By: Taylor Morgan
LP
The Constellation Room
9/23/14
In a dimly lit room, a crowd of awkward couples and groups of girlfriends gather, giddy with anticipation of singer and songwriter LP. This inimitable artist with elastic vocal range is Laura Pergolizzi, but she has gone by the name 'LP' since the '90s when she was discovered by David Lowery of the band Cracker. She would go on to write music for The Backstreet Boys, Joe Walsh and even Rihanna before gaining notoriety as the natural bred musician we see before us at the Constellation Room. Last year, Vogue Magazine featured LP as one of their “People to Watch in 2013”. A year later she has released a well crafted, 12 track album, labeled 'Forever For Now' and Vogue's prophecy has proven true before our eyes.
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LP assumes the stage with skin tight jeans and reaches for her signature ukulele before beginning to sing “I don't want to be part of mediocrity/Cause all I see is one big plague, and I/Only want the truth” from “Free To Love.” The crowd adorns her with screams and confessions of love as the indie/rock artist moves right along to sing “Salvation” and next her most praised track “Night Like This.” Some shake their heads with amazement to her lyrics and absurdly beautiful and crystal clear whistles, as others allow the beat to dictate the rhythm of their head bob.
She moves on to sing “Your Town” and “One Last Mistake.” A girl from the audience screams “I love you” and LP reciprocates the love to her fan before singing “Road to Ruin” a track that she notes is not on her album, regrettably. It's like much of her music, it tackles large themes of the trials and tribulations of life but somehow makes light of such topics with airy and folky tunes. Next she sings “Tokyo Sunrise” which has gained some belated buzz in the last two weeks when its official music video premiered on Time Magazine's website. She followed it with a cover “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins which was electrifying.
A girl in a hummingbird dress, drinking a Stella, dances with her boyfriend to “Levitator” and next LP performs “Savanna” and title track “Forever For Now.” She begins to sing, “Some say when hearts race there's no saving grace/Tho Cruel fate I'll just wait cuz nothing can sway” as she jumps off the stage and tangibly connects with fans during “Someday.” Her stage manager nervously attempts to follow her throughout the room and much to his relief LP makes it back to the stage just as she concludes her song. The crowd roars and she leaves the stage just to further provoke the already vigorous claps and chants of her name. A girl in the audience yells to her friend, “I had to pee but I guess I reabsorbed it?!” Before any other bizarre chatter can occur LP has returned and she covers The Beatles song “Something.” She concludes the night with the song that made her whistling infamous, “Into The Wild,” and the crowd disperses in awe of this human being with a promising future as a singer/songwriter.
Set List:
Free To Love
Salvation
Night Like This
Heavenly Light
Your Town
One Last Mistake
Road to Ruin
Tokyo Sunrise
In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins (Cover)
Levitator
Savanna
Forever For Now
Someday
Encore:
Something by The Beatles (Cover)
Into The Wild
See also:
10 Jazz Albums to Listen to Before You Die
Ian Anderson's Idea of Rock-n-Roll is More Complex Than You Know
The 25 Greatest OC Bands of All Time: The Complete List
