Walking into Rock City I underestimated the sheer amount of fans that were attending tonight’s LANY gig — the LA trio who have taken the indie-pop genre by storm over the past year. People are even crowding by the bar and toilets to catch a glimpse of the show.
The crowd begins to cheer as the boys open with ‘Thick & Thin,’ a track
After finishing the down-tempo and stripped back ‘Valentine’s Day,’ Klein tells the crowd: “We’re from LA and this is our first show in Nottingham!” and judging by the roar that has just erupted from the crowd, this gig is well overdue.
During ‘If You See Her,’ one of their more dance-infused tracks, confetti has just exploded from the sidelines and it looks like it’s raining glitter and shimmering gold. It’s rare for a band to capture the attention of so many people from different ages and for them to all live in the moment together, but they seem to be doing it effortlessly.
“You think you wanna be alone/Just wait until you’re crying on the shower floor” Klein sings to a sea of hands swaying from left to right. As the chorus hits in “The Breakup” he begins to jump and everyone joins him. I wasn’t sure if it was the bass making the room rattle or the floor boards caving in.
There’s a short pause before they begin their next song — “I dated a girl from Nottingham one time and I wrote a song about her. This is Pink Skies!” — a sunset backdrop appears behind them and it feels like we’re all watching them perform in the open air of Malibu.
Hands raised to the ceiling swaying left to right to the synth pop dream that is Hericane. A sea of wrists pulsate towards the main stage and I notice one girl throws a rose in the air — paying tribute to the cover of their hugely successful debut album which found their success today. They conclude the song with an acoustic outro ditching the backdrop so all light in the venue has been diminished and the audience cannot keep their screams to themselves before he has even finished his final note.
The boys leave the stage and appear again for the encore to end their incredible sold out show. The synths begin in the hugely popular and clear fan-favourite “ILYSB” as applause erupts from around the venue. From start to end, an echo of voices surrounded the room and continued to chant even after the song had finished.
“Thank you Nottingham — you’ve been amazing!” they said disappearing behind the stage. Despite the wonderful show, I do have some questions with regard to their setlist. As well as being one of my favourites, “13” is probably up there with some of the best written songs in recent memory, and that’s not even mentioning the melody or production. It was a shame that this track and a few others were not played as a part of this tour, but it makes sense the band would focus more on more recent material. Nonetheless, the show and ambience was impeccable from start to end and proves just why Nottingham remains renowned for its live music events.
You can listen to LANY’s new album ‘Malibu Nights’ on Spotify.
By Nick Lowe