Lake Street Dive shines at Union Transfer

Lake Street Dive | photo by Michelle Montgomery for WXPN | michellemontgomeryphotography.com

Lake Street Dive played an incredible set on their first of two nights at Union Transfer on Tuesday night. The four-piece group is currently touring in support of their sophomore album, Side Pony, which was released earlier this year. By fusing together the sounds of rock, R&B and soul along with a ‘60s influence, Lake Street Dive’s sound is catchy and unique. As soon as the band took the stage, the crowd went wild with excitement in anticipation for their set to start.

Between her killer vocals and her frequent enthusiastic interactions with the crowd, lead singer Rachel Price held an immense stage presence throughout the entire set. Scattered throughout the show were impressive and intricate instrumental solos, allowing each band member some well-deserved focus and recognition. Guitarist/trumpeter Michael “McDuck” Olson’s performed a high-energy trumpet solo, and upright bassist Bridget Kearney played an impressive jazz-inspired solo later on in the set. After playing “Don’t Make Me Hold Your Hand,” drummer Michael Calabrese led the song into an amazing percussion solo.

A standout moment of the night was when the band gathered around a microphone for a mesmerizing performance of “You Go Down Smooth,” where their harmonizing was impeccable. Afterwards, Price invited Rubblebucket’s horn section back onstage to join them for the rest of their set. Lake Street Dive ended the show with an energetic performance of “Call Off Your Dogs,” including a call and response sing-along during the instrumental break. The crowd cheered for more, and Lake Street Dive returned onstage for a fun encore performance covering Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Art-pop band Rubblebucket opened the show with a great performance. The seven-piece group played an energetic set featuring some songs off their upcoming album, Survival Sounds. Kalmia Traver on vocals and bari sax led the performance as she danced on stage and encouraged the crowd to dance and sing along. At one point, Traver along with Alex Toth on trumpet and Adam Dotson on trombone played while crowd surfing through the floor. Closing out their set, Traver, Toth and Dotson exited the room by marching and playing through the crowd.

Check out Lake Street Dive’s set list and photos from the show in the gallery below.

Setlist
Godawful Things
I Don’t Care About You
Side Pony
Clear A Space
Lola (The Kinks cover)
Black Candles
Hell Yeah
Saving All My Sinning
Stop Your Crying
Mistakes
Hello/Goodbye
Don’t Make Me Hold Your Hand
Elijah
Seventeen
What I’m Doing Here
You Go Down Smooth
Bad Self Portraits *with Rubblebucket
Spectacular Failure *with Rubblebucket
Call Off Your Dogs *with Rubblebucket

Encore:
Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen cover)