ALO Celebrates St. Patrick’s Day At Venice West With Inventive Covers & Passionate Originals (SHOW REVIEW)

A sold-out Venice West crowd was hoping for a party on St. Patrick’s Day and Animal Liberation Orchestra was happy to oblige. ALO is celebrating the release of their ninth album Silver Saturdays (released March 3rd) as well as their 25th year as a band, so they were also in the mood to celebrate.

Rainbow Girls, a trio of sweet-sounding ladies who play folk rock with social commentary and beautiful harmonies are supporting ALO on their Tour D’Amour XVI. The trio, Vanessa May, Erin Chapin, and Caitlin Gowdey opened the show. They invited ALO’s Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz to sit in on lap steel guitar for one song and drummer Ezra Lipp joined for another. Once the Girls finished their pleasing show, ALO launched into a monster two-set performance. The band presented a few of the new tracks from Silver Saturdays, stretched out on some of their older material, and had some fun with inventive covers.

They tried out new songs “Growing Your Hands Back” and “Rare Air” in the first set. “Growing” had a catchy, up-tempo vibe while “Rare Air” is a more mellow tune written by bassist Steve Adams. “All Alone” got the swag-wearing, ALO faithful in the crowd fired up as Zach Gill showed off his melodica skills.

Rainbow Girls came out mid-set for another Lipp song that he wrote with them during the pandemic called “We’ve All Got To Reckon With The Fall.” Lipp sang lead with the Girls delivering excellent harmonies. Lebo and Gill each played intricate, lively solos. The Girls stayed on stage for a joyful version of Abba’s “Take A Chance on Me” as the Girls sang lead and the guys harmonized along with the crowd. The set ended with “Maria,” one of the band’s older and trippier songs, as Gill sang lead and went on an adventurous, psychedelic organ journey before the set break.

The only new tune they performed in the second set was “Sparrow,” an electronica danceathon with a heavy Gill synthesizer riff. Older songs and mashups dominated the remainder of the set as Lebo told the audience about their 25 years together “chasing the dream.” Then Gill talked about how long they have been plugging away before he introduced the 22-year-old “Waiting For Jaden,” written about the birth of his daughter, who is now in college. “Falling Dominoes” was another highlight as Adams shared vocals with Gill, while Lebo traded creative guitar solos with Gill. The jam surged back and forth, eventually transitioning smoothly into a cover of Eddy Grant’s “Electric Avenue.”

As the set was winding down, Gill sang “Roses and Clover,” a slower, subtle tune that gradually sped up and into “Room For Blooming.” The song featured another funky, synthesizer beat and midway through it, Lebo’s lead guitar teased Peggy Lee’s “Fever” before returning to the “Room For Bloomin’” riff. Gill surprisingly segued into a passionately sung version of U2’s “Where The Streets Have No Name.” Lebo wailed a guitar solo and eventually, the band segued back to the conclusion of “Bloomin’” to wrap up the set.

As a nod to the St. Patrick’s Day celebration, the band did another deep track cover for the encore. Gill crooned Van Morrison’s “Into The Mystic” with the crowd singing along as the show came to a fitting close.

Live photos courtesy of Andy J. Gordon ©2023.

Setlist

Set 1

Growing Your Hands Back

Push

All Alone 

Dead Still Dance

We’ve All Got To Reckon With The Fall1 >

Take A Chance On Me1,2

Rare Air

Maria

Set 2

Girl I Want To Lay You Down

Sparrow

Jaden

Dominoes >

Electric Avenue3

Undertow

Roses And Clover

Room For Bloomin’4

E

Into The Mystic5

1 with Rainbow Girls

2 Abba cover

3 Eddy Grant cover

4 tease Peggy Lee’s Fever; cover U2’s Where The Streets Have No Name

5 Van Morrison cover

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