La Dispute at the El Rey
Grand Rapids, Michigan, based post-hardcore band La Dispute tore up Los Angeles’s El Rey Theater Monday, August 25th. Following a show at the FYF Festival on Sunday, and teaming up with Balance and Composure and local band Souvenirs, La Dispute put on a show for the ages; an evening of intense and passionate music-making that rivals anything I have seen this year.
Admission of Bias: I feel that Jordan Dreyer and La Dispute are the single best live act performing in America today. I can say this without any doubt because while the contest for the second best live band may be tough, La Dispute is in a league of its own. There is something that happens when Jordan Dreyer takes the stage. The combination of intensity and depth of emotion is unmatched. Think of Edgar Allen Poe performing his poetry live. Think of the intensity of the Sex Pistols. Then think of the stage presence of Cirque de Soleil. Put it all together, and you have La Dispute.
Have you sat down and read a really good story recently? Have you become attached to the character in a book and the author tears him away and you are left sobbing? This is how intense a La Dispute concert is. You share the deep raw emotion of painful personal stories told in such a beautiful way, with the power of Dreyer’s vocals and the indescribable emotional sound of the guitar work driven powerfully by Brad Vander Lugt’s drumming and accented perfectly by Adam Vass’s superior bass skills.
Admission of Bias: I feel that Jordan Dreyer and La Dispute are the single best live act performing in America today. I can say this without any doubt because while the contest for the second best live band may be tough, La Dispute is in a league of its own. There is something that happens when Jordan Dreyer takes the stage. The combination of intensity and depth of emotion is unmatched. Think of Edgar Allen Poe performing his poetry live. Think of the intensity of the Sex Pistols. Then think of the stage presence of Cirque de Soleil. Put it all together, and you have La Dispute.
Have you sat down and read a really good story recently? Have you become attached to the character in a book and the author tears him away and you are left sobbing? This is how intense a La Dispute concert is. You share the deep raw emotion of painful personal stories told in such a beautiful way, with the power of Dreyer’s vocals and the indescribable emotional sound of the guitar work driven powerfully by Brad Vander Lugt’s drumming and accented perfectly by Adam Vass’s superior bass skills.
Monday’s show was a departure from some of the other shows I have seen from La Dispute. There was no “Said the King To The River,” probably the best live song I have ever survived in a moshpit. Also lacking was “St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church Blues,” a complicated song about the decline of a place of worship that parallels the decline of the economy and life of Michigan….only to find out that the song itself is a parable of the struggles we have as humans. Monday they played a ton of songs that don’t get as much play time: “Damaged Goods,” “Scenes from the Highway 1981-2009,” “Safer in the Forest/Love Song for Michigan,” and “The Most Beautiful Bitter Fruit.”
The setlist they did play was put together brilliantly to vary the atmosphere. From slow, beautiful tunes such as “Woman (in Mirror)” to the devastating “New Storms For Older Lovers,” La Dispute kept the crowd wildly switching between dancing, chanting, and wild moshing. Jordan Dreyer brought Jeremy Bolm of Touche Amore on stage and they played “How I Feel” and “Why it Scares Me” from their split EP Searching for a Pulse/The Worth of the World, released in 2010.
The setlist they did play was put together brilliantly to vary the atmosphere. From slow, beautiful tunes such as “Woman (in Mirror)” to the devastating “New Storms For Older Lovers,” La Dispute kept the crowd wildly switching between dancing, chanting, and wild moshing. Jordan Dreyer brought Jeremy Bolm of Touche Amore on stage and they played “How I Feel” and “Why it Scares Me” from their split EP Searching for a Pulse/The Worth of the World, released in 2010.
Throughout the show what blows the mind of anyone new to a La Dispute concert is the incredible dedication of the fans, who can sing pretty much every word of every song. Now this might not seem like that big of a deal for those who frequent rock shows. I love intelligent lyrics, like those written by Tim McIlrath (Rise Against) or Jesse Hasek (Ten Years). But Jordan Dreyer is different. Every song is an epic poem; think Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, or the Gettysburg Address. The words are complicated, multi-faceted stories with multiple meanings, both implicit and explicit. In fact, near the end Dreyer explained that the last two songs dealt with “the pain involved in the inability to break off a relationship [Andria], [and the second] about the beauty of life when you finally move on and realize the beauty of the world that is right in front of your eyes.” That last song, “Extraordinary Dinner Party,” I thought really was only about the beauty of a morning after a big snow storm, but no, Dreyer insinuated, the deeper meaning was finding beauty when you finally let your past challenges go and move on.
This is something I wish Dreyer would actually do more of in concert, which is to talk a bit about the songs and what they mean, or mean to him. Buying a La Dispute CD is purchasing an album of great music, combined with a book of extraordinary poetry. Seeing a live La Dispute show is something akin to a religious experience, but one where you get to scream, mosh, dance, push, shove and all around have an amazing time.
This is something I wish Dreyer would actually do more of in concert, which is to talk a bit about the songs and what they mean, or mean to him. Buying a La Dispute CD is purchasing an album of great music, combined with a book of extraordinary poetry. Seeing a live La Dispute show is something akin to a religious experience, but one where you get to scream, mosh, dance, push, shove and all around have an amazing time.
From the first time I saw this band, I said I would never miss one of their shows. This last show Monday was the absolute best show I have seen. The combination of the diverse setlist and the fact that Dreyer was clearly on his game made this the absolute best La Dispute show I have witnessed. Like I have written in other articles, La Dispute’s sound and Jordan Dreyer’s singing is an acquired taste, it is like a fine wine; it gets better with age. It is also like a best friend; the more you know about that person and the closer you understand them, the more you love everything about them. But no acquisition or adjustment is needed for a La Dispute performance; it is, simply put, the best live music.
 | Dan Adler was raised in Southern California to a mom and dad, one of whom appreciated Creedence and left wing anti-war politics. By the teenage years, Dan became obsessed with Black Sabbath, listening to the same seven albums repeatedly for 5 years. During this time, his favorite concert experience was seeing Metallica open for a bunch of bands that no longer exist and winning the 1st ever Santa Cruz Air Guitar contest. After several years in Africa listening and dancing to Chimurenga music, Dan returned to have the two best children in the world, one of whom spends a lot of time at concerts with him. What a lucky dad! |
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