Innocent fun with harmless love lyrics and dancing isn’t as common at concerts anymore. Not as many bands can make a crowd forget everything and let loose. St. Lucia is one.
They gave a special kind of freedom to the crowd of about 200 last night at Headliners.
So much is going on in St. Lucia’s music. In terms of production, Grobler likes to think maximalist. It’s one of his favorite characteristics he plucks from his favorite era of music: the guilty pleasures of the ‘80s. That’s where the innocent fun derives.
St. Lucia shows you that the guilty pleasures they remind you of aren’t so guilty and can be embraced.
The group based out of Brooklyn made a visit to Forecastle this summer and it didn’t take them long to come back. With them, they brought an amazing light show and 13 songs that made everyone sing, dance, clap, and snap.
Even though St. Lucia has been playing songs from their debut album “When The Night” for three years, they played each song like it was the last of the night. By the end of the show frontman Jean-Philip Grobler was jumping off the drum set and collapsing on his knees, leaving time to catch his breath. One of the keyboardists caught the attention of the crowd many time for his smooth moves and occasional pounding drum playing.
The crowd from front to back was mesmerized. That’s because St. Lucia music is infectious.
I knew before I entered Headliners that the 18-year-olds in the audience would have no issue getting moving but as I looked to my right, the 18-year-old’s dad is also feeling the music. That’s a win.
Because of songs like “The Way You Remember Be” and their hit “Elevate,” Headliners became a dance club for St. Lucia’s 80 minute set. You can judge how good a concert is for this demographic by how many “phone moments” there were—the peak moments of a show. Between the lights, the jumping around, and song climaxes, this crowd has no issue capturing this memorable concert.
Joywave opened the show. As you know, opening bands that have never been to the city they are playing in before get quick judgments. This judge says Joywave is that band you regret not showing up early to see. They had little room to move on stage because of St. Lucia’s stage set up but made the most of it. Songs like “Tongues” and “Somebody New” were hits for the new crowd.
Photos taken by Josh Lee.
