On Thursday, March 26, LANY was met with a sea of iPhones in a half moon of red fluorescent light, nothing visible except the silhouette of lead vocalist Paul Klein’s body and the microphone cord dangling below him. The lights emerged to reveal his hair, sopping wet, and his dark tattoos, the guitar humming as he sang, “I’ve never been so high…” This was their first song, “Soft”, the namesake of their newest 2025 album, SOFT, and the first night of the American part of their tour.
LANY is an amalgamation of Los Angeles and New York, a representation of their desire to spread their music coast to coast. Klein was accompanied by drummer Jake Goss, who stuck with him even when their fellow bandmate, guitarist Les Priest, left to focus on his own writing and producing in Nashville. The group actually formed in Nashville in 2014, before moving to Los Angeles shortly after. Their music was influenced by the buzz of city life and coated in an unapologetically emotional feeling that their fans understood. Though they’ve morphed throughout the decade, they’ve stayed true to their ‘80s influence, citing artists like Journey as their inspiration.
Ironically enough, LANY isn’t as much of a household name in the States as it is in Asia, specifically, the Philippines. Four out of five of LANY’s top global listeners in 2020 were cities in the Philippines: Quezon, Makati, San Juan, and their capital, Manila. In fact, Manila’s fan base is so strong that LANY quickly went from mall tours in 2017 to selling out multiple arena tours in 2019– like when they announced a show and it sold out in two hours, then ended up with three consecutive sold-out nights. They were one of the first foreign acts to pull off three sold-out nights in the Philippines, and it wouldn’t be the last time.
In contrast, Downtown Phoenix’s Arizona Financial Theatre was much quieter. The seats left open weren’t necessarily a result of poor promotion, but maybe more of a reflection of cultural mass appeal. LANY’s lyrics are simple and translate clearly into Filipino “Hugot” culture, a Tagalog phenomenon and coping mechanism in which emotions are taken from your heart and put into lines. The set design is simple, featuring just a few stage lights and no props or backdrop to entertain the audience. Klein uses himself as the centerpiece, lifting his hands to the light and guiding the audience to join him, almost in worship. Ironically enough, before Klein moved to Nashville, he was raised in a Christian family in Tulsa and served as a worship leader. His heavy tattoos and rugged persona suggest that he’s indie-punk, as he opened the show with “Are you ready for the best fucking night of your life?” But in between his writing’s lines, an internal history reveals itself. SOFT’s language addresses bodies and romance in a delicate way, like “Let me worship what my God created” in the set’s track, “Know You Naked.”
LANY was accompanied by artists who complemented his airbrushed, lyric-driven pop. First, the Nigerian-born 23-year-old twin duo KAIRO took the stage for an upbeat performance. Even when someone fainted, and they quietly took a break, they stayed committed to their craft by bouncing back onstage to cover “Yukon” by Justin Bieber. The Houston duo’s work blends lush R&B and acoustic pop, keeping the audience on their feet.
Next, ELIO shifted the performance in a different direction with her Sabrina Carpenter-style pop. She opened with “Adderall” and, for her second song, gave a derogatory shoutout to her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend. “I love you, good luck out there, girl!” she shouted. The Welsh-Canadian singer’s music is driven by simple, punchy lyrics and heavy synths, in a bedroom-pop style that’s all her own.
Some audiences only come for the main event, but LANY’s audience, dense with young and old listeners alike, seemed to stick by for the whole show and the cohesive indie-pop journey it brought them on. Though his set wasn’t showy and he seemed to have only a couple of dance moves up his sleeve, LANY made connecting with his fans the main focus. “Phoenix, I love you so much. You sound so good tonight!” he cried after singing “Late night your eyes bound to the floor/Can’t stop we go to war.” He always made it a goal to dance in between tracks, sometimes doing cowboy-lasso moves with his arms that made the audience laugh. Everything Klein did, the audience was sure to follow obediently, whether he told them to jump along with him or to turn their phone lights on to his slower tracks. Klein made sure that whatever he felt, the audience felt too, and it made their connection even more electric.
