Audrey has been on our tit to talk about the Lansing-Dreiden/Diamond Nights show since we went last Thursday at the Delancey.
We arrived at the venue right around 9pm (after just seeing Austin Scarlett on the subway ride down). That was when L-D were supposed to go on, but of course they didn’t go on until after 10pm. We knew it was supposed to be a “secret” surprise performance, but apparently the secret had leaked to every greasy-haired straggler below 14th Street because the line to pay/get stamped for the show was so long that it stretched the entire length of the lengthy corridor to the entrance and then poured out onto the sidewalk outside of the venue.
When everyone was finally let into the downstairs dungeon-like performance space, it soon became a crowded, smoky mess. It was wall to wall with people who looked like they read Vice religiously. We stood next to this really tall blond guy who looked like he should have been Swedish. Actually, we were surrounded by really tall people, which also greatly contributed to our obstructed view of the performance.
From what we could see, the band was nine people: One guy on the left playing either guitar or bass, a keyboardist, 2 (???) drummers, 2 guitarists on the right, a bassist, and two girls dead center singing vocals in unison. This is probably is a good time to mention that none of the people onstage are actually in Lansing-Dreiden because “L-D” don’t play out. Which means that any time you’re seeing “Lansing-Dreiden” perform, what you’re really seeing is a bunch of people playing covers of Lansing-Dreiden songs. Kinda weird, arty, and conceptual, no?
Anyway, as soon as they started playing, people were totally into it, bopping their heads while they stared transfixed at the stage in front of them. It was a little like being in the hipster version of Children of the Corn. The girls sang with an eerie monotony in their voices as they stared straight ahead with no signs of life if their glassy eyes. Creeepy!
Now we know that the sound at the Delancey is absolutely awful, so we don’t feel bad in saying that most of the time when the girls were singing all we could hear was a faint mumble above the predatory growls of the guitar, bass, and drums. Was it weird hearing girls singing songs that are usually sung by a man (like on the recorded L-D material)? No, not really, but we just wish we could have heard some of it. We thought the more upbeat songs like “Advancing Flags” (which was awesome) and “Metal on a Gun” fared much much better live than the slower sounds of songs like “Missing Message.”
Later that evening, Diamond Nights wound up its Thursday night residency to an apeshit crowd of concergoers. You may know Diamond Nights from listening to their awesome song called “The Girl’s Attractive.” Seriously, people were going positively crazy the moment Diamonds took the stage. A large mosh pit crew right up front and center, causing people to drop bottles and fall over. Some people also decided it was a primo idea to crowd surf despite the ultra-low ceiling of the basement concert space. Totally insane. Regardless to say, the night was a excellent night of music despite the evilness of the Delancey concert space, the immense amount of smoking, and the assh-les who decided they were going to bring moshing back into fashion.
Oh, we also gotta give props to the awesome DJ skills of the Notorious Shout! DJs, who spun between sets. Who else could have played the Golden Republic and made me ask “who the hell sings this? This song is AWESOME!”. Kudos, boys.
