Past the bright white foyer of The Well, which is draped in merchandise and chic clothing, a smoky room awaited the next artists featured in the Red Bull Sound Select series 30 Days in LA. Blue lights hung from the ceiling and the stage was decorated with a neon sign bearing a pair of big red lips that read “Dum Dum Girls.” In the back patio a pizza truck and bar entertained the early comers. The environment as a whole felt like a retro-themed prom, which was somewhat appropriate considering the headliner.
At around 9pm Lowell took to the task of riling up the crowd. The Canadian singer/songwriter’s raspy voice and electro-pop sound was enough to catch the attention of the audience members, but her quirk and stage presence really stole the show. Aside from dancing and encouraging the audience to clap along, she also took it upon herself to grab one man’s head during one of her songs and at one point entered the crowd and sat down on the ground. The crowd took it well swarming to take pictures of her and clapping. Her tunes were catchy and earned some head bobbing from the audience, especially during the song “Bang Bang.” She even managed to cheerfully work around some technical difficulty with the keyboard relying on her faithful guitarist for the last few songs played.
Tapioca and the Flea was up next bringing in some groove/funk sounds and a clamorous fan-base. The band definitely brought some quirk of their own using a megaphone in some of their tracks and having a unique sounding lead vocalist. The band truly brought energy to the stage accentuating their lyrics and dancing on stage. They also built a rapport with the audience acknowledging their fans and humorously tackling some of their own technical difficulties. By their last song the audience was bouncing up and down giving enthusiastic response to the four-piece.
Dum Dum Girls finally took the stage at around 11:20pm bringing with them dark style and exuberant sex appeal. The crowd had doubled since Lowell’s opening performance and excited fans began swooping in closer and closer to the stage. Starting off strong, Dum Dum Girls opened with “Cult of Love” off of their latest album Too True and continued to do the full track list start to finish. Their signature lo-fi pop songs combined with their devilish stage presence truly made the ambiance of the venue feel rock n’ roll. When they played “Rimbaud Eyes”, the crowd sang along loudly. Lead singer Kirsten Gundred (Dee Dee) would thank the audience quietly after every few songs and those thank you’s were always met with hollers and hoots from the crowd. The title track “Too True to Be Good” added a dreamy crooning element to the night, but kept in line with the upbeat feel of the set. They finished with a song not technically on the Too True album, “Girls Intuition”, but the deeply 80’s sounding song was fitting as a final performance.
After finishing their first set, the audience patiently awaited their return to the stage for an encore performance. They were not disappointed. Every song played at this part of the evening seemed more joyful, tighter, and met with growing enthusiasm from the crowd. The highest points included “Lord Knows,” “Coming Down” and a special cover of The Cranberries’ “Zombie” apparently in honor of bassist Malia James’ birthday. The crowd went wild for the last two songs performed and it seemed as though the whole room was singing. At the very end of the show, the audience sang a few notes of “Happy Birthday” for Malia and sent the Dum Dum Girls off with a hearty, appreciative applause.
Set List:
Cult of Love
Evil Blooms
Rimbaud Eyes
Are You Okay?
Too True to Be Good
In the Wake of You
Lost Boys and Girls Club
Little Minx
Under These Hands
Trouble is my Name
Girls Intuition
Encore:
Trees and Flowers
Lord Knows
He Gets Me High
Rest of Our Lives
It Only Takes One Night
I Got Nothing
Coming Down
Zombie (originally by The Cranberries)
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