Historically, I haven’t been into post-hardcore, among a list of other genres that I never quite got into in my younger days. Not out of distaste, mind you; I simply wasn’t really exposed to it extensively. While it’s said that branching out our artistic taste buds becomes more difficult with age and fully developed brains, I’ve never found that to be much of an issue. Especially after the absence of live music due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I can’t help but cherish every opportunity I get to see an in-person performance, regardless of the genre. And the science of aging be damned: I keep coming across new-to-me music and genres that I fall in love with. It feels like I’ve lucked out in the cognitive lottery in this way (but not in others; I’m a dumbass at heart).
With that said, I’ve been aware of Michigan’s La Dispute for about a decade because of a best friend who has been a longtime fan, despite having never taken a deep dive into their discography. Said friend added “Andria” – from the band’s 2008 full-length debut album Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Altair and Vega – on a shared playlist, so that’s always been a favorite. But it wasn’t really until a few months ago that I made a much more concentrated effort to explore the band’s discography, starting with their 2006 EP Vancouver and continuing through to 2019’s Panorama – which, by the way, got the remix treatment, a year later, featuring efforts by an eclectic array of collaborators that includes NNAMDÏ, Zeal & Ardor, Kitty, and more.
At any rate, I was excited for the opportunity to see them come through the Paradise Rock Club on September 20th, even if I can’t name any of the band’s songs by ear or sing along to any lyrics. Big props to anyone who can keep up with frontman Jordan Dreyer’s verbose lyrical style; while the band for sure have their anthemic moments, many tracks are spoken word poetry, veritable short stories set to complex, progressive melodic instrumentation.
La Dispute’s live show is accentuated by Dreyer’s excitable stage presence; constantly moving around, he’s a hard man to photograph, but it certainly gets the crowd going, with about 650 avid fans singing along to every word. Pretty impressive when you keep in mind just how many words can end up in a La Dispute song. One fleeting moment of concern came when Dreyer leapt atop the drummer Brad Vander Lugt’s bass drum and nearly slipped off, but he quickly found his balance, laughing it off with some light stage banter when the song wrapped up.
Dreyer made a point to speak to the audience directly on two occasions. In the first, a little more than midway through the set, he talked about how wonderful a feeling it was to get back to live performances after not being able to play shows for the past three years, as well as the importance of having venues and spaces where such events are possible. The second, delivered right before the band’s closing run, had Dreyer speaking out in support of transgender rights and the necessity to maintain spaces that value the respect and safety of trans identities.
Cheers to that, Jordan.
Check out our gallery of the show below.
