Photos and review by NOTES FROM VIVACE
LOS ANGELES – Australian band Pond sold out the Lodge Room. Let’s define sold out: It was so packed in the Lodge Room that Pond fans were practically standing out in the lobby to listen to one of their favorite bands.
And Pond is clearly a fan favorite, judging by the adoring crowd. The band was on the tail end of their 13-stop tour across the United States that started in Nashville and ended recently in Santa Ana. It was a tour stop that previewed three songs from their upcoming tenth album, Stung!, which will be dropping on June 21st.
The press release for their new album reads: The last four Pond albums have been showcases of tidiness and brevity, 10 ideas always tucked into 40 minutes or so. But on Stung!, they gleefully, madly, and willfully lean into double-LP largesse . . . A band for the better part of two decades, Pond has accepted (with no small joy or relief) that they are no longer beholden to shifting expectations of cool. That idea has empowered them, allowing them to play precisely what they want, to not move toward any goal but being themselves.
Pond played a 15-song set, which included three encores. The night was a sampling of songs across their wide catalog of album releases. They opened the night with “Daisy” from their Tasmania album. The dreamy sounds of the song had fans screaming in ecstasy.
That was followed up with the dance beats of “America’s Cup.” Lead singer Nick Allbrook took the opportunity to hang out at the edge of the stage and interact with the fans that were pressed up close. “Neon River” featured Jay Watson taking vocal leads for a portion of the song, which allowed Allbrook to sprawl on the stage floor and watch Watson carry a tune. Watson starts the song with lullaby quality before Allbrook blasts the audience away with aggressive vigor until Watson takes back the vocals. A great interplay that provides a preview of how awesome their album Stung! is going to be.
The band waited mid-set before playing one of their more popular tunes “Paint Me Silver” that had Allbrook dancing with his microphone stand as the keyboards played earworm musical notes. For the psychedelic infused “Giant Tortoise,” Allbrook took advantage of the packed house to crowd surf all the way out to the middle of the venue. He must have had a lot of fun, because he took another crowd surf a few moments later during “Don’t Look at the Sun or You’ll Go Blind.”
The tender vocals of “Toast” had the crowd raising their arms high and swaying to the sounds. Before the band closed out the night, they thanked their opener 26fix, which toured with Pond for most of their scheduled tour dates. They also thanked the Lodge Room staff, making the following observation about one of the staff, “I’ve never seen someone so handsome.”
26fix opened up the night. The band calls Salt Lake City, Utah home; a city with “more restrictive alcohol laws,” which has the unintended impact of the band getting way too drunk after just one drink in Los Angeles. The band is fronted by Erica Goodwin who took out the tambourine for their first song “Just go with it.” The tambourine gave a nice speed tempo that fits in perfectly with the lyrics of life, “I’d like a path. That’s been freed of the clutter. But not so fast. I guess there’s more to discover.”
The band enjoyed their time with Pond and mentioned how they went out for tacos with the band and attempted Aussie accents, which got a response from Pond as being really really bad. Goodwin is a lead singer with a thousand facial expressions, especially when playing off the bassist. One has to wonder if it isn’t an attempt to get the bassist to crack up laughing. Their song “Stone Killer” with dreaming psychedelic beats was a hit with the crowd. How would the band describe their set? As they said early in the set, “We’re just having fun. A lot of fun.”
Pond setlist: Daisy, America’s Cup, (I’m) Stung, Neon River, Sweep Me Off My Feet, Black Lung, Human Touch, Paint Me Silver, Aloneaflameaflower, The Weather, Giant Tortoise / Torn Asunder, Toast. Encores: Hang a Cross on Me, Don’t Look at the Sun or You’ll Go Blind, Medicine Hat
26fix setlist: Just go with it, She Hit Me First, God Likes to Laugh, Panama, A Pickle, Stone Killer, Tester Snake.
