Show Pics – Love and Rockets @ ACL Live (6/16)

There are plenty of nostalgia acts rolling through Austin this summer. Ive already seen The Cure and Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears and Peter Gabriel are still inbound. BUT, when announced, I knew I had to see Love and Rockets. It is a shorter reunion tour, the first in over twenty years. While they did have one set in 2008, things were fairly bleak that I would get to ever see the band live. Pretty rad.

David J, Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins proved that their song catalog is every bit as fresh and relevant to a not quite sold out ACL Live. Opening was artist Vinsanto delivering an introspective collection of poems as songs.

Click through for a few thoughts and plenty of pics

Vinsanto is a friend of David J. David produced Vinsantos record several years back. As they explained, LnR has always put value on showcasing queer art. Joined on stage by [I cannot find my note] a very talented musician out of New Orleans, Vinsantos shared stories of growing up and change in song and between those musical moments.

Love and Rockets took to the stage to an applause that can only be described as an appreciative, heartfelt thank you from the fans that have been waiting decades to see them, either for the first time or the first time in decades. From there, they launched into a set of progressively louder songs ranging from the earliest days to the last records. I have to call out how amazing American Dream was; sure I got all bleary eyed singing along to Haunted, but there were certainly songs that stuck out in the live setting that I did not expect to. No Big Deal early on was a rush of blood to the head. The big hit had new life, the requisite hit So Alive delivered the punch of Kevin Haskins work on drums better than any recording could. It was all so good. Daniel Ash is a rock god. David J is the true north for the band. So very good