“Not bad for a Tuesday night!” Said Paul Klien, to a roar of applause at the Armory. Paul, the lead singer for LANY, seemed healthy and confident last night in Minneapolis after needing to reschedule the original date two weeks ago for vocal rest. “I know we’re late, and you could have been to a hundred other places tonight, but thank you so much for choosing to spend it with us.”
LANY is a band that works hard, and goes hard, especially with a dedicated fan base, and a slew of stan accounts on social media behind them. They’ve come a long way from the Fine Line, which they performed at only 5 years ago to a much smaller crowd, and now played a concert down the street to the much larger Armory, with a well produced, arena-level pop show, complete with cameras, Video walls, and a raised back stage for the band members to play on, While Paul, microphone in hand, criss-crossed his way around the stage, and then some. At times, even venturing into the audience.
The energy of the show seemed to dissipate quickly into the first few songs. Paul, wearing a Mighty Ducks jersey with a hoodie underneath, was energetic but seemed hidden during get away. Thick and Thin and Super Far all had a nice dancy groove, however the crowd seemed to be more into snapchatting the experience than dancing and singing along. Phones were up, drinks were thrown back, but for those first few songs, the crowd energy seemed lackluster, and it seemed like Paul could tell. Looking around, it was also easy to notice that the Armory was maybe half full. But, I’m putting that more on a rescheduled show that may have caused concertgoers from out of town to stay home. By never mind, let’s break up, the sixth song in the set, Paul had disrobed his jersey and hoodie to a muscle shirt, tied his hair back, and the crowd seemed to be much more into the experience, and responsive to the songs. “Now we’re talkin, Minnie!” said Paul, who came back to the “Minnie” nickname for us quite a bit throughout the show.
On top of the stage was longtime LANY drummer Jake Goss, who took center stage. To the left and right, touring members Eric Scarborough (Introduced to us as “Puff”) and Kim Vi, both of whom shared guitar/keyboard and backup vocal duties. Also during the show came a surprise guest, Kelsea Ballerini, who performed a one night only performance of their collaborative single I Quit Drinking released with the band earlier this year.
LANY is touring behind their latest album, gg bb xx released back in September. The majority of the setlist contained songs off the new record, many of which the crowd sang along to quite a bit. Synthy, poppy and vibey, LANY has a knack of taking the listener to their dreamy settings on each of the coast’s, but even when there’s not a dancy synth beat, the crowd was still just as locked in. In the solo arrangement of I Still Talk To Jesus, Paul sat at his transparent piano stand, lit by a sole spotlight, and sang his heart out to us.
You’ve definitely heard a LANY song even if you can’t name one off the top of your head. The fans in the audience, however, knew every word. The end of the show was met with great applause, after a 23 song set that was almost nonstop, with little to no time between songs. Vocally, that’s definitely tough on Paul and the band, however Minneapolis’s rescheduled show made for a great performance we may otherwise not have had if they performed their original date. The crowd felt it, and the band did too. “We’re coming back next year!” said Paul after his bows with the band. “And the next year, too.” To dedicated LANY fans, their next show here can’t come soon enough.
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