Los Angeles, California ~ February 16th, 2014

   Review & Photos by Charles Epting

Few bands in the modern punk scene are as respected as Chicago’s The Lawrence Arms. Ever since their formation in 1999, the trio consistently churned out catchy, heartfelt music that straddles the line between pop and punk—that is, until their 2006 release, Oh! Calcutta!, after which the band promptly seemed to disappear. With the exception of occasional tour dates and a sole EP, the band didn’t appear to be doing much of anything.

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Chris McCaughan

Bassist/vocalist Brendan Kelly began working on a number of side-projects, including The Wandering Birds and The Falcon, which also features Lawrence Arms drummer Neil Hennessy. Meanwhile, guitarist Chris McCaughan focused on his acoustic side-project, Sundowner. Given the number of different projects the trio has going on, it came as a surprise to many when The Lawrence Arms announced their forthcoming sixth full-length album late last year. Metropole was released on January 28, 2014 to widespread acclaim.
On February 16, The Lawrence Arms packed the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles—it was obvious that their return to the West Coast was long overdue. As the lights went down, a fan screamed “Brendan! Chris! Neil!”, to which Kelly simply replied “Yeah, that’s us.” The band opened with “Chilean District”, the opening track on Metropole, which lasts all of a minute and twenty seconds. From there, McCaughan went straight into the opening riff of “Great Lakes/Great Escapes”—the first of several songs to come off of Oh! Calcutta!
From that point on, the set was a mixture of new songs and fan favorites—and the difference was obvious based on the crowd’s response. Lawrence Arms’ classics like “The Slowest Drink…” and “The Ramblin’ Boys of Pleasure” were crowd pleasers, although the audience was noticeably subdued on some of the new material. The band’s 2003 album, The Greatest Story Ever Told (which even Kelly will admit is regarded to be their strongest release), was underrepresented in the set list with only one track played—although the rest of the night featured a well-balanced mix of old and new.

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Brendan Kelly

The Larwrence Arms—and Brendan Kelly in particular—are notorious for their lewd stories and crass language; but their show at the El Rey featured little of either. In many ways, the band seemed wiser and more mature than they ever have before—their playing is more proficient, their lyrics more poignant. Before playing “Seventeener”, Kelly told the audience that the last time they were in Los Angeles was to film the song’s music video, which features The Lawrence Arms dressed up as Poison, Falling In Reverse, and Juggalos. Beneath the humor, though, the song touches on subjects of aging and mortality, best summarized in the lyrics “And dying young just didn’t work and so I guess I’m dying old”.
The night ended with two of the bands most popular songs—“100 Resolutions” and “Are You There Margaret? It’s Me, God”—which pushed the already-crazed crowd over the edge. As great as Metropole may be (and it will certainly go down as one of the best punk albums of the year), The Lawrence Arms know why their fans are there—to reminisce, travel back to their youth, and scream at the top of their lungs “This year let’s live liked we’ve never lived before, this is our year for sure.”

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"A Long Over Due Return to the West Coast" Lawrence Arms at the El Rey Theatre
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