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Photos + Review | Lucius & Pure Bathing Culture @ Royale Boston

On March 29th two of the Music Savage crew, and what seemed like the rest of Boston, packed in tightly at the Royale for one helluva show. We all knew what was in store for us that Tuesday evening but everyone’s expectations were completely destroyed from the knockout blow delivered by the one-two punch of Pure Bathing Culture and Lucius.

Having seen Lucius a few times before, most recently at 2014’s Newport Folk Festival, I had been in a crowd of adoring fans that knew all the words by heart, but the Royale audience took the adoration cake for the sheer excitement that poured out for every song. This is a band that brings their A+ game to every show and the Berklee School of Music grads have won over their old college town big time.

With three albums to their name (they have retired their 2009 debut Songs From The Bromley House) the setlist was comprised primarily of songs from 2013’s Wildewomen and their March 2016 release Good Grief. The show kicked off with the beautiful song, “Madness,” which is the first track on Good Grief, and when Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig hit that chorus, “Maybe I’ll drive myself to madness,” the crowd sang along with a passion that almost blew the walls off the place. It was something to behold.

Diving into “Tempest” from Wildewomen for the next song Wolfe and Laessig, along with their stellar bandmates Dan Molad (drums, vocals), Peter Lalish (guitar and vocals), and Andrew Burri (guitar, drums, vocals) were in perfect harmony as they flowed between albums as effortlessly as the emerald green capes flowed on the backs of the perfectly pompadoured duo. From the harmonious “Go Home,” to the harmonious “Dusty Trails,” straight to the harmoniously dancey “Born Again Teen” one thing stood out the most. Can you guess? Yup, harmonies. Amazing!

The encore saw the frontwomen take center stage with Sarah Versprille of Pure Bathing Culture for a beautiful rendition of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” The night ended with the single, “Genevieve,” where they sing “Oh they had a field day/Oh they had a/Oh they had a field day/ Oh they had a field day, didn’t they?”

Yes, yes we did!

Speaking of Sarah Versprille and Pure Bathing Culture, they kicked of the evening in brilliant style. The Portland, Oregon band’s latest album Pray for Rain was released in 2015 on Partisan Records and they have been amassing new fans on every stop of this tour, Boston was no exception. Verprille’s hauntingly beautiful voice washed over the crowd like a gentle rain while her talented bandmates, including of course co-founder/multi-instrumentalist Daniel Hindman, kept us moving and shaking. They are phenomenal live and you fine people should seek out their music and head to the shows when Pure Bathing Culture head to your town.

If you missed this Lucius show don’t fret. You can remedy that mistake this Fall when they take over the House Of Blues stage on September 20th. Be there!

Check out the fantastic shots of our wonderful evening taken by our very own Jamie Reiley.

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