{"id":24709,"date":"2015-09-21T16:03:20","date_gmt":"2015-09-22T00:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/?p=24709"},"modified":"2015-09-22T13:10:11","modified_gmt":"2015-09-22T21:10:11","slug":"concert-review-destroyer-regaled-at-the-regent-theater-la-last-night-with-devon-williams-opening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/2015-09\/concert-review-destroyer-regaled-at-the-regent-theater-la-last-night-with-devon-williams-opening\/","title":{"rendered":"Concert Review: Destroyer Regaled at the Regent Theater LA Last Night, with Devon Williams Opening"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_0015<\/a><\/p>\n

We’d waited fifteen-plus years to catch a show by Destroyer<\/a><\/strong>, the moniker of the deconstructionist ensemble led by Vancouver’s\u00a0Dan Bejar\u00a0<\/strong>(also a member of the\u00a0superb\u00a0New Pornographers<\/strong>). \u00a0That wait finally ended last night at the Regent Theater<\/strong> in LA when\u00a0Destroyer<\/strong>\u00a0stopped by on its current tour in support of its revelatory, seeker-infused album,\u00a0Poison Season.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 Destroyer’s<\/strong> eight members took the stage by storm at the Regent<\/strong> and relented only occasionally to calm the musical nerves. \u00a0To sum up: \u00a0Destroyer<\/strong> out-performed our heightened expectations (a nearly-impossible task, given how much we’ve treasured Destroyer’s<\/strong> discography), and delivered one of the more captivating shows of the year.<\/p>\n

Throughout the evening, the band (consisting of Bejar, Scott Morgan,\u00a0John Collins,\u00a0Ted Bois,\u00a0Nicolas Bragg,\u00a0Tim Loewen,\u00a0Fisher Rose <\/strong>and\u00a0Joseph Shabason<\/strong>) ranged widely from delicate, horn-and-flute infused arrangements to all-in, wall-of-sound assaults on our ears. \u00a0There was beauty in the variety, and power in the largesse.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0014<\/a><\/p>\n

The centerpiece of the show, naturally, remains the hirsute, unbuttoned\u00a0Bejar,<\/strong> whose vocals have rightly been compared to early Bowie.<\/strong>\u00a0 Despite that comparison,\u00a0Bejar’s<\/strong> spoken-sung delivery remains one of THE signature voices in all of music. \u00a0Most of the evening Bejar<\/strong> sang with microphone in right hand and left hand holding on to the “cane” of a half-mast mic stand. \u00a0After each vocal segment,\u00a0Bejar<\/strong>\u00a0would crouch\/kneel and sway to the ravishing music of his band while swigging a beverage. \u00a0Focused on the task at hand, Bejar<\/strong> barely interacted with the audience, saying “thanks” a couple of times and lifting up Frog Eyes<\/strong>\u00a0for praise despite their absence (owing to US visa problems). \u00a0In the end, all that mattered was the profound music being made on stage. \u00a0Bejar’s<\/strong> talented band mates must be heard to be believed, with exemplary trumpet, sax, guitar, keyboards and drumming tugging hearts or wailing throughout, as needed. \u00a0Complex arrangements and deft\/delicate playing were mixed and melded in maelstroms varying from beauty to verve.<\/p>\n

Destroyer<\/strong>\u00a0dotted their set with Poison Season<\/strong> <\/em>songs predominantly, but also with gems from masterpieces Kaputt<\/strong>\u00a0(<\/em>from 2011) and the earlier Destroyer’s Rubies<\/strong><\/em>. Great moments from the set included the pastoral-opening\u00a0Bangkok<\/strong><\/em>, Girl On A Sling, Midnight Meet The Rain, Times Square<\/strong><\/em> (which, with any justice, would be a radiant radio hit), Hell Is An Open Door,<\/strong> <\/em>the Springsteen-ish, full-tilt\u00a0Dream Lover<\/strong><\/em>, and Kaputt’s Chinatown<\/strong><\/em>. \u00a0The clear highlight of the evening, though, came on the heart-rending Poor In Love<\/strong><\/em>,\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>which was as affecting as any performance in recent memory. \u00a0Bejar<\/strong> seemed to relish the emotion the song drew from the audience, as evinced by the seasoned lad nearby who sang along, tears streaming down his face as he danced on. \u00a0And he wasn’t alone.<\/p>\n

We can’t wait to be destroyed again. \u00a0Long live Destroyer<\/strong>! \u00a0Don’t miss their tour, the remaining dates of which can be found HERE<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0012<\/a><\/p>\n

As a last minute replacement for scheduled openers\u00a0Frog Eyes<\/strong>, LA artist\u00a0Devon Williams<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(and band, pictured above) delivered a passionate opening set while updating the sounds of the Smiths<\/strong> and Robyn Hitchcock. Williams\u00a0<\/strong>is one to keep an eye on.<\/p>\n

Destroyer’s Setlist<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Bangkok<\/em>
\n Forces from Above<\/em>
\n Kaputt<\/em>
\n European Oils<\/em>
\n Girl in a Sling<\/em>
\n Savage Night at the Opera<\/em>
\n Midnight Meet the Rain<\/em>
\n Shooting Rockets (From the Desk of Night’s Ape)<\/em>
\n Times Square<\/em>
\n Poor in Love<\/em>
\n Hell Is an Open Door<\/em>
\n Libby’s First Sunrise<\/em>
\n Dream Lover<\/em>
\n Encore:<\/em>
\n Chinatown<\/em>
\n Rubies<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’d waited fifteen-plus years to catch a show by Destroyer, the moniker of the deconstructionist ensemble led by Vancouver’s\u00a0Dan Bejar\u00a0(also a member of the\u00a0superb\u00a0New Pornographers). \u00a0That wait finally ended last night at the Regent Theater in LA when\u00a0Destroyer\u00a0stopped by on its current tour in support of its revelatory, seeker-infused album,\u00a0Poison Season.\u00a0 Destroyer’s eight members took […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24709"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24735,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24709\/revisions\/24735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}