Lets be real for a moment, who doesn’t love a good sad song? Well if you are like me and enjoy feeling a little bit emotional sometimes then LAUV is your guy. His playlist “I Met You When I Was 18” is an emotional rollercoaster of heartbreak, reflections and raw feelings. And while these songs are quite sad he also manages to create a very euphoric feeling. So don’t expect to go to his show and have him be a sad boy the whole time because he does want to make you dance, he wants to make you sing and he definitely wants you to vibe hard. His world tour finally made it’s way to Australia and kicked off in Brisbane to a packed crowd of eager faces at The Triffid.
Australian indie-pop princess Nicole Millar was on opening duties tonight and ran onto the stage to the tropical-pop synth banger “Signals” before launching straight into recent favourites “Blindfolded” and “No Bad Vibes”. She excitedly told the crowd how excited she was to be back in Brisbane and to be opening for LAUV before dropping her mega Peking Duk collaboration “High”. She then played a couple of new tracks including her new single “Gimme A Break” which is out on March 15. The synth-pop track hears her channeling a throwback 80’s sound with a ridiculously fun and shiny chorus. However she also played a new song about pushing buttons which was a total bop and deserves to be a single too. She closed her brief 30 minute set with old fan favourite “Tremble” which is very dark and emotional compared to her bright and ambitious other material. Over the years her stage presence has grown a lot and tonight’s set showcased that.
Hailing from San Francisco, 23 year old LAUV is a long way from home as he steps on stage to deafening screams but he doesn’t show any signs of nerves. He takes to his piano to sing a little excerpt from “I Like Me Better” acoustically which has the crowd going insane but then he dramatically stops and stands under a blue spotlight holding an umbrella for moody fan favourite “Paris In The Rain”. It quickly becomes apparent that LAUV is a true showman and knows how to translate these heartbreaking and romantic stories to the live stage and deliver them with an exciting updated layer. He then performed “Comfortable” and “Reforget” from the playlist before premiering new track “Paranoid” which is a bonafide bop and a half. His DJ Snake collaboration “A Different Way” instantly had the crowd dancing and jumping which was a cool little moment. The production is very moody with a lot of blue lighting that then shifts into yellow, green and red to offer different moods before white offered an angelic look during the more vulnerable moments like “The Story” and “Come Back Home”. He continued with the fan favourites “Breathe”, “Getting Over You” and “Easy Love” where he delivered an extended guitar solo before saying good night to the crowd. He quickly re-appeared for the smash hits “I Like Me Better” and “The Other” which offered the biggest singalongs of the night and perfectly closed the show. LAUV is a very talented newcomer whose songwriting and raw vulnerability excels in the studio versions while his personality shines through in his live show and makes you fall in love with him if you aren’t already.
Photographed by; The Raveyard Photography / Blake lewis
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