La Dispute Feed Crowd Enthusiam With Superb Set
Published
As part of their European tour, post-hardcore band La Dispute played two dates in the UK, of which I attended the Leeds show at Brudenell Social Club on 25 May. It’s only been a short while since La Dispute last visited the UK, and even Brudenell as a venue, having toured UK and Europe last year for the release of their third record, Rooms of the House; their website biography describes them as “[always] learning, often touring”. The atmosphere on Monday 25 May is one of such anticipation and excitement, and going by the pre-show chatter I overhear, I am more than likely in for a treat.
La Dispute take to the stage in a frenzy of bright light, cheers, screaming and applause. My initial thoughts are that their set is going to have to be really brilliant to live up to their audience’s enthusiasm, which - disclaimer – it sure enough is.
Kicking off with "King Park", from the 2011 album 'Wildlife', La Dispute set the bar high for the rest of the show with the energy with which they play. Whilst it could be disputed, "King Park" is one of La Dispute’s better songs for trying to define their music. Jordan Dreyer alternates seamlessly between spoken word, singing and screaming, which given the poetic nature of the lyrics seems a harsh way to put it, but it gives La Dispute its strength because it is so emotive. As the audience chants “can I still get into Heaven if I kill myself”, La Dispute’s passionate story-telling comes to live in the main room of Brudenell Social Club.
The set comprises of a mix of tracks from Wildlife and Rooms of the House. After playing "First Reactions After Falling Through Ice" and "The Most Beautiful Bitter Fruit", Dreyer formally greets the audience, stating that tonight is the first show that the band have played in a while and that there is no better way to kick of their European tour.
The tightness of the set so far, only three songs in, and the reaction of the audience in the packed venue confirm his thoughts. The set takes a more mellow turn with "Woman (In Mirror)", but it fits well in the performance and there is a real ambiance to it. The show picks up pace again with "For Mayor in Spitsville" and "A Letter", before Dreyer offers the audience a pointless anecdote - “five minutes our of lives [we’ll] never get back” as he talks about his broken shoe that he had attempted to secure with tape before the show. Narration is at the heart of La Dispute, which is perhaps why they are, as a band, tricky to pinpoint; not all stories require impassioned vocals, as "Woman (In The Mirror) has shown.
"Harder Harmonies" is intense and Dreyer’s energy is admirable, but there are instant cheers as soon as the guitar riff of "Safer In The Fores / A Love Song For Michigan" begins. The last of the tracks from "Wildlife" in the set, "Stay Happy Here", "Woman (Reading)" and "Extraordinary Dinner Party" continue to go down well with the audience and the La Dispute remain as compelling as they were then they first took the stage.
Dreyer humbly thanks the audience for being at the show before ending with the brutal sounding "Hudsonville MI 1956". As Dreyer instructs ‘stay calm’, the audience takes its engagement with La Dispute up a notch with people clambering to stage dive as it becomes clear that, until La Dispute next return, the show is coming to its close.
"Hudsonville MI 1956" is a brilliant song to end the set with, but audience chants for more as soon as the band leave the stage and there is muttering about the lack of tracks from their first album, 'Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair'. La Dispute, indeed, return to the stage to play the fantastic 12 minute long "Last Long Continent", during which the audience sings, chants, stage dives as the song progresses, and as La Dispute demonstrate precisely what the audience was anticipating before the show.
To find out more about La Dispute click here.
To visit the La Dispute Facebook page click here.
Words by Ellie Brown
