After eight albums and 14 years as a band, Lake Street Dive finally played a hard-earned headlining show on a cool, magical Thursday evening at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. With a crowd that spanned the decades, singer-songwriter extraordinaire Josh Ritter kicked off the night, taking a wonderfully gracious turn opening for a band that once supported him.

Touring in support of their recently-released album Free Yourself Up, the five-piece group now has a considerably sized catalog at their disposal. Nevertheless, they started the set with one of the funkier tunes off of the new album, “Baby Don’t Leave Me Alone with My Thoughts”. Singer Rachael Price and bassist Bridget Kearney kicked the song off with ferocity, but like nearly every Lake Street Dive song, each band member made huge contributions to the overall sound. Mike “McDuck” Olson’s guitar playing was tastefully and impeccably placed, and drummer Mike Calabrese’s machine-like timing and precision held it all together.

The recent addition of keyboardist Akie Bermiss truly shined on the new songs, including “You Are Free”, which followed. Akie joined the band’s tour in 2017, but this year’s album was his first time joining them in the studio. All of the band members sang Motown (or Muscle Shoals?!) quality backing vocals, continuing into the next tune, “I Don’t Care About You” from the 2016 album Side Pony. “Red Light Kisses” kept the energy going, and Rachael took a moment to get the crowd to sing a pair of backing vocal lines as the band went off before bringing it all back home.

After one of their beautiful ballads, Rachael introduced the next trio of Bobby tunes, giving newer fans a brief overview of the infamous Bobby and his song history across all of the Lake Street albums. In short, we loved Bobby, then we got upset with Bobby, and now we see Bobby for what he is, and we’re ok with it. The trilogy starts with the classic “Bobby Tanqueray” off of 2014’s Bad Self Portraits. The first part of his story segued perfectly into “Spectacular Failure” before slipping right into the conclusion of the Bobby saga, “Doesn’t Even Matter.” After largely sticking with newer material, the band proceeded to dig deep into their past, playing a pair of songs off of their eponymous 2010 album, Lake Street Dive, with “Hello? Goodbye!” and “The Neighbor Song.”

The consummate professionals that they are, the group managed the energy of audience with ease, moving between fast- and slow-tempo songs and weaving it all together exquisitely. The band sped things up again with 2014’s “Stop Your Crying” and the raucous “Hang On” from this year’s Free Yourself Up. Following the two rockers, Rachael invited Josh Ritter back out to the stage for a stunning duet on his classic song, “Girl in the War.” McDuck joined in for a haunting trumpet solo, before they welcomed the rest of the band back out. Ever gracious to the rest of the band, Rachael pointed out the incredible addition that is Akie Bermiss on keys, inviting him to sing one for the crowd.

Akie dropped right into Shania Twain’s “Still The One,” and the band was right there behind him. Whether it’s a cover or one of many originals, Lake Street always seems impossibly tight, and their true-to-form take on “Still The One” was no exception. The group chugged along with the disco-laced “Call Off Your Dogs,” as well as “Seventeen,” before playing two more tunes from the new album, “Shame Shame Shame” and “Musta Been Something,” which featured a nice, extra little guitar intro from McDuck. The band slowly stepped away as the song came to an end, leaving Mike Calabrese on stage for a mind-bending drum solo that seemed to last for hours. Pounding away, Calabrese built the rhythm back up, and the band segued into the hit single and certifiable fan-favorite, “Bad Self Portraits.” Two more high-energy songs, “Good Kisser” and “Go Down Smooth” closed out the set, but clearly, Lake Street still had a few tricks up their collective sleeves for the encore.

“Still The One”

 

[Video: thebrightsilence]

To the surprise of nearly everyone in the audience, Rachael Price welcomed out her friend and country superstar, Miranda Lambert, to join her for a duet on “I Can Change.” The emotional new ballad set the stage for another new song, the quasi-rock-anthem “Dude.” Rachael’s wild, unbridled shriek echoed the late Janis Joplin (and across Red Rocks) as the band attacked the closing jam. But still, such a massive milestone for such an incredible band deserved a proverbial “cherry on top,” and the band delivered with a rare cover of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” before returning to the stage for a second encore and second cover, their stripped-down take on the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.”

“Bohemian Rhapsody”

 

[Video: neurostimulator]

As if there was any doubt, Lake Street Dive’s Thursday night show at Red Rocks solidified the band’s place in music folklore. Insanely tight and outrageously talented (and now with a Billboard Top 10 album under their belts), it’s obvious that this quintet is here to stay. Lake Street Dive continues their tour this week in Montana. More information and tour dates can be found at the band’s website here. You can check out a gallery of photos from Lake Street Dive’s headlining Red Rocks debut below, courtesy of C.B. Klein.