coke and mentos style but I do remember screaming and jumping around. The band came on inconspicuously and without warning went straight into I Shaved My Head leaving me and the crowd speechless. The into is simple: a ticking drum beat, Jordan's preacher-like screaming vocals and then the bass comes in and everyone just looses their shit. At this point I felt unreal so when I heard that riff from the start of Man with Hands and Ankles Bound I felt myself fall back to earth and then get pushed straight into the backs of the people in front of me baptising them with the last of my water. There seemed to be a change in atmosphere on stage too, Chad (guitarist), who was basically in front of me at this point, was like an angry angel with his hair catching the stage lights as he absolutely destroyed the riffs. Jordan (singer) was like a complete contrast - perfectly grounded, shouting at the crowd like he could see everybody there. In my post-show notes I have written "I am scared of Jordan Dreyer" and I think that pretty much sums the performance up.
"Bring the house lights back!"
I think I lost a part of myself in the double-bill of The Most Beautiful Bitter Fruit and Scenes From Highways 1981-2009. Ashamedly, I know neither of the songs that well but I think it gave me the feeling of listening to them for the first time which was really special. Oh no it's Sibling Fistfight at Mom's Fiftieth, time to get trampled on I guess. It was really cool to see how much love their new album songs were getting, it must be nice to know that people aren't only there for the old stuff. Lost the ability to speak trying to catch up with Jordan (so he can rap now? Ok.) but when the "That's life" came in it felt like everyone was speaking in the same voice. Concerts are cool...
"That's life, that's life"
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| tambourine. |
This is a love song, that's what Jordan said as he introduced Women (Reading) and BOY is it a love song. I wish I recorded this.. maybe.. okay maybe not I'd just like to relive it because it was perfect and emotional. Can you believe people were crowd surfing? The people want to surf I guess. I get it. King Park... And the crowd went wild. For a song that is horribly painful to listen to, I had a lot of fun honestly. This song is looong and the bands energy was like 1000% the whole time, Jordan kept passing the mic to the crowd but I lost the ability to form thoughts like 4 songs ago so I just pretended to know what the words were. During the bridge the lyrics returned to me, ah just in time to sing "Can I still get into heaven if I kill myself?" .Wow this song is dark.
When Steve started playing I was like what is this song, but by the end I think it's one of my favourites on the album. The bass on this song is unreal - although I couldn't see Adam he devoured anyway. "I SAW CAVALRY BEHIND YOU IN THE LIGHT!" O_o and bam! Straight into Autofiction Detail, arguably my fave La Dispute track. Boy did I jump. I jumped and jumped straight onto peoples feet probably but I didn't care, I was loosing my damn mind, it felt like I was the only one who was that hyped for this song lol. By the end Jordan was crouched down saying the last few lines to a silent crowd. For a concert that size it's hard to pull of a moment so intimate but it really worked.
"Beating heart, beating heart"
A few notes into Woman (in mirror) all music halted as a woman had fainted, I was pleased the crowd parted quickly and later Jordan told us that she was okay which was good. I can't even imagine how scary that was for her. Softly we returned to the other love song, Woman (in mirror) which is even more beautiful than it's predecessor (how?). Everyone was singing along, if there was a time to cry it would be then.
"Tiny dots on an endless timeline"
I'm trying to keep this somewhat concise so I have skipped some songs but soon enough we were on the last song. sob. And OMG was I shocked. I heard this familiar high pitched guitar noise and I thought.. no.. it can't be. "You still cross my mind from time to time" I audibly gasped. ANDRIA... my first La Dispute song... When Brad played that drum fill I think I blacked out. I came to as I was jumping aggressively and screaming lyrics I thought time had forgotten. Those groovy basslines... those crazy lyrics.. it was perfect. Everyone went insane. I went insane. Jordan stepped down off the stage and I recited the title of my fanlisting (spon) as loud as I could. "I'VE BEEN ALONE HERE!" other people's arms crushed into mine as we held our hands up to the sky. I was reminded of my first favourite concert performance - Jet Black New Year by Thursday and I realised this was my second favourite. I love when we all love stuff!!! Then it was over. sad. Wait.. they aren't leaving the stage... Jordan explained that rather than leave the stage and have us awkwardly call them back on they may as well just stay and play another song and so they did. And is Environmental Catastrophe Film the perfect closer.
"There's only one direction the water flows, it only goes forward!"
Now I will end this post with my post show notes:
Award goes to the bassist. Everyone else too but he fuckin' banged. Weird crowd - 50% scene kids, 50% middle aged men but also that's like the best crowd ever?? La Dispute are a once in a generation kind of a band, bringing people together like they did tonight. So glad I saw them on this tour because this album is life-changing.
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