The Grove | Los Angeles, CA | August 1, 2018 | Photos: ZB Images |
I admit that the lede may be extremely misleading since – as a venue – the Grove in Los Angeles is an outdoor space sans a roof, but I’m guessing that you get the inference:
On a balmy summer evening, the Ithaca, New York band X Ambassadors played a riveting set that moved a pretty damned large and primed-for-their-soulful-alternative-sound crowd in the middle of…well, a high-end shopping complex.
It was the final show in the Grove’s Summer Concert Series on a stage parked directly in front of the Pacific Theatre (where I had just seen Mission: Impossible – Fallout) and X Ambassadors – who now call LA home – treated it more like it an arena show than a one-off which is something fairly par for the course where this band is concerned. Having seen X Ambassadors live often, I have yet to witness a performance where it felt as if less than their all was being offered. In front of a deep crowd that had gathered in the cordoned areas an hour before show time, X Ambassadors rolled through a polished, feel-good set and prior to launching into their best-known hit and #1 single, “Renegades,” frontman Sam Harris waved his emotional ally flag for any and all who feel marginalized in these strange days declaring, “We will fight for you, we will fight with you” in his usual heart-on-sleeve fashion.
So the roofs raised were those on the hearts and minds of the folks who gathered for a good music time with X Ambassadors on a beautiful summer night at a high-end shopping complex. Trust, there are much worse ways to spend an eve.
Setlist: “Ahead of Myself” / “Jungle” / “Loveless” / “Hang On” / “Love Songs, Drug Songs” / “Don’t Stay” / “Low Life” / “The Devil You Know” / “Gorgeous” / “Unsteady” / “Renegades” / “Joyful”
