Live: The Album Leaf @ Echo

ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY CHRIS MOLINA

FEB. 20 | ECHO PARK—An impressive turn out for a Wednesday night gathered at one of L.A.’s favorite venues, The Echo, to catch one last taste of Jimmy LaValle and the boys, who are making a short tour sprint before going on a much needed hiatus. It isn’t unusual for a musician to vent his internal disposition through song and prose, which is no exception this time around with The Album Leaf’s latest release, Into the Blue. The band’s Grand-Poobah Jimmy briefly eludes (via the band Web site) to over-exhaustion and misplacement throughout the last year and a half of intense recording, collaborations and touring. Personally, I’ve come to acknowledge this transparency in both the latest album and recent gigs. There was definitely something special between the One Day I’ll Be On Time (on tour supporting Sigur Ros) and In a Safe Place tours’ set lists, which delineated and re-enforced the eerily tender soundscapes of Jimmy’s universe. I can’t help but contrast the overall presence of those past performances and albums with a suggestive painted array of color pallets layered in cerebral warmth, compared to the current droned out-monochromatic song lineup.

Jimmy, resembling a clean-cut Jesus Christ, emerged with a positive reception from a very youthful crowd. Although there was some technical difficulty with the first track, “Into the Sea,” Jimmy signaled to his engineer mixers for level support on the Moog, which seemed to be a bit too low for the peaceful ambient build-up. Luckily things got smoothly underway in what was a tranquil, yet predictable set that still managed to grasp the hearts and attention of many first-time and veteran fans. Unfortunately, being the state-of-the-art facility that the Echo is (I’m being sarcastic), the Echo’s downstairs neighbor, the Echoplex, comically managed to noise pollute several instances of quiet moments with its obnoxious dance music. It actually sounded as though The Album Leaf was getting remixed into a techno song, which even prompted violinist Matthew Resovich to crack a chuckle in amusement. Regardless, the band maintained their composure and continued trucking through fan favorite tracks “Red Eye,” (complete with quantum molecular visuals), “Another Day” and even a new tune off the current tour EP.

To reiterate, this will be the band’s last tour for a good amount of time, but fear not, as the rest of the gang will continue on their solo and collaborative side projects. Notably, guitarist Drew Andrews will be releasing new solo material in the near future as well as other band members Timothy Reece (via Satellite) and Matthew Resovich. We wish Jimmy all the best on his upcoming marriage and hope he catches up on his long overdue rest while gathering himself once again for new and promising sounds.

Set List:
Into the Sea
Always for You
Shine
Writings On the Wall
Brenniven
San Simeon
Fear of Flying
Another Day
See In You
Red Eye
Wherever I Go
Broken Arrow

For more photos of the show, view The Scenestar’s photo gallery.

Comments

[bryan sensei]

good review! I should have gone...bummer :(

[Nate]

So I guess since I pre-ordered 3 tickets but didnt bring an id i couldnt get in. Fuck the echo. Theyre not about the music, they're with all the other fake pieces of shit in la. godspeed jimmy!