With their cosmic-slacker style jams, and Ryan Davis’s signature Louisville twang, the six-pack of Southern rockers opened the night on Tuesday, October 22nd at Royale. Backed by the Roadhouse Band, Davis played off his 2023 release Dancing on the Edge. Their six-song set served as the perfect warm up to MJ Lenderman and the Wind.
(Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band)
Translating the quiet immediacy of the soundtrack for a solo all-night drive to a live audience is a challenging – if not nearly impossible - task to accomplish. Sinking into his categorically calm presence, MJ Lenderman, brought his Asheville, NC blend of shoegaze-meets-fuzzy folk to a sold-out crowd of 1,300. Opening with the title track of his latest release, Manning Fireworks, it became evident in his gentle vocal delivery that there would be little space for distraction from the intimacy of his songwriting. Trading the unseasonally temperate outside autumn night for the bedroom-melody warmth of tube amps, Lenderman’s set offered Boston a taste of more than what their local Spotify has been sputtering out since the album dropped a just over a month before.
(MJ Lenderman & The Wind)
Feeling out the crowd through songs like Joker Lips and Rudolph, the set kicked up the energy with SUV. Backed by Natick, MA local Jon Samuels, the band gave a heavy taste of their aggressive potential for anyone who sunk a little too deep into the serenity of the slower tracks – which is the beauty of Lenderman’s range. Playing within the confines of music that is at-once as loud as it is soothing, the key to striking that balance between performance and sonic tenderness is Lenderman’s lack of banter - a welcome aspect to a twenty-song setlist that reached into his archives. It was in introducing the benefit song Pianos - part of the 135-track compilation album to benefit victims of Hurricane Helene - that Lenderman broke from his banterless presence to raise awareness and mention the sales of a tour shirt would also be going to those impacted by the storm.
It took a full ten songs before cranking into She’s Leaving You. With so many powerful and riff-laden songs, it would be a waste of a perfectly placed single to have it any earlier or later in the set. Sneaking in a cover of Smog’s 37 Push Ups between tracks like the folk sounds of Rip Torn and the heavier Neil Young-esque On My Knees, Lenderman’s set demonstrated his versality. A highlight was when Lenderman stopped the song Knockin’ to stop what appeared to be a fan taking a selfie or selfie-video while the band opened the track. Lenderman walked to the edge of the stage, tapped the person on the shoulder and pointed towards where they should go – away from the fucking stage, dude. With a laugh and a quick, “Let’s try this again,” they closed out the set with a full crowd singalong to the chorus.
Coming back out for a two-song encore, the band members doubled, and reappeared in a variety of Halloween masks. Playing Werewolves of London with Ryan Davis on vocals and Lenderman on harmonies the band seemed to enjoy themselves more than the crowd. The audience howled along to the chorus, and mumbled through the versus in between. Davis peeled off his mask, and kept the song going in his Samhain hoodie. From the laughs and the camaraderie on stage, it was clear these bands are friends who truly love playing together. It’s important for people to see that sometimes – it lets the audience know who the real ones are, and who is collecting a check.