In the delicately restored theatre within the Ace Hotel, Slaughter Beach, Dog (SBD) make their return to Los Angeles promoting their fifth studio album, Crying, Laughing, Waving, Smiling (CLWS). Their latest LP offers a collection of floating folk-rock stories with sprinkles of relaxed Americana and blues. As the doors open, attendees enter the lobby to stock up on the latest SBD merchandise, drinks and fresh popcorn from vintage machines. The eager crowd then take to their seats in preparation for the highly anticipated show. It’s easy to pass time marvelling at the beautiful 1,600-seat theatre, and it feels as if everyone has collectively been transported to the 1920s to watch a movie.

It’s not long before the Texas-based support act Sun June take to the stage to begin the show, and the band are warmly welcomed by the crowd. Laura Colwell’s soothing vocals and the band’s weightless sound enchant the audience, and it feels reminiscent of cruising down an open highway with the windows down. The band delivers a gentle, captivating set, consisting mostly of tracks from their latest release, Bad Dream Jaguar, along with some select songs from Somewhere. As the performance concludes, the charmed crowd offers thankful praise. Sun June has produced a delicate, memorable show, and it’s a perfect indie-pop start to the evening.

As seats continue to fill in the downtown LA venue, the crowd grows louder with an excitable impatience. Suddenly, applause erupts as the headline band appear, and the five members wave back in response to the adulation as they stroll to their respective instruments. With a cap casting a shadow over his face, frontmanJake Ewald counts the band in for their opener, a short tale of two lovers, “Bobcat Club”. Following this, the band roll into a slowed-down rendition of “Strange Weather” with a relaxed tempo allowing the instrumentation to joyfully ring on the first single from CLWS. The pace is picked up with the fingerpicked “Summer Windows”, with a slide guitar that beautifully ebbs and flows throughout the track. The first handful of songs come to a close, all from their latest album, and the set so far has felt perfectly paced. As Ewald stops to flash a warm grin at the crowd and introduce the band for the first time, he also Sun June receive a gracious mention and the set continues with “Are you there”, a punchy tune from the 2020 release “At the Moonbase”. Then the spoken word “Black Oak”, complete with its infectious outro, from Safe and Also No Fear follows.

Ewald now takes a moment to joke how strange it is seeing seats at a show when he’s so used to playing in basements. Of course, this is where his previous project Modern Baseball, with current bassist Ian Farmer, played many shows before their disbanding in 2017. The band enthusiastically perform a few more older hits to a now mostly standing crowd following Ewald’s encourgement. With the audience as warmed up as the group, many are indulging in singing along with every word. “Gold and Green” gets a particularly loud reaction on the chorus, as does the fan favourite “Bad Beer”. Following this, Slaughter Beach, Dog launch into a five track spree of CLWS songs. The Philadelphia group allow Ewald to softly perform a Townes van Zandt cover before they lurch into the adored “Acolyte”. Then a final spoken word track in At the Moonbase concludes the set for now. 

A harmony of encore chants displace doting cheers as Slaughter Beach, Dog depart the stage. Having thrilled fans with their toe-tapping tunes for a little over an hour, a short break is well-earned. Before too long the band submit to the restless crowd and as promptly as they reappear, they hurl into “Your Cat” from the 2017 EP, Motorcycle.jpg. The energy onstage is nothing less than explosive and as the audience reflects this feeling, the band continues with “104 Degrees” from the same EP. These two hits round off the passionate performance from the veteran outfit Slaughter Beach, Dog.

Words Dean Frost