lovelytheband played their 2nd show on their If We’re Being Honest Tour on Wednesday at LA Live’s The Novo (following the band’s tour opening Tuesday in San Diego). They returned to the stage for the first time in about 18 months in support of album If We’re Being Honest, which was released last week, opening up old wounds, getting truly vulnerable with frontman Mitchy Collins explaining how he is evolving into the best version of himself. The LA alt-rockers were joined by stellar pop-rock band Beach Weather and singer-songwriter Ava Maybee (who happens to be Chad Smith’s talented daughter). And if you missed either show you can check out all these acts tomorrow night at Anaheim’s House of Blues.
Beach Weather, who released their debut full-length album Pineapple Sunrise in March played six of the new tracks along with a bunch of others, impressing with their opening slot, which felt like another headliner set. Lead singer Nick Santino, guitarist (and vocalist) Sean Silverman and bass player (and vocalist) Reeve Powers were joined by Alex Silverman on keys and Jeremy Wolda on drums, with the main trio in 70s brown tones, sort of a Western vintage look with mustard curtains behind them on each side of the stage. 2016 single “Swoon” was the right everything for the set opener, a rockin’ electro-pop tune with swagger and great guitars.
The album’s title track “Pineapple Sunrise” was next, groovy with a hint of synth and the perfect breezy summer tune. A jolt of energy brought a danceable element to “High & Driving,” a hot track that should most definitely be a future single with a strong vocal from the jump and just enough dirty. Santino worked the stage, making his way to the other band members on older song “Goddess,” with both guitarists singing some infectious background —”I-I need it, I-I need your love.” Newer tune “Hard Feelings” found Sean harmonizing with Santino, another driving pop-rock earworm. The guys took it back to “Rebel Sun,” with Santino sounding solid on vocals and Sean harmonizing with a lot of passion, making this one a summer tune you want to listen to with the windows down. The dream-pop, sort of surf-rock “Trouble With This Bed” had Santino cementing the song with an alluring vocal and Wolda holding down the groove on the drums. Beach Weather concluded with their newly-minted platinum-selling single “Sex, Drugs, Etc.” while fans sang along, “la-da-das” from the band and Santino shouted out the final bars of the song with flair.
lovelytheband‘s piano opening set the scene, with the audio from “If We’re Being Honest” including the words “I think I lost myself trying to love you. If we’re being honest, I think I’m tired of feeling so down all the time. I think I’m ready to be happy, but I guess I need to learn to do that on my own. It feels good to feel good again. And if we’re being honest, I think I’m always going to wonder why it took me so long to start believing in myself, to start to really ask for help, to start really pouring the love into myself that I always save for someone else.” After the poignant self-love audio, the minimalist stage had small square lights twinkling and sparkling behind the band for the powerpop tune “Always Been You,” with guitarist Jordan Greenwald and drummer Sam Price joining lead singer Mitchy Collins on vocals. Collins was donning a Billie Joe Armstrong-inspired gray jacket and black shorts and the guys were in sweaters with collared shirts, taking off on “Buzz Cut” while yellow and pink hues flashed and fans danced and flailed their arms up. The wonky production sound of the anthemic “Coachella” set the vibe for the driving pop-rock song, while fans continued dancing. “We’re feelin’ good tonight?” asked Collins. “We’re lovelytheband from Los Angeles, California, If I’m Being Honest Tour, Night #2. I need you to do me one favor, I know it’s Wednesday night but can we pretend it’s Friday night?”
The new wavey “Make Me Wanna Die” had some slight punk moments and found Collins walking about the stage and other newer song “I’m Sorry” presented a strong vocal from Collins with the band under magenta lighting as the lyrical content continued the themes of self-worth and mental health. Collins was joined by Price on the vocals with green and blue alternating lights for “Sad Goodbyes” and Greenwald joined in on a gang vocal for a sort of shouted moment and it was enough to give fans chills with final bars done a cappella. “Man it feels fucking good to be back up here,” said Collins. “Last tour we did was a year and a half ago. Feels good to see familiar faces and be among friends.” lovelytheband continued with Collins’ jacket off revealing a white cutoff shirt for the danceable pop-rock song “Loneliness For Love” with driving guitars and the crowd jumping during the energetic tune. Another new track “Superfly” kept the mood up with a rhythmic drumbeat, pulsing red and blue lighting and a sort of hybrid combo of hip-hop, rock and reggae. “These Are My Friends” proved to be a fan favorite with the crowd singing along and waving, loving every minute.
Collins did a couple bars of Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried” on acoustic guitar leaving the crowd wanting more. He mentioned being nervous and got the room quiet. They listened intently as Collins said “Mental health is a crazy thing. Since the beginning of this band, it’s been our mission to talk about it.” Collins added that he turned 35 and didn’t realize how important mental health was until about a year ago. “Eventually this weird thing happens and you do a deep dive and you become self-aware.” He mentioned Taylor Swift and that her song smacks (likely “Anti-Hero”) and the crowd laughed briefly. “You run away from things and try to drink your problems away. I realized happiness is not a destination.” Collins mentioned he achieved his dream of getting on stage and shared that he played the 2020 song “i should be happy” one time, the previous night. It was the heartfelt ballad that encompassed the weight of the themes of the new album and the room was zoned in. Collins was solo again on acoustic guitar for “2 drinks away,” with slightly more tempo than the last one. The band returned after the first chorus and Price harmonized beautifully with Collins coupled with memorable synth from Alex Strabala on the keys.
Fans were into “Sail Away” from the start, with Greenwald and Price joining Collins on the vocals of the super catchy tune. The inspiring folk-pop song had Collins’ hand up a few times really feeling it and he did a short whistle at the end. The band was side lit with spotlights on Collins for “i can’t love,” with excellent instrumentation from the ensemble and Price added wonderful falsetto vocals. The song picked up and strobe lights were flashing as the guitar solos went into full effect. It was a powerful set closer leading up to the encore and dreamy lighting floated over the production set. The whimsical, synthy “Make You Feel Pretty” was the first of two encore songs. It was a fun return to the stage with the crowd singing back the entire chorus to the band and Collins let his fans sing the last line “I’m spending all my money just to make you feel pretty.” Collins thanked both opening acts as well as his bandmates, including keyboardist Alex Strabala (who Collins credited as playing “on every other fucking instrument.”) It was no surprise that 2017 breakthrough synth-pop smash “Broken” was the final song of the night. The whole crowd sang along, Collins passed the mic out to the fans to handle part of the opening verse, he jumped around the stage, so did the audience and he said, “thank you so much.”
Words by Michael Menachem
Photos by Tim Aarons
