Concert Review: Love and Rockets at ACL Live

Concert Review: Love and Rockets at ACL Live: reunited post-punk trio brings psychedelic bliss to rabid Austin fans on first reunion since 2008.

It’s been a VERY good year for fans of alternative 80s rock, particularly of the gothic variety. Depeche Mode, The Cure, and The Sisters of Mercy have all mounted recent successful tours, and last month’s Cruel World Festival in Pasadena, CA was an absolute treasure trove of New Wave nostalgia, featuring sets from the likes of Iggy Pop, Siouxsie Sioux, Billy Idol and Gary Numan.

That fest included a highly anticipated reunion from Love and Rockets, playing their first show since 2008. The band, born from the ashes of Goth icons Bauhaus (who also had a brief reunion last year) were college radio darlings during the Reagan era, drawing in listeners with their unique mix of psychedelia, glam, and goth.

The trio extended their run for more U.S. dates, including this weekend’s set at Austin Texas’ ACL Live, and the crowd in attendance were in rapt anticipation for the return of their post-punk heroes, who haven’t played the Lone Star State since the 90’s.

The setlist was a master class in how to cherry-pick a discography. The only glaring omission was the band’s criminally overlooked 1994 ambient album Hot Trip To Heaven.

Opening with I Feel Speed from their 1989 self-titled release, guitarist/vocalist Daniel Ash, bassist/vocalist David J, and drummer Kevin Haskins evoked hallucinatory ambience, followed by another ’89 track, the Beatles-esque banger No Big Deal.

Adding to the group’s psychedelic textures was an impressive light show and visual display, using strategic lighting and acid-trip visuals that merged seamlessly with the music, in particular on the T. Rex’ish Kundalini Express and MTV hit No New Tale To Tell.

Ash looked like an intergalactic swashbuckler with spiky hair and pirate shirt, while J. rocked a debonair velvet suit and ascot. His brother, drummer Kevin Haskins, looked equally dapper. They all rocked shades.

Ash has always been an unconventional guitar hero, and last night’s set was a testament to his talents, from the fuzzy e-bow snarl of The Light, to his blistering wah-wah fueled take on Mirror People (both songs off  1987’s Earth, Sun, Moon), his serrated guitar tone cutting through the air like a razor blade.

Haunted When The Minutes Drag, off their 1985 debut album Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven (which was also featured on the soundtrack to John Hughes’ 1988 film She’s Having A Baby) was a particular favorite, the crowd singing en masse to its chanted chorus of infatuation.

The group’s confidence in their full body of work was evident when they played their biggest hit, So Alive, halfway through their set, with J’s slinky bass-line and Ash’s cooed vocals causing the crowd to sashay in unison.

The band squeezed in some deep cuts too, including overlooked 90’s gems like the transcendent trip-hop of Deep, Deep, Down off 1998’s Lift. They even threw in a previously unreleased tune, My Dark Twin, off their new deluxe companion edition to 1996’s Sweet F.A. It was a true standout, with J. singing lyrics that sounded like a serial killer’s confessional.

The set pulled largely from 1986’s Express, including the aforementioned Kundalini Express, and the shuffling skronk of Yin and Yang The Flowerpot Man.

This extended to the encores, with beatific takes on the celestial Holiday on the Moon and Love Me, and their iconic (and forever timely) Temptations cover Ball of Confusion, which also featured and interlude of Edwin Starr’s War.

After returning for one final encore, the acoustic title track to Sweet F.A. (punctuated by the expletive laden chorus Fuck all else), they retreated from the stage to deafening applause.

Ash recently stated that Love and Rockets will ride off into the sunset after they complete their tour. That is truly a shame as this was a performance for the ages, and one can only hope he reconsiders (but he does have a new project in the works, Ashes and Diamonds, which I’ll be interviewing him about soon–stay tuned).

But if this is truly Love and Rockets’ final blastoff, it’s one hell of a farewell ride for their devoted fanbase.

Love and Rockets ACL Live Setlist 

I Feel Speed
No Big Deal
Kundalini Express
The Dog-End of a Day Gone By
Judgement Day
Haunted When the Minutes Drag
An American Dream
No New Tale to Tell
So Alive
Deep Deep Down
My Dark Twin
The Light
Mirror People
Yin and Yang (The Flowerpot Man)

Encore 1:
Holiday on the Moon
Love Me
Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)(Includes a snippet of Edwin Starr’s War.)

Encore 2:
Sweet F.A.