BrightestYoungThings: Live DC: The Love Language @ Black Cat

All words and photos: Julia Benton

What did you do for your birthday? Stuart McLamb of The Love Language celebrated his by putting on a fantastic show at the Black Cat last Tuesday night.

The Pomegranates:

Opening act The Pomegranates started off the show with their self-professed “art pop.” They played mostly older songs with a few off of their new album One Of Us which is set to release on October 26^th. The Pomegranates played a lively set for the 20 or so people who actually showed up in time to see them.

Lost In The Trees:

I had never listened to the second act Lost In The Trees before Tuesday but they proved to be quite impressive and definitely worth checking out if you missed the show. If anything, I would probably classify Lost In The Trees as a sort of storytelling folk orchestra. I admit I got a little excited when the seven piece band started setting up on stage and pulled out an arrangement of cellos, violins, tubas, French horns, and guitars. The two girls standing next to me were especially fascinated by Mark Daumen’s glockenspiel.

Lost In The Trees began their set by parading around the Black Cat’s floor, intertwining around the crowd. After gathering together again back on stage, they played transfixing melodies filled with a barrage of different sounds and textures. Frontman Ari Picker sang about domestic violence and ruined relationships yet the music sounded hopeful and invigorating. The audience loved it and so did I.

The Love Language:

The Love Language live sounded a lot less melodic and a little more gritty than they do on their albums. After the first few songs they were really on a roll, working the crowd into a frenzy. Guitarist BJ Burton and bassist Justin Roderman jumped around the stage energetically while Missy Thangs killed on the keyboard.

Familiar songs such as “Lalita” and “Sparxxx” maintained the energy for the night. The band just seemed really happy to be creating music and they definitely looked like they were enjoying themselves which was fun to watch.