The Belasco Theater | Los Angeles, CA | March 10, 2018 | Photos: Emery Becker |
On the road with New Politics, Los Angeles-by-way-of-New York City trio Dreamers (Nick Wold, Marc Nelson and Jacob Wick) made a hometown stop at the Belasco Theatre in downtown LA and – once again – proved two things to fans and unfamiliars alike: that they’re a fantastic live band and just don’t know how to write a bad song. Fleshing out their youthful, punchy, punkish grooves with a healthy dose of controlled abandon gave the crowd all the motivation that it needed to follow along which they did. In addition to some of the sunny, kaleidoscopic gems from their 2016 album, This Album Does Not Exist, the band kicked out “Last Love Song,” “Bleed Through” and “Karma”: three fresher songs that highlight the two artistry essentials of songcraft and maturity.
Which basically means that we’re already looking forward to their sophomore album.
Set list: “Wolves (You Got Me)” / “To The Fire” / “Last Love Song” / “Bleed Through” / “Zombie” (The Cranberries cover) / “Karma” / “Drugs” / “Painkiller” / “Sweet Disaster”
Dreamers
The Wrecks
We. Love. The Wrecks.
So it’s always a damned good music day when two bands that we dig share a stage, let alone are on tour together and that’s what we have here. Ahead of Dreamers came local darlings the Wrecks aka Nick Anderson (vox/guitar), Aaron Kelley (bass), Nick Schmidt (guitar), Westen Weiss (guitar/keys), and Billy Nally (drums). Five guys who, in 2015, pole-vaulted into the music scene with an illicitly made 3-song EP and have been furiously capturing fans of their alt-rock ever since. Just like Dreamers, the Wrecks are all about throwing down hard live and owning a crowd with their energy: mission accomplished. Three of the evening’s songs came from their excellent second (and not-so-illicitly-made) EP, Panic Vertigo, which was released in February. Have I mentioned that we love these guys?
Set list: “Wasted Youth” / “I Don’t Like You” / “Way With Words” / “James Dean” / “Panic Vertigo” / “Turn It Up” / “Favorite Liar”
