Lake Street Drive- Academy of Music, Northampton, MA 4/4/14

So far, 2014 is looking to be a good year for the jazzy-pop quartet, Lake Street Dive.
Since releasing its third album, “Bad Self Portraits” in February the band has appeared on “The Colbert Report” and Letterman and garnered high praise from Rolling Stone. On the surface, they look to be an overnight sensation, when in reality, the band have been working hard for ten years.

This show was one of the final stops on their current U.S tour in support of the new album and like all the other dates it was a sell out. It was also a homecoming of sorts as the band has frequently played Northampton over the years and its record label, Signature Sounds Recording is based here. There was a notable excitement in the air, as the crowd welcomed the band with enthusiastic cheers. In turn, Lake Street Dive, gave their all during an almost two hour show in which the band not only sounded great, but were obviously having a great time as well.

The night got off to a strong start with an opening set by Ages and Ages, a six piece band from Portland, Oregon who play a brand of music they call choral-pop. The band opened with “Light Goes Out,” a track from its new album, “Divisionary.” This group blended their voices together to create a big uplifting sound that immediately drew the audience in. Their set drew heavily from the new album and songs like the percussion heavy “Divisionary (Do the Right Things)” had an infectious sing-along quality that nicely paved the way for Lake Street Dive.
LSD, as they are sometimes called, took to the stage to the strains of Tom Jones’ “What’s New Pussycat,” then joined their voices together for the loud “ah-ah-ah” introduction of “Stop Your Crying,” a song that like many of their others has a sixties soul sound.

It didn’t take long for Price to warm up and by the second song, “Don’t Make Me Hold Your Hand,” her big expressive voice was soaring through the theater. Price’s powerful pipes and her charismatic stage presence make her the focal point of the band. She is a trained jazz vocalist who was pursing a solo career before settling in with Lake Street Dive. And while she has the talent to go it alone, she benefits from the chemistry she shares with her talented bandmates- Bridget Kearney on stand up bass, Mike Calabrese on drums and Mike Olson on trumpet and electric guitar.

Kearney’s thick bass lines were the driving force to many of the evening’s songs and her frequent solos were nothing short of jaw dropping. The band formed when they were all students at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, so they all bring some solid musical chops to the mix.

Olson’s trumpet work was a welcomed addition to songs like “Neighbor Song,” while Calabrese proved a capable drummer whose constant smile only added to the sense of fun the group were having. The group shared harmonies throughout the evening, with their joined voices giving extra punch to songs like the style shifting, “ Seventeen” and the bouncy set closer “You Go Down Smooth.”

Sam Kassirer,the the producer of “Bad Self Portraits” was on hand for this show and he played keyboards on a few songs including the title track, which is a bluesy pop song about selfies.

The band brought Ages and Ages back to sing backing vocals on “Rental Love,” as Price literally tore through the tune, proving that she has the kind of voice that that those T.V. talent show singers only aspire to.

The band returned for a two song encore then closed with their cover of the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.” In Lake Street Dive’s hand the song is a slow jazzy number that features some nice subtle trumpet work from Olson.

It’s clear from a performance like this that we will be seeing a lot more from Lake Street Dive in the future. The already have a summer full of festival dates lined up including stops at Bonnaroo and Newport Folk.

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