On Thursday night, Boston’s Love in Stockholm transformed the creaky-floored room at Harper’s Ferry into a full-blown, funk-fed dance party. Having seen these guys turn out crowded basements and rock clubs alike, I wasn’t surprised when even the stone-faced wallflowers at the bar came to life.
Yet, there was something different about this gig — something in their swagger that telegraphed LIS is gearing up for bigger and better things (and it wasn’t just the switch from PBR to Heineken).
As the openers began winding down, I caught up with the seven-piece band upstairs, filling out the tail end of their drink vouchers. Dressed in sport coats and polished loafers, they gave me a run-down of their new set list, featuring cuts from their upcoming album Too Much Love.
I asked new drummer Jesse Humphrey (fresh off a performance with John Mayer) if he was ready for his first show with the band.
“Born ready,” he quickly replied.
A new drummer, a new set, and a new style: this fresher LIS sure looks the part, but can they play the part?
Absolutely. In fact, they played the hell out of it. Always the showman, singer Charlie Rockwell refused to let anybody walk out of the bar unsatisfied. The new songs were greeted with approval, and the crowd screamed back the lyrics to standards like Allston, No Diggity and Too Much Love.
LIS will be taking their energetic live show on tour this summer to promote their new album, and with “no plans other than to make music,” ahead for the BU and Berklee grads, we’re predicting good things for the band who made us fall in love with Rock City all over again.
Concert video and pictures after the jump!
How is Love In Stockholm different from other bands playing around Boston?
Charlie Rockwell: Well, I don’t think that any of the other bands have a sound as big as ours. You know, a lot of people try to get a big sound by cranking up the distortion and playing loud, but we just have a seven-piece ensemble, and there isn’t a single person in the band who you can take out, and I think that gives us a unique sound.
How would you describe your sound, then?
CR: I think you’d call it funk.
How has LIS changed since you first formed? I know you have a new drummer, but how else? And did you always plan on playing after graduation?
CR: I think that we really knew that music was something that we wanted to pursue after college. As far as our sound evolving or changing, it’s changed a lot. We’ve got a lot tighter; we’ve got a lot more of a defined sound, and I think a lot of that is going to come out in our album coming out, Too Much Love.
I hear you’ve got a lot of Allston groupies. Is that true?
CR: (Laughs) We’ve got a lot of people who come to our shows in Allston. And we hang out.
Are there any perks?
CR: Well, what kind of perks are we talking about? I think the greatest thing is it’s tough to
stick out in a town like Boston, you know? There are so many bands. So it’s great to know that when we play in Allston, we get a big turn out, and a bunch of people who are pumped up to come see us play, and that’s exciting. It took a long time to get to that level where, you know, you could go play at the Great Scott and people would show up to see us.
Tell me about the new drummer, Jesse.
CR: It’s actually pretty funny…me and my friend, The Woog — he’s a legend — we were hanging out at a bar and we were talking about how we needed a drummer and he was like, ‘My friend’s a drummer, I’m going to call him right now.’ And he called right there at the bar and was like, ‘You’ve got to play drums for my friend’s band.’ And of course, Jesse was like, ‘Yeah, okay, Woog,’ but we got in touch with him and played with him. He’s awesome; he’s an awesome drummer.
What can we expect from the next show?
CR: Probably an explosion for 2009. We had to get the pyrotechnics cleared. Maybe that’s what we’re missing — pyro.