LOS ANGELES, CA- Dead Sara. Dead. Fucking. Sara. I love this band.
Ever since I caught them touring in support of their self-titled debut album at the El Rey back in 2013, I was hooked. At the time, their vicious live performance raised the bar for aspiring rock acts. It was the kind of performance that had the blood in your veins violently course through the body with every wail by their lead singer Emily or shred by their lead guitarist Siouxsie. It still is.
Earlier this year, Dead Sara released their 6 song EP, Temporary Things Taking Up Space. It took three years and a line-up change, but the new music was worth the wait. We find their band exploring new sounds, venturing into a more polished and melodic territory of sonics, but the grit and intensity that I fell in love with on their debut album are still all there. Emily still wails and Siouxsie still shreds. Oh yeah, Mr. Friday still rocks that drum kit.
Dead Sara wrapped up their domestic tour in support of Temporary Things with two straight nights in their hometown at the Teragram Ballroom, and I was able to attend their second night. With their die-hard fans waiting in line hours before doors opened, some traveling from out of state to party with their favorite band on their last stand, you knew it was going to be both a raucous and joyous affair.
With a solid 14 song setlist that featured almost all of the new songs from Temporary Things, Dead Sara’s final performance of the tour was exhibited all those things fans have loved about them from the start and all of the things we can expect from them going forward. Fans who love watching Dead Sara’s knock-out classic banger anthems like “Lemon Scent”, “Mona Lisa” and “Weatherman” can now add “What It Takes” and “Heaven’s Got A Back Door” to the list. Let’s not forget about the visceral, and politically charged, “Unamerican” which hearkens back to what I guess we can now call the “classic” Dead Sara sound.
What I was particularly impressed with at this performance was how seamless Dead Sara was able to bridge the attitude and musical styles of the songs across their repertoire. As I had mentioned earlier, their newer cuts are more polished and perhaps more melodic. More “pop” even. But it’s the way that they carry themselves on stage, and the charisma that the band has while performing, that gives every song that Dead Sara edge. I’ll note that the one song from Temporary Things that they didn’t perform was “One Day We’ll Make It Big”, which also happens to be-in my humble opinion- their most pop-friendly composition. Perhaps that was by design as maybe its inclusion in the setlist may have been a little too “new” for their diehard fans (per Setlist.FM, the song was only performed once on tour, and acoustic no less.
Personally, I think Emily, Siouxsie, and Sean could have played anything during their set, and I would have loved and appreciated every minute of it. It’s hard not to savor the taste in your mouth when they conclude a rocking performance with a double whammy of “Unamerican” and “Weatherman”. It brings it all back to the reasons why I loved this band in the first place. Badass rock and roll.
Dead. Fucking. Sara. I love this band.
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