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Lights Setlist
Mowgli's Setlist
Tour Dates
12/10/15 Anaheim, CA House Of Blues
12/11/15 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern 12/12/15 Tempe, AZ The Marquee 12/13/15 San Diego, CA House Of Blues 03/12/16 Glasgow, Glasgow School Of Art 03/14/16 Brighton, Concorde 2 03/15/16 London, Hoxton Square Bar 03/16/16 London, oxton Square Bar Read More
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The headliner almost didn’t play at all—Canadian electro-pop singer-songwriter Lights had lost all of her lights.
Thankfully, after some quick-thinking scrambling by her lighting director and after an only slightly longer break between sets, the show carried on.
After a short set by hip-hop songstress K. Flay (who we previously saw at a Go 96.3 show and was still promoting last year’s Life as a Dog (Bummer Picnic Records), this co-headlining bill at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis, had southern California neo-hippie band, the Mowgli’s , on next.
A spirited feel-good 65min. of hummable tunes followed, many culled from their latest, Kids in Love (Photo Finish/Island Records) which was released earlier this spring. ‘Love is Easy’ was dedicated to anyone “who’s had their heart smashed into a bazillion pieces” and co-vocalist Katie Jayne Earl took time out in the set to re-inforce the band’s mission of spreading love and kindness, and mentioned that all the band’s proceeds from ‘Room for All of Us’ were going to charity.
The seven-piece collective found their groove halfway through with ‘What’s Going On’ (not the Marvin Gaye number, but one that encouraged action as well) while ‘Love Me Anyway’ had the crowd singing along with the band’s four primary vocalists.
Earl re-engaged the audience to explain their support of People Serving People, a local organization that serves the homeless as bassist Matthew Di Panni and band worked through a loose ‘Lean on Me’ cover before the band launched into the sunny, reggae-tinged ‘I’m Good’. Biggest radio hit to date ‘San Francisco’ was saved for last, with the inner hippie coming out for many grooving in place in the crowd.
As mentioned, the break between sets was longer than usual, no thanks to an oddly boisterous audience and a minor drunken scuffle in the balcony that resulted in a full beverage glass landing straight below, directly onto the lighting board, making it inoperable. Springing into action, a backup board was found and all was working again soon after.
We’ve seen the diminutive singer Lights previously, including an impressive Valentine’s night show at Mill City Nights, and even without any new material, she and her band still found a way to make her 65 minutes seem fresh and new. The stage remained dark for much of the set, with a series of two rows of large lighted boxes framing many of the band members, most of whom were situated behind those outlined cubes for an added 3D effect.
The singer (aka Valerie Poxleitner) seemed comfortable in black tank and overalls, dodging from side to side and reaching out to audience members’ extended hands. A bonus track, from last year’s Little Machines (Warner Bros Records), ‘From All Sides’ started her show, with ‘Toes’ and ‘Siberia’ from her previous 2011 album, following.
The bobbing crowd responded to ‘Muscle Memory’ from the newest album, with the singer not saying a lot between songs initially, perhaps due to the abbreviated set time. She did admit to being under the weather for the show, but also mentioned while smiling, “you guys are like magic, making me feel good”.
Prefacing a few mid-set acoustic numbers, she admitted to cheers, that plans were being made to release an all-acoustic version of the Little Machines album soon. Diving into deep cut ‘Meteorites’ gave us a taste of that acoustic/orchestral album, while earlier songs ‘Drive My Soul’ and Second Go’ wrapped up the stripped-down set.
Pulling moments from her past and looking back to childhood inspired ‘Running with the Boys’ and her request to “shake it and move everything” was heeded for the rhythm- inducing ‘Timing is Everything’. Electro keys sounded the beginning notes of ‘Up We Go’, the set closer, with the band not actually leaving the stage but remaining on to play a single-song encore of ‘Banner’.
Lights had indeed regained her lights, and despite that unfortunate incident and the singer feeling a little ill, still pulled off a show that pleased the faithful, and gained many new fans, in the process.
Thankfully, after some quick-thinking scrambling by her lighting director and after an only slightly longer break between sets, the show carried on.
After a short set by hip-hop songstress K. Flay (who we previously saw at a Go 96.3 show and was still promoting last year’s Life as a Dog (Bummer Picnic Records), this co-headlining bill at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis, had southern California neo-hippie band, the Mowgli’s , on next.
A spirited feel-good 65min. of hummable tunes followed, many culled from their latest, Kids in Love (Photo Finish/Island Records) which was released earlier this spring. ‘Love is Easy’ was dedicated to anyone “who’s had their heart smashed into a bazillion pieces” and co-vocalist Katie Jayne Earl took time out in the set to re-inforce the band’s mission of spreading love and kindness, and mentioned that all the band’s proceeds from ‘Room for All of Us’ were going to charity.
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Mowgli's |
Earl re-engaged the audience to explain their support of People Serving People, a local organization that serves the homeless as bassist Matthew Di Panni and band worked through a loose ‘Lean on Me’ cover before the band launched into the sunny, reggae-tinged ‘I’m Good’. Biggest radio hit to date ‘San Francisco’ was saved for last, with the inner hippie coming out for many grooving in place in the crowd.
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Mowgli's |
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Valerie Poxleitner |
The singer (aka Valerie Poxleitner) seemed comfortable in black tank and overalls, dodging from side to side and reaching out to audience members’ extended hands. A bonus track, from last year’s Little Machines (Warner Bros Records), ‘From All Sides’ started her show, with ‘Toes’ and ‘Siberia’ from her previous 2011 album, following.
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Setlist |
Prefacing a few mid-set acoustic numbers, she admitted to cheers, that plans were being made to release an all-acoustic version of the Little Machines album soon. Diving into deep cut ‘Meteorites’ gave us a taste of that acoustic/orchestral album, while earlier songs ‘Drive My Soul’ and Second Go’ wrapped up the stripped-down set.
Pulling moments from her past and looking back to childhood inspired ‘Running with the Boys’ and her request to “shake it and move everything” was heeded for the rhythm- inducing ‘Timing is Everything’. Electro keys sounded the beginning notes of ‘Up We Go’, the set closer, with the band not actually leaving the stage but remaining on to play a single-song encore of ‘Banner’.
Lights had indeed regained her lights, and despite that unfortunate incident and the singer feeling a little ill, still pulled off a show that pleased the faithful, and gained many new fans, in the process.
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Lights at Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (28 Nov 2015) |
