Luna played Paradise – 10/10

The beloved and recently reunited Luna, fronted by Galaxie 500’s Dean Wareham, headlined a sold-out show at the Paradise last weekend. 

Between the band’s decade-long absence and Wareham’s Boston pedigree, the packed house came as no surprise. The quartet delivered a strong, career-spanning set of their trademark shoegaze-tinged dream-pop. It’s the kind of music you want to get lost in on a late summer’s eve, but it works just as effectively in a more autumnal setting. “Chinatown,” “Tracy I Love You,” “Tiger Lily” and the like are gems on any night.

The whole show was a delight, but a second encore of the band’s Beat Happening cover (“Indian Summer”) and the G500 classic “Tugboat” was particularly noteworthy. It might not quite have topped Wareham’s rendition of the song at the ICA last summer, wherein an actual tugboat floated by in the adjacent harbor during the performance, but it was an unexpected treat nonetheless. One of the best songs in a near-perfect discography.

Foxygen side-project Diane Coffee opened the show (unbeknownst to me until I arrived), and did a solid job with a throwback sound that channeled a less spazzy version of its parent band with more pronounced doo-wop and soul influences. It was a bit of an odd fit, but quite well-received. Photos from both sets below.