Lake Street Dive – Tuning Fork January 11, 2017

 

It’s a new year and its been several weeks since an overseas act has visited Auckland, so it’s no surprise that the Tuning Fork was sold out on this Wednesday night. It might also have to do with the fact that Lake Street Dive have cultivated quite a following in this country, performing here as part of the Auckland Arts Festival and at WOMAD.

This was my first time seeing the band, although I was assured by several friends that I would love them… singer Rachel Price in particular.

Local duo Alae (Alex Farrell-Davey and Allister Meffan) opened the show with their gentle, if somewhat innocuous folk-pop.  They didn’t make much of an impression, but then, folks were not there to see them.

Just after 9pm, the four members of Lake Side Dive took the stage. They are: Mike Calabrese (drums), Bridget Kearny (upright bass), Mike Olson (guitar & trumpet) and Rachael Price (vocals).

The quartet met while studying music at Boston’s New England Conservatory over a decade ago and are now based in Brooklyn. Their latest album, 2016’s Side Pony, was released by Nonesuch.

As they launched into their first song of the night, Godawful Things, from Side Pony, it was immediately clear what the attraction was.

These are clearly very talented, accomplished musicians. And Rachael Price is a confident, attractive front person with the kind of voice that could stop traffic. In fact, all four members sing beautifully as they proved when they joined together for harmonies during the set.

LSD’s sound is based upon classic sixties pop and soul and their own original songs…all four members write…sound very much like they could have come from an amalgamation of Brill Building/Motown/Muscle Shoals songs, melted together and re-served as fresh, new tunes.

Price was apparently a jazz singer, but she had no trouble assuming the role of a soul diva and although at times she sounded like everyone from Etta James to Bonnie Raitt, the singer I was most reminded of was Joss Stone.

As the band proceeded through their 20-song set I found myself feeling less and less impressed by what I was hearing. Sure, these folks had chops, but something was missing. This became abundantly clear when they covered Prince’s When U Were Mine. It had to be the least funky, least soulful version of a Prince song that I had heard.

And that was what was missing from this show…soul. And absence of any deep feeling. A connection to what they were actually singing and playing.

In the end, as they encored with a rather impressive, if somewhat unnecessary version of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, it became clear…this was one hell of a bar band, great for a good ol’ singalong, a fun night on the town…and let me be clear, most of the audience was having a great time…but that’s about it.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Ivan Karczewski:

Lake Street Dive set list:

1. Godawful Things
2. I Don’t Care About You
3. Side Pony
4. Clear A Space
5. Mistakes
6. Lola
7. How Good It feels
8. Hell Yeah
9. Saving All My Sinning
10. Spectacular Failure
11. What I’m Doing Here
12. When U Were Mine
13. Got Me Fooled
14. Elijah
15. Just Ask
16. You Go Down Smooth
17. Bad Self Portrait
18. Seventeen
19. Call Off Your Dogs
20. Bohemian Rhapsody