Concert Review: letlive., Auckland New Zealand, 2017

letlive.

18th January 2017
Kings Arms Tavern, Auckland, New Zealand

Review by Sarah Kidd, Photography by Matt Henry Photography.

New Zealand fans of Los Angeles band letlive. have had to wait a long time to see them finally head down this way for a show, but with an already impressive back catalogue of tracks and a reputation as one of the best live bands currently on the circuit, they know it will be worth the wait.

The crowd were already well amped when support act City Newton Bombers trooped onto stage. The City Newton Bombers hold a notable place in NZ music history – featuring members who played in bands such as Hallelujah Picassos and Garageland, their self-titled album released back in 2006 was a huge hit. The band was in fine form as they took the stage and the crowd lapped up tracks such as ‘Rebel Dog’, ‘New Year’ and the classic ‘Damascus’. They finished their set with the fast paced ‘Who Dares Wins (Who Cares Who Wins) and bonus points of the night had to be awarded to Dave Goodison for his ‘Nazi Trumps – Fuck Off’ singlet.

The crowd started to press in tight against the edge of the stage, eagerly watching for the first signs of letlive. They weren’t kept waiting long before the band arrived, huge cheers going up as lead singer Jason Butler stepped into the light and grinned at the front row.

Suddenly it was like a bomb had gone off inside Butler’s insides, as the band ripped into ‘Renegade 86’ from their 2010 album Fake History. Butler exploded on stage – all at once he was everywhere. The curtain on the side of the stage was attacked and wrestled, the mic stand was swung around wildly and at one point the microphone itself ended up fully inside Butler’s mouth as he let out a series of blood curdling howls, bent over with both arms behind his back… and that was just the first song of the night!

Straight into ‘Another Offensive Song’ from their latest album ‘If I’m The Devil…’ and the temperature is already 101 degrees inside the venue. Sweat is pouring off Butler as he continues to throw himself around the stage. Grabbing a 1.5 litre bottle of what appeared to be sparkling water; he shakes it up and sprays the band, the ceiling and anything else that happens to be in the line of fire.

“We are 21 hours away from where we live – it’s like we’re in the fucking future!” Butler takes a moment to address the audience. “Seriously I really do love the people of New Zealand though – I even married one” he laughs, the crowd cheering their approval.

“Now jump up and down like it’s 1995” Butler screams into the microphone as the swaggering opening notes of ‘A Weak Ago’ ring out over the speakers, “Are you havin fun yet??” Butler yells to the now heaving mass of bodies in front of him, their almost deafening screams providing the answer. As the intro to the next track started playing you could see the entire band wind up, their muscles twitching, ready to break loose. ‘The Sick, Sick, 6.8 Billion’ hit the audience like a tidal wave of brutality, Butler launching himself onto the lighting rack bolted to the ceiling and hanging there before swinging himself forward and dropping onto the outstretched hands of the crowd.

“This is fun, this is fuckin cool!” Butler grins, before dedicating ‘Foreign Cab Rides’ to his wife Kiwi musician Gin Wigmore (who is in the audience), the slower track giving the fans a slight reprieve.

But Butler is a man that can’t stay still for long, “Do they do circle pits in New Zealand? If so I want to see one right now!!” he didn’t have to ask twice, the fans happily complied with the request; a perfectly formed swirling vortex showed the band exactly what a NZ circle pit looked like.

By now Butler’s shirt is gone, his jeans are ripped and he has had to replace his mic stand as the previous one has been decimated. “America is going through some strange times at the moment” Butler addresses the audience with a serious tone, “And we are here to say, we don’t accept sexism, racism, bigotry, misogyny or any of that sort of hate – I feel safe in NZ, I feel I can be who I need to be” Butler grabs a guitar “Oh yeah – and fuck Trump”.

Following a particularly poignant version of “Reluctantly Dead” the energy level is once again turned to 110% as Butler invites all the crowd surfers to get up on stage. And as the band belted out ‘Banshee (Ghost Fame)’ from the album ‘The Blackest Beautiful’, a steady stream of fans gleefully complied, taking full of advantage of a few moments of freedom to clamber up onto the stage and dive back into the waiting crowd.

Nearing the end of the set, Butler once again speaks to the audience, giving a beautiful speech about his mother and how she taught him to be a man, and how the women of this world, the mothers, the daughters, and the sisters are something to be cherished and looked after. The band had just begun to play the opening riffs from their 2010 track ‘Muther’ when the audience, in perfect unison, began to sing the opening lines of the song, Butler visibly taken aback, looks at his fellow band members, their grins displaying their genuine pleasure – “Oh Shit” Butler smiles and shakes his head before joining the chorus of voices. They rounded out the set with ‘Good Mourning America’ a powerful track from the new album addressing police brutality in the states, followed by an in your face version of ‘Day 54’.

Authentic and brutally honest – letlive. proved exactly why they are one of the best live bands around.

letlive. perform live at the Kings Arms Tavern, Auckland, New Zealand 2017. Image by Matt Henry Photography.

Were you there at the Kings Arms Tavern to witness this fun show? Or have you been lucky enough to have seen letlive. somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!