My romance with
Lake Street Dive has been a whirlwind. I first discovered them a few days before their Toronto concert date, then I quickly made arrangements and attended their August 30 performance at The Danforth Music Hall. I loved it. I hope the honeymoon's not over and that we have a long and mutually beneficial relationship.
Lake Street Dive are from Boston and now reside in Brooklyn. As far as I know they're pretty unique in their blend of jazz and soul with pop song structures. Their instrumentation of drums, stand-up bass, guitar/trumpet and incredible vocals helps with this uniqueness. Their musicianship, storytelling and song-writing chops add to the overall package.
I had a great time at their show, which is remarkable because of how quickly I came to know the band and so how relatively unfamiliar their songs were. They've just announced a fall tour, so if you like what you see and hear from them, check out the dates and get out there. They also played a new tune so you know they'll be recording and releasing more incredible music.
They played tunes from across their three album discography of 2011's self-titled album, 2012's
Fun Machine EP and 2013's
Bad Self Portraits. All are available through
Signature Sounds.
Here are some Lake Street Dive tunes that jumped out at me:
Show opener "Rabid Animal"
"Clear a Space"
"Bad Self Portraits"
"Neighbor Song"
"Wedding Band"
"Bobby Tanqueray"
"Stop Your Crying"
"Hello? Goodbye!"
Main set closer of "You Go Down Smooth"
Encore of "Rich Girl"
