La Luz

La Luz

Oct 07

NO MEAN DREAM – WE’R ALL LA LUZERS NOW

When: 25 September 2018
Where: Mono
Support: Peggy Sue

Peggy Sue get the night off to a great start with a set the crowd enjoyed – even if all the songs are about the breakup of a relationship.

Wiki categorises La Luz’s music as ‘surf music, doo wop, neo-psychedelia’ and elsewhere I have seen them described as ‘surf noir’ and whilst you can see where the labels come from they don’t really do justice to the wonderful music the band conjure up. They are boldly led by Shana Cleveland, guitarist and lead singer, but all members contribute fully to the sound coming from the stage: Alice Sandahls’ keyboard playing, Lena Simon’s bass and Marian Li Pino’s drumming did transport us back to a 1960s Californian beach-side cavern, albeit one with a very contemporary edge (and the lyrics often add a surreal twist to the proceedings). One of the great joys of the evening is the excellent vocal harmonisation provided by Shana’s bandmates.

They were unfazed by some small mishaps – three times a smiling and laughing Shana and Alice tried to get the intro to one song correct before succeeding and Shana also had some mic problems which were solved by wrapping a t-shirt around it. The band seem to be fans of the old US show ‘Soul Train’ and so at one point they got the crowd to split in two to make an avenue down which they invited any gregarious Glaswegians to strut their stuff – this was pushing at an open door and dancing, of a sort, and wit were soon on display down the human avenue.

This was a really good-natured night of music and hopefully the band had as much enjoyment as the audience did.

 

Band page

Sample video