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Archive for the ‘L.S. Dunes’ Category

L.S. Dunes (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, April 21, 2025)

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, From Indian Lakes, L.S. Dunes, Night Sins on April 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 21, 2025] L.S. Dunes

My son and I saw L.S. Dunes open for Pierce the Veil back in 2023.  We knew a little about them and then the merch guy told us that we would really like them.  But, as seems  to happen at the Santander Arena, the opening bands are just lost in the acoustics of the place.

So when this show was announced I grabbed tickets assuming that we’d like them a lot more if we could actually hear them.

Perhaps the coolest thing of all was that I won a contest on Instagram which gave me two signed posters from the band (strangely enough, one of this posters is not signed by one of the members, but that’s okay).  It was definitely a cool souvenir.

We missed the opening band Night Sins entirely.  And the place was PACKED.  I felt lucky that I could squeeze into the ADA seating area because if I couldn’t we’d have been crowded even further back.  It was not the ideal location–I really assumed we’d be really close to the stage.  And I was a little bummed to be relatively far from the stage–although I think it would have been way too crowded up front.

However, the crowd was 100% into it and it was kind of fun to be behind the crowd and see all of the fun.

We knew Frank Iero the best in the band (being MCR fans).  I feel like I should have known Anthony Green and Circa Survive, but I didn’t know them at all.  We had seen drummer Tucker Rule and bassist Tim Payne from Thursday, but I didn’t really know at all. We were closest to guitarist Travis Stever who plays in Coheed and Cambria–someone I’ve wanted to see but haven’t.  His soloing was great.

I had listened to the new album once or twice but didn’t really know their music all that well.  But I knew it would be great.  I loved the way Like Magick started slowly with Anthony Green singing over strummed chords and then boom, the song took off.  Fatal Deluxe showed the dichotomy of Green’s vocals–screamed intensity and then quieter very high-pitched vocals. (more…)

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From Indian Lakes (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, April 21, 2025) [L.S. DUNES]

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, From Indian Lakes, L.S. Dunes, Night Sins on April 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 3, 2025] From Indian Lakes

My son and I saw L.S. Dunes open for Pierce the Veil back in 2023.  We knew a little about them and then the merch guy told us that we would really like them.  But, as seems  to happen at the Santander Arena, the opening bands are just lost in the acoustics of the place.

But I was intrigued enough to want to check them out in Asbury Lanes.  My son and I went for dinner before the show and by the time we found parking, we had missed opening band Night Sins entirely.  And the place was PACKED.  I felt lucky that I could squeeze into the ADA seating area because if I couldn’t we’d have been crowded even further back.  Although I will say that it was not the ideal location–I really assumed we’d be really close to the stage.  And while we weren’t far away, it wasn’t ideal.

By the time we had fully settled in, From Indian Lakes were almost done.  I didn’t know anything about either band, but I was interested in them both and a little bummed to have missed them.

A brief bio: they released their first record since 2019 mid last year, which falls under a shoegaze, indie rock type of genre. The latest album of Head Void was a lot heavier than Dimly Lit in 2019, but compared to L.S. Dunes it’s quite tame.  They are apparently the brainchild of lead singer Joe Vann (Joey Vannucchi) and I don’t know who else was on stage with them.

Joe was totally understated as a front man, but he was also pretty funny, replying to fans shouting things and generally keeping the mood light.  He also had a very funny attitude about talking–just don’t offend anyone and it’s a win.  We saw about three songs in full and I really liked their vibe–very chill and shoegazey.  Although, live there was a harsher element than the soft shimmer of the album.

Overall I enjoyed what little I heard, and I’ve found that I enjoy their albums quite a bit too. (more…)

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Pierce the Veil (Santander Arena, Reading, PA, November 25, 2023)

Posted in Dayseeker, Destroy Boys, L.S. Dunes, Pierce the Veil, Reading PA, Santander Arena on November 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 25, 2023] Pierce the Veil

My son and I saw Pierce the Veil this summer in Asbury Par–on a storm-filled evening in which the opening band was dropped entirely and every other band did a shortened set (PtV played 7 songs).

This tour was, technically, I think, part of that tour–all for the new album.  But instead of it being a double-headline bill, PtV was the main headliner.

They played like it.

And the crowd responded in kind.

I’ve been to a lot of shows where the audience is 100% into the band, but after my two PtV shows, I’d have to say their audiences have to be the most intense.  Everyone knows every word to every song.  The people behind me even brought their small children with them.

For this show they played more than twice as many songs as when we saw them last time–although they did not play “Bulls in the Bronx” a song that I love.  But that’s fine.

While this tour is for the new album (they played six songs from it), they did not shy away from older songs at all.

The set was mostly loud rockers.  Starting with the opener “Death of an Executioner.”  They followed it with a song from their debut album–with angry vocals, the kind of which they don’t really use anymore.

I don’t actually know a lot of their songs all that well, but I really enjoyed “Circles”–these guys know their way around a chorus. (more…)

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L.S. Dunes (Santander Arena, Reading, PA, November 25, 2023) [PIERCE THE VEIL]

Posted in Coheed & Cambria, Dayseeker, Destroy Boys, L.S. Dunes, My Chemical Romance, Pierce the Veil, Thursday on November 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 25, 2023] L.S. Dunes

L.S. Dunes is like an emo supergroup.  The five guys in the band are each from at least one other well-known band.

