Concert Review: LANY – Powerstation July 17, 2019

LA indie-pop band LANY returned to Auckland’s Powerstation to a roomful of screams and cellphones held high. As we were to learn…this is a show that came very close to not happening at all.

It was a late start for a headliner at The Powerstation…10pm…but no one seemed to mind. The room was full of mostly-young (20 and under), mostly female fans who were willing to wait all night for LANY.

Finally, precisely at 10, the lights came down and the crowd roared with anticipation. There was a brief pause before the four musicians took the stage, and when they finally appeared, this gave the crowd another reason to make themselves heard.

As the first notes of Thick And Thin emanated from the stage, almost everyone in the audience had their phones raised high, capturing the moment.

“Let’s go!”, encouraged front man Paul Jason Klein.

That was all thy needed to hear and immediately, the entire crowd began singing along with the first track from the band’s newest album, Malibu Nights.

And that’s the way things remained for the duration of the concert.

Klein bounced around on stage in his oversized Harley Davidson T-shirt, constantly in motion, but his vocals were difficult to hear over the singing from the fans.

Meanwhile, long-time band mates Les Priest and Jake Goss toiled away fairly anonymously in the back, assisted by new guy Guiliano Pizzulo.

The singing and clapping along continued throughout, assisted , at one point, by a video screen projecting the lyrics to Taking Me Back, not that these fans needed any help…they seemed to know the words to all 17 songs performed.

Finally, after performing 13, from their first album, Klein slowed down to talk to the crowd.

“There is no reason I should be up here tonight because I had no voice like 12 hours ago”, he revealed. “There’s a doctor who came to my room and said, ‘I don’t know if you’re going to be able to do tonight’.

Luckily, Klein’s throat responded to the treatment he was given…being told that there was a 50-50 chance it may or may not work.

“This is show 80 out of 100, at this point I refuse to cancel a show”.

So kudos to Klein for persevering with the “show must go on” ethos…this explains why he often left the singing to the audience, a chore they were more than happy to help with.

With good vibes all around…”You people have given me so much love and energy, so thanks so much”…the show made its way to its conclusion wrapping up at about 11:15pm with Malibu Nights, followed by an encore consisting of Thru These Tears, Parents and ILYSB.

Perhaps the late start was an effort to wait until Klein’s voice returned, and the set list was a couple of songs shorter that previous shows, perhaps in an effort to save some vocal power.

But, hey, every fan that was in the room had a great time, and in the end, that’s what this band was there to deliver.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery of LANY and opener Robinson by Trevor Villers:

LANY

Robinson

LANY set list:

1. Thick And Thin
2. Good Girls
3. 4Ever
4. I Don’t Wanna Love You Anymore
5. Taking Me Back
6. Made In Hollywood
7. Hurts
8. Run
9. 13
10. If You See Her
11. Pink Skies
12. Hericane
13. Super Far
14. Malibu Nights
15. Thru These Tears
16. Parents
17. ILYSB