Lake Street Dive at Ascend
Lake Street Dive is bringing a fusion of several styles including pop, jazz, funk, soul and many more. Bolstered by Rachael Price’s strong and powerful vocals their music tells stories, remembers good times, warns of a grim future and is rocking venues throughout their tour, including Nashville’s own Ascend Amphitheater. After first listening to some of their music before the concert I was concerned about how it would translate to the stage–would there be a lot of energy or would it be a more mellow concert. I was pleasantly surprised at their energy and aura on stage. They were effective and powerful using elements such as stage design and well thought out lighting to assist them. The lights would often accent important beats and the clever use of the backdrop lights to reflect what album a song was from or impact the mood they wanted to portray was a nice touch.
In my mind the most impressive part of Lake Street Dive is that the group possesses so much talent, especially in their guest artists which included a horn section made up of a Brooklyn Jazz group called the Huntertones. Bridget Kearny was specifically of note playing an upright bass for most of the show. This choice added a lot of effects and extended techniques, such as the unique sound of an open string rattling on the wood, that benefited the group strongly. Akie Bermiss was killer on the keys and had an astounding voice that complimented Rachael Prices sound well, I only wish he sang more. Akie did play his choice song, a Shania Twain cover, “You’re Still the One” which gave Rachael a break but still stunned the crowd with his incredible vocal skill. Drummer Mike Calabrese held it down the entire show and got to show off his songwriting chops when they played “Making Do” which reflected on what the next generation will have to deal with if we continue our current trajectory of carbon emissions. The band has taken their own steps to be more ecofriendly as a band on this tour including selling water bottles where all proceeds go to philanthropies dedicated to slowing climate change. James Cornelison played a lesser role providing solid guitar backgrounds to the group and taking an occasional solo. Finally, Rachael Price continued to leave fans in awe at her thundering yet calming voice.
The band opened with the title track to their new album “Good Together” after entering from their curtained backdrop. At first when they opened with this song, I thought they had overstepped. This is one of their higher energy songs and if this is their opener I wasn’t sure how they were going to keep the energy flowing for the entire concert. I was pleasantly surprised as they mixed in songs from previous albums to accompany their new songs. They followed up “Good Together” with a personal favorite, “Hypotheticals”. With these two songs, the beginning of the concert was off to a very good start.
One of my favorite parts of the concert was the acoustic set. Though acoustic sets are almost a given at just about any concert you go to, Lake Street Dive did it in their own way and it was incredibly effective. They all gathered at center stage and crowded around a single microphone with acoustic guitar, upright bass, tambourine and what looked like a Melodica. The bright and colorful lights they were using were replaced with just a few spotlights lighting up the small section of the stage they were taking up. Here they played a few songs but notable were the title track of their album “Side Pony” and Bridget Kearny’s “Neighbor Song”. According to the band they had made a pact to never play “Side Pony” again but after hearing people yell for it at concerts for a while they brought it back to the setlist for this tour. “Neighbor song” was nice and reflected on the packed living conditions and its effects on human life in places like New York City.
Many of the songs performed had heartfelt messages from either personal experience in the band, worries for the future or a culmination of the two. Including “Twenty-Five” off their new album—a record about Rachael’s first “real romance” in a local waffle house which I found funny. They closed out their main set with three high energy songs. “Party on the Roof” was fun, and the band took effects into their own hands adding a coordinated jump off of part of their staging following the solo break back into the chorus. Around this time in the concert Rachael spoke to the crowd which had been sitting for most of the concert and said that “If there was a time to stand up it’s now” but later added that it was “not a summons… you can choose.” I found her sarcastic humor hysterical, and it only added to my enjoyment of the concert. For “Dance With a Stranger” they brought some “strangers” on stage to dance during the song. This was a fun and genuine experience and had a really nice effect on the song. They closed their main set with “You Go Down Smooth” which seems like a song written solely to show off Rachael’s vocal ability and I’m totally here for it.
Of course, this wasn’t the end of the show they came back on and performed their cover of Daryl Hall and John Oates “Rich Girl” to a crowd that was singing loudly with them. This cover is by far their most popular on their list of covers from the “Fun Machine” EPs. They finally shut it down with one of the most popular songs “Good Kisser” which was an incredible closer with high energy that left the crowd satisfied but still wanting a little more. Overall, the show was incredible and surprised me in many ways. The quality of the musicians was top notch, the energy far surpassed my expectations, and there didn’t seem to be any hiccups. Rachael, Akie and Mike interacted with the crowd between songs which made me feel like we were a part of the group all along. Their fusion of styles turned into something great that night and I am looking forward to another opportunity to see them soon!
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
My name is Brennan Wagner, I am currently a Music Industry student at Middle Tennessee State University and planning on pursuing Musicology in graduate school. I am from Nashville and have been playing saxophone for almost 10 years and love attending local concerts of all genres.
