Castledoor opened up the show and they were quite good live. The 6 member band was crammed onto the stage in front of the Long Blondes gear. Their EP “Follow the Dove” has been out for awhile now and is full of really great tracks. During the middle of the set, they even busted out a bubble machine that blew trails of bubbles out to the audience.

Onto The Long Blondes:

Most of the songs played were off of the new record Couples along with the hits from Someone to Drive You Home. Couples is the disco inspired/ new wave rock record while their debut is more of the pump your fist/ cool indie rock record. So, it was a nice balance to keep the crowd moving. With Screech Louder playing on such a small drum set, i wasn’t expecting so many great beats to emit- especially on tracks off of Couples where the synths seem to mask most of his work. As a front woman, Kate migrates from the yelps and wails of “Separated By Motorways” to the seductive melody on “Too Clever By Half”. She is magnetic, confident and it was obvious that she was genuinely happy to be performing in Los Angeles. I wish i could say the same about Reenie and Emma because they were demure for most of the show but the crowd didn’t mind. Some of the highlights include “Separated by Motorways”, “Century”, “Guilt”, and “Giddy Stratospheres”.

The Set List In Order:

Here Comes The Serious Bit
Weekend Without Makeup
Autonomy Boy
Round The Hairpin (kate on snare drum)
Erin O’ Connor
Separated By Motorways
I Liked The Boys
Century
Too Clever By Half
You Could Have Both
The Couples
Once And Never Again
Guilt
I’m Going To Hell
Giddy Stratospheres
——————————-
Lust In The Movies
Only Lovers Left Alive
Nostalgia