LIVE REVIEW: L.S. Dunes @ Club Academy, Manchester

Within a year of being announced, L.S.DUNES managed to drop a successful album and both announced and completed US and UK/EU tours. As part of the UK leg, they stopped off at Manchester’s Club Academy, an intimate 650 cap venue, perfect for new bands (of which L.S. DUNES is) but it proved much too small for their rapidly growing fan base. Though the band dislike the term supergroup, L.S. DUNES is formed by industry juggernauts, which explains their vast jump in popularity. With the group compiling of vocalist Anthony Green [CIRCA SURVIVE/SAOSIN], bassist Tim Payne and Tucker Rule [both from THURSDAY], lead guitarist Travis Stever [COHEED & CAMBRIA] and rhythm guitarist Frank Iero [MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE/DEATH SPELLS/PENCEY PREP & Solo ventures] it is no surprise that they hit the ground running with a sold-out debut tour. The tour was supposed to be supported by both NO DEVOTION and KAYLEIGH GOLDSWORTHY, though NO DEVOTION had to pull out last minute due to a family emergency.

This gave solo artist KAYLEIGH GOLDSWORTHY the daunting task of opening up for a rock band as a singular performer, but she took it in her stride and owned every moment. Many of the audience were already familiar with Goldsworthy, having seen her as part of FRANK IERO AND THE FUTURE VIOLENTS, and were quick to support her wholeheartedly. Any sceptics who may have remained in the crowd were quickly bowled over by her quick wit, smooth remarks and genuine talent.

Kayleigh said herself that she was nervous to open up for L.S. DUNES as a “soft and slow” musician, adding that she felt she was the “Xanex before the chaos” but any worry wasn’t necessary as she commandeered the stage for the tracks Boomerang and Jamie, effortlessly drawing the crowd in for the chorus. Performing only seven songs she took every opportunity to show her both her vocal and instrumental talent. 

As her set drew to a close, Goldsworthy performed fan-favourite Overambitious, and what better way to close a support act’s set than to bring out the band she’s opening for to help her perform the track? If the crowd weren’t already hyped up, they certainly were when four of five members of L.S. DUNES came onstage to help close up the support set, merging with Kayleigh’s style perfectly and giving a taster for what was to come.

Rating: 9/10 

From beginning to end, L.S. DUNES had the audience’s attention captured completely with the perfect balance of raw emotion, pure talent and that extra bit of chaotic energy. Before the first song, Bombsquad, had even kicked in, Anthony Green was off the stage and climbing onto the front barrier to sing along with the crowd. The energy in this small venue was unlike any large crowd, the passion and enthusiasm bouncing between the audience and the band were palpable.

Each member had a moment to shine, be it through a strategically placed solo, or through the crowd chanting each bandmembers name (to which Tucker joined in drumming). It comes as no surprise that with only one album out, that is exactly what they played in its entirety.  With an album packed of hard-hitters, every single song had a visceral reaction from the audience, many of which were following the entire tour, but none had reactions quite like their debut track Permanent Rebellion, with the crowd screaming every single lyric, sometimes even more coherently than Anthony Green’s notoriously distorted vocals. With such a small venue comes a small stage, so the band couldn’t move around anywhere near as much as would be expected, but they were by no means stuck in one place. With Green often clambering onto the front barrier, Travis Stever and Tim Payne took the opportunity to run and jump around to their hearts content.

In the track Grifter, Frank Iero managed to show off just how well he has recovered from his double wrist surgery with impressive guitar prowess, including throwing up his guitar and catching it in the middle of a bridge and managing to continue playing flawlessly. Throughout their set, their lyrics hit on depression and anxiety and drew in influence from the pandemic, creating this cathartic outlet for all involved. The encore consisted of tracks 2022 and Sleep Cult, surprisingly the two more emotional songs off of their album Past Lives.

There are no rules when it comes to LS DUNES, each member already has a successful career in other bands, this is a passion project, and it shows. This was solidified when hearing the primarily rock crowd singing a chorus of “shooby doo” to close a concert. It was an incredibly weird experience but somehow still worked. For Sleep Cult, they returned full circle and brought out Kayleigh Goldsworthy for their final track where she wowed the crowd even further with her violin skill. Ending on such a slow song, the crowd were left tender and emotional after such a gut-wrenchingly hard-hitting set from L.S. DUNES, but one thing was clear – something special happened that night, and this band will continue to grow as strong as their fanbase is.

Rating: 10/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Manchester from Sabrina Ramdoyal Photography here: 

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