MJ Lenderman played Royale – 10/22
Lenderman and his backing band The Wind swept into a sold-out Royale with support from Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band.
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I love a good come-up story. We reported on one earlier this month when Fontaines D.C. conquered Roadrunner just a few years after their Great Scott debut, and last week brought another rapid ascent to the fore in singer/songwriter/bandleader MJ Lenderman.
Only a little over a year ago, Lenderman was headlining the Cambridge Elks basement behind his solo breakout Boat Songs. Last Tuesday found him drawing a crowd more than ten times that size downtown at Royale, which was about as packed as I’ve ever seen it. Clearly, something is resonating.
The September release of Manning Fireworks – arguably the best-yet distillation of Lenderman’s alt-country slacker profundity – has a good deal to do with that, and the Royale show treated that capacity crowd to nearly the entire record across a sprawling, satisfying set. On both the straight-ahead rockers (fan-favorites new and old like “Wristwatch” and “Hangover Game”) and the numbers where Lenderman and The Wind embraced their opportunities to stretch out (like a gorgeous “Pianos,” from the Hurricane Helene benefit comp Cardinals at the Window), the collective struck an ideal balance of groove, shred and comfortable looseness. Somewhat boldly, they even embraced a particularly plaintive and melancholic angle of their sound by leaning into the lengthy, feedback-drenched outro of Fireworks closer “Bark at the Moon” and briefly transforming into a drone act.
The cumulative result was something of a rarity: a club set for a relatively young band stretching well past the 90-minute mark without even threatening to wear out its welcome. The 20-song batch was rounded out with a reimagined Smog cover and a seasonally appropriate take on the Warren Zevon classic “Werewolves of London” featuring openers Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band, pairing a couple of the influences that help make the Lenderman formula something special. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him and The Wind conquering Roadrunner and beyond in the near future, and neither should you.
And speaking of supporting act Davis, his and the band’s expansive cosmic country arrangements and thoughtful turns of phrase were a perfect match as an opening set. Their full-length Dancing on the Edge comes highly recommended.
Scroll for photos from both sets below.
