Sellout. It’s been a big topic of discussion lately on HearYa about bands like The Black Keys, but last night it took on a different meaning. The Love Language took the stage to a sold-out audience at Schubas along with Telekenesis. The wife and I had a burger at Pint in Wicker Park, a quick beer at Estelle’s, and then made our way up to Schubas in time to say hi to the band before they took the stage. (Side note: they’re easily one of the most personable bands I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with.)
The Love Language recorded a second live session at Shirk Music & Sound earlier in the day (find their first HearYa Live Session here), so they were good and warmed up by the time they hit the stage. I’ve seen The Love Language play quite a few shows over the last few years, but I’ve got to say their performance last night at Schubas was the best I’ve seen them. The songs were tight, Stuart’s voice not only sounded great but so was his stage presence, drummer Jordan McLamb was playing with some serious authority, new bassist Nick seems to be a great addition, Missy brings so much fun and energy, and BJ Burton has added some real juice to the live songs.
They cranked through a set with barely a pause between most songs, and looked like they were having a great time. Stuart knocked back a shot on-stage early in the set, new bassist Nick was smiling ear-to-ear for 90% of the show, and drummer Jordan was hitting the drums so hard he literally shredded one of his cymbals.
There were a couple other highlights during the show. The first was a great version of “Manteo” with the entire band singing the first few bars a capella before ripping into it for the rest of the song. The other was more of an inside joke between BJ and Stuart. Earlier in the day at the HearYa session, BJ was joking about how he was slightly ‘over-served’ during one of their recent shows. He couldn’t figure out how to tune his guitar in the middle of the set, which led to him kicking Stu on stage as hard as he could for no reason. The two joked about it at Shirk’s studio, and in the middle of the set last night Stu tried to get BJ back. They looked like a couple of rams up there plowing into each other during Blue Angel. It was indicative of the entire set – just great energy on stage and a great vibe overall. The most fun I’ve had at a show in a while.
Aside from a great show, Shirk captured some really cool live tracks in the studio earlier in the day – I can’t wait for everyone to hear them. Stuart did a solo acoustic version of “Brittany’s Back” that had a cool Bruce Springsteen Nebraska-ish vibe to it.
The Love Language – Heart To Tell
In the meantime, here’s a fan video of “Lalita” from the Schubas show.
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