I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: May 22, 2025] Lucius

I saw Lucius last year when they played the anniversary of their debut album.  I enjoyed the show and their performance so much that I knew I’d want to see them again.  And I knew my wife would really enjoy it as well.

But I had no idea she’s enjoy it as much as she did.  She said it was her favorite concert of the year [UPDATE: at year’s end she maintains that belief].

The stage was set up with two large cacti flanking the keyboard set up of Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig.  I love that they dress alike (down to the wigs they are wearing).  They wore red, beautifully decorated ponchos, and it’s amazing that they face each other and more or less mimic each others movements–they’re not a tightly choreographed ship, which is good.  They are more like a loose duo who can allow the moment to overtake perfect choreography.  And they’re all the better for it,

But mostly, Lucius are instantly recognizable because of the gorgeous vocals of Wolfe and Laessig,  And it gives you goosebumps to see them perform live.

There’s a several Lucius songs that I absolutely love.  There’s also some that I’m iffy about (but the hits greatly outweigh the misses for me).  And I really like the vibe of the new album a lot.  I’m sure that has a lot to do with Adam Granduciel of The War on Drugs who produced the album (his fingerprints are all over it).  The opening song Final Days doesn’t sound like The War on Drugs, but it does sound like Lucius covering a War on Drugs song.

They followed up with Gold Rush, which I was surprised to hear so early as its the big hit from the album.  They wound up playing five new songs in a row.  Trespassers Will Be Shot uploaded several songs from our show (see below).  Things had mellowed, but when Stranger Danger came on and the guitars went crazy and Jess and Holly came to the front of the stage–it was electrifying.

The band had a simple set up.  Jess and Holly in the center.  On our right side was drummer Dan Molad and on our left was multi-instrumentalist (but mostly, an amazing guitarist–the sounds he generates are amazing) Peter Lalish.

They played the quieter 24 and then moved to Wildewoman for the amazing Tempest.  Since they had just toured the album last year I didn’t think they’d play too much from it, so it was cool to hear this one.

Then for the really fun Joy Ride, they put on matching hats and sat stage right in a couple of folding chairs.  We got a kick out of them snapping their heads left and right to the beat.

They jumped back to Wildewoman again for the awesome (and even more awesome live Nothing Ordinary) and the fantastic Genevieve, which was delightfully percussion heavy (Jess and Holly playing cowbells) and full of cool lighting.

I was super psyched when they played Old Tape, easily one of my favorite songs of 2025.  True there was no Adam singing along, but the guys were perfect for backing vocals.  After saying some nice things about Philly (we swear we don’t say this about other cities), they played the gentle but lovely Mad Love.

When I saw them last time, they played Dusty Trails, a song I didn’t know but which I loved instantly.  They ended the set with a brand new song, Lucy and another song from the new album, At the End of the Day which really highlights their voices.

When they came back for the encore, they sat in the folding chairs again and read fan letters, which was sweet and fun and wonderful and a delightful tradition that I believe they will keep going.

Then the band came out and the five of them gathered around a single microphone to sing Two of Us on the Run.  They called Victoria Canal out to sing Impressions with them.  They asked the crowd to give a name to Dan’s clave which was christened “Clave Maria.”  They ended with the R.E.M. song Everybody Hurts, a song I’m pretty much over.  But their voices were so good, that it brought that song to a new level for me.

I admit that it did make the encore pretty mellow and low key which is not really what I want in an encore, but they sounded so good I didn’t really mind.  Because no matter how much you may like their recordings, their love show is fantastic.

But I was again bummed that they didn’t play “Next to Normal” which is my favorite song of theirs.  They didn’t play it last time either.

But as soon as they announced a new tour for 2026 (in Princeton no less),I immediately grabbed us tickets to see them again.  And boy I hope they play Next to Normal.  I’ll have to request it ahead of time.