Walking into the Palace Theatre last night, I was not in a good place. It had only been a few hours since I had to say goodbye forever to my dog (#cancersucks) and I was more in the mood for a good punk or metal show to scream my frustration and rage or a mosh pit. Or maybe get to head butt someobody? Alas Lake Street Dive was the show I had signed up for a couple of weeks ago, and I’m quite sure the audience was not the kind that would approve of that sort of behavior :).
This was Lake Street Dive’s second evening at the Palace and even with competition from Rock the Garden it felt very well attended (my guess 85-90 % full).
Nicole Atkins started the night. She mentioned that she got to see Wrestlepalooza at First Avenue the night before (check out our review HERE). Her music felt old style in the best of ways, rock and a bit of country influence. It made for a cool combination. Atkins has been working on music for a new album due next year and we got to hear. “Never Goin’ Home” was about, as she put it “All the weird shit we’ve seen on tour”. For her last song, she held a slow dance contest and actually called out a winner for a price at the merch booth.
Set List: St. Dymphna / Maybe Tonight / Darkness Falls So Quiet / Captain / Never Goin’ Home / Mid-Century Modern / Sleepwalking / Listen Up / The Way It Is
What fascinates me about Lake Street Dive is how well balanced the contributions of individual band members are. And with a magnetic front woman like Price, that’s not an easy thing to achieve. If the more casual fans at the Palace were not familiar with some of the songs, it did not lessen the volume of cheers. Of course the hits made it into the set list as well.
Did a night of smooth, jazz infused indie pop cure my woes? Sadly no but I left a lot more at peace than when I arrived and stayed so despite the drive home – seriously MNDoT? 94 and 694 closed on the same stretch, everyone will fit on HWY36 just right, right? It still hurt like heck coming home and not seeing a huge furry head lift from the couch in greeting and wonder if I had brought any food home.
Set List: Bad Self Portraits / Free Yourself Up / Rabid Animal / Bobby Trilogy / Jameson / Young Bonch / Baby Don’t / Dude / Dirty Work / I Can Change / Broken Glass / Everyday People / Shame / I Don’t Care About You / 17 / Smooth / Good Kisser
Encore: Neighbor Song / Rich Pony / Side Girl
