ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra) brought their Tour D’Amour winter run to the famed Troubadour nightclub in Los Angeles on February 15, 2020. The Brothers Comatose lead singer and guitarist Ben Morrison opened the show in support of his new solo album Old Technology. The two bands delighted a packed house with up-tempo tunes, impressive harmonies and some prolific instrumentals.
Morrison surprised the crowd with several hard-rocking songs. His highly competent quartet included Greg Fleischut on lead guitar. Fleischut usually plays mandolin with The Brothers Comatose, who are a traditional bluegrass, country and Americana band.
Morrison led his quartet with passionate vocals, while Fleischut played several impressive slide-guitar solos. The band also brought out Morrison’s wife, Erika Tietjen who is a founding member of Oakland-based indie-folk band T Sisters. Tietjen and Morrison sang lovely country-influenced duets on “Sugar Please” and the set-closing “25 Miles.”
ALO came out a short time later and they drew loud applause at the Troubadour from a clearly devoted audience. Many in the crowd wore ALO pins, stickers and t-shirts while a few were even in furry costumes. The quartet deserved the love as they thrilled the crowd with a magical, two-set performance loaded with excellent four-part harmonies, tight arrangements, sizzling guitar solos and trippy organ forays.
Keyboard player Zack Gill recently had vocal issues, but they were not a factor during the show. He led off the performance on lead vocals with “Push” from Tangle of Time. Guitarist Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz, bass player Steve Adams and drummer Ezra Lipp all helped out with sweet harmonies. Each member took turns on vocals and Lebo played a killer slide-guitar solo during “Zombies,” a track from 2018’s Follow the Yarn – Unraveled Fibers from Tangle of Time. Adams followed on lead vocals during “Falling Dominoes” from 2012’s Sounds Like This.
The guys really let loose on “Professa’,” a lengthy, jazzy instrumental tune. At the end of the song, Gill asked the crowd for a warm welcome as he brought out Ben Morrison and Erika Tietjen. The couple sang a passionate version of Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie” with ALO backing them. After the couple left the stage, the band finished the first set with a trippy, psychedelic journey on “Undertow” from 2015’s Tangle of Time.
They opened the second set with their new single, “Baby Blind Spot,” a track from Creatures, Vol. 2: Weave, a new EP released on January 10. The song has a very catchy hook with long guitar and keyboard solos. Gill goes on a rap-like, rhythmic vocal trip midway through the tune. Lebo took over on vocals for another recently released track called “Rewind.”
The band brought out another guest, L.A.’s own singer-songwriter Tom Freund, for a wild cover of Pete Townshend’s “Let My Love Open the Door.” Freund played ukulele and sang the song before leaving to enthusiastic applause. The band jumped into “Music,” a song with a funky dance beat that had the house rocking. It was the best part of the show as Gill played a hypnotic key line and Lebo played a long, dazzling guitar solo.
Gill took over vocals as the band slowed things down with “Roses and Clover,” the title track with an infectious beat from their 2007 album. They closed the show with “Maria,” another song from the Roses and Clover album. Gill snuck in a stanza of Bob Seger’s “Hollywood Nights” midway through the song as a tribute to the show’s location. The musicians each took solos before wrapping up the set and saying goodnight.
They came back out for a one-song encore. Ezra Lipp got the spotlight for “Goodnight Song,” a sweet ballad that he wrote. Lipp sang the tune while Lebo played pedal steel. The band got the audience to sing along with Lipp as the excellent show finally came to an end.
Live photos courtesy of Andy J. Gordon ©2020