Frank Iero (guitar) is from My Chemical Romance.  Travis Stever (guitar) is from Coheed & Cambria.  Tim Payne (bass) and Tucker Rule (drums) are from Thursday and singer Anthony Green is from Circa: Survive and a bunch of other bands.  Circa Survive is the only band I didn’t know, so I had a sense of what they sounded like–but not their vocalist.  Actually, I heard him sing a song with Thursday when we saw them open for MCR, but I don’t remember it.

This band started during the pandemic, with the various guys sending tapes back and forth to each other.  They’re all from roughly the east coast, (NJ, NY, PA) which is kind of cool for those of us on the east coast.

When the band came out they sounded so much bigger than Dayseeker.  I don’t know if it’s because the opening bands played via a less sophisticated sound system or what, but L.S. Dunes’ music filled  the arena in a way that Dayseeker didn’t.

The music was interesting and complex.  And singer Green hit high notes and growled alternately.

When I was at the merch table, the guy selling L.S. Dunes merch said sometimes the best first exposure to a band is live.  I agree with that sentiment although I think this particular first exposure wasn’t ideal because we were so far away and the lights weren’t great and, despite me saying how full the sound was, it still sounded a little rough (too loud maybe?)

Regardless, I really enjoyed the set and look forward to seeing them again in a smaller venue where I can really appreciate what they’re doing.

  1. Permanent Rebellion ♠
  2. Bombsquad ♠
  3. Like Forever ♠
  4. Grey Veins ♠
  5. Benadryl Subreddit ∇
  6. It Takes Time ♠
  7. Grifter ♠
  8. Past Lives ♠
  9. 2022 ♠
  10. Old Wounds ∇

∇ single (2023)
♠ Past Lives (2022)

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Dayseeker (Santander Arena, Reading, PA, November 25, 2023) [PIERCE THE VEIL]

Posted in Dayseeker, Destroy Boys, L.S. Dunes, Pierce the Veil, Reading PA, Santander Arena on November 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 25, 2023] Dayseeker

Dayseeker was the only band on this bill that I had never heard of.  I was rather surprised to find that they’d been around for almost ten years.

I’m always interested in finding out about new (to me) bands, and there were lots of people with Dayseeker T-shirts on in the crowd, but I really just couldn’t get into them.

They weren’t bad, they were just sort of generic emo.  I wanted to see if I was alone in thinking this, and I found this review from SputnikMusic which loved Rory Rodriguez’ voice, but found the album to be less challenging than their previous one:

Erase his voice from any track, and it instantly becomes mediocre at best, with toned down musicianship, unnecessary breakdowns, and borderline lazy guitar and drum work. To dismiss the record for those shortcomings though, while not entirely unjustified, would be a bit short-sighted.

So, I guess that’s what I was hearing.  And, because the sound at the Santander Arena isn’t great, I wasn’t that impressed by his voice either.

And again, none of it was bad, it was just sort of there.  I tapped my foot to some songs, kind of got into some others, but as I write this just a few days later, I can’t remember a thing about them.

Except that after every song, Rodriguez said “If you know our band, then you know…”  It was a pretty weird was to introduce every song.   He also pretty clearly lays his heart on his sleeve, talking about his father’s battle with cancer and about how the band almost gave up seven years ago (that was when I realized how long these guys had been around).

Their set was almost as short as Destroy Boys, though so all was good.

  1. Dreamstate ♣
  2. Burial Plot ¥
  3. Homesick ♣
  4. Without Me ♣
  5. Crying While You’re Dancing ♣
  6. Sleeptalk ¥
  7. Neon Grave ♣

¥ Sleeptalk (2019)
♣ Dark Sun (2022)

  • Rory Rodriguez – vocals
  • Gino Sgambelluri – guitar
  • Mike Karle – drums
  • Ramone Valerio – bass

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Destroy Boys (Santander Arena, Reading, PA, November 25, 2023) [PIERCE THE VEIL]

Posted in Dayseeker, Destroy Boys, L.S. Dunes, Pierce the Veil, Reading PA, Santander Arena on November 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 25, 2023] Destroy Boys

My son was listening to Destroy Boys a few months ago and I really dug their sound.  I imagined they’d be really fun to see live, so I made a note to see when they came near us.

Then it turned out that they were opening this show for Pierce the Veil.

I’d rather have seen them in a small venue, but seeing them at all is better than not seeing them.

Since we knew how long it took us to get to Reading after going on Wednesday, we planned our timing and had enough time to get some dinner (at a Bojangles!).  We still cut it a little closer than I liked but after we parked and scampered to the arena, we had a comfortable amount of time to find our seats before the lights dimmed and the band came out.

To virtual invisibility.

For some godawful reason, the venue decided to bathe the band in purple, which rendered them almost entirely invisible from where we were seated.   It stayed that way for a couple of songs and then they switched to a friendlier white/yellow schema so you could actually see how many people were on stage.  Although I feel like there were five sometimes, I only see 4 band members listed: Alexia Roditis vocals / guitar ; Violet Mayugba guitar ; Narsai Malik – drums ; David Orozco – bass.  But I’m also pretty sure there was some instrument switching going on.

The sound was also a little rough (arena shows, amiright?) but the band’s energy was undeniable.

When we finally could see them, they were jumping around stage and generally kicking butt.  (more…)

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