Iceage Live at The Regent, Los Angeles

“Good evening,” frontman Elias Ronnenfelt said to a packed Regent Theater on Wednesday night. It was just before 11:00 p.m. when the Danish band Iceage took the stage. And besides this greeting, Ronnenfelt didn’t say much more to the crowd. The quartet, joined by an extra member for keys and other instruments, blasted through 15 songs, leaving a little sweaty, having never faltered.

After a stint of residencies in Brooklyn, Los Angeles and Tokyo, Iceage released Beyondless, their fourth album to date and newest material since 2014. It is an example of their measurable growth over their career since 2011s New Brigade. The album includes the notable “Pain Killer,” which features Iceage’s first guest vocalist, electropop songstress Sky Ferreira. The legendary Richard Hell puts it well: “I can totally imagine myself as a kid in my closed-door room in the dark, listening to this band and getting what I need.

It’s no surprise Iceage plays song after song without pausing for banter. In terms of listening, it’s like listening to an album— the way you would lay in your bedroom with headphones in, soaking in the music, digesting song after song without interruption.

Jakob Tvilling Pless (bass), Dan KjaerFIX (drums) and Jonah Wieth (guitar) adorn classic ’90s band gear, flannel, tees and jeans, but Ronnenfelt does not wear such a uniform. He looks like he came from another decade with his shaggy hair, black pants and loose red and white button up particularly unbuttoned. Iceage began with a series of songs from Beyondless, beginning with “Hurrah” and making their way through “Pain Killer” and “Under the Sun.”

During “On My Fingers,” a white shirt flew up into the air and floated down to the stage. There was a part of the crowd just to Ronnenfelt’s left in the first few rows that exuded a majority of the audience’s energy, creating their own mass of hooplah. Their fervor mainly came in the form of punching fists. However, this main circle stepped it up a notch for “The Lord’s Favorite,” “White Rune” and “Ecstasy” with a handful of crowd surfers, but mostly could be considered crowd rollers. Ronnenfelt often leaned into their frenzy. He would lean over and down into their hands, pulling back when they grabbed a little too hard. When not singing to this pit, to which he primarily did, Ronnenfelt could typically be found swaying to the beat or lazily jutting around. And while Ronnenfelt was the focal point, it was KjaerFIX that kept the set going. He consistently, at the very least, tapped at his drums for interludes between songs. KjaerFIX would even hit away with one hand while taking a few sips of what appeared to be a beer.

Iceage did not close with an encore, but an extended “Catch It,” their first release off Beyondless. It was then that a member finally made it onto the stage to dive off, setting off a trend for a few brave followers. The song faded for a moment and then the drums kicked back in, fast and heavy for a resounding finish. “Thank you,” Ronnenfelt said. There were cheers as the other band members walked off. “Ronnenfelt lingered for a final farewell. “Sweet dreams,” he said and walked off.

Set List

1. Hurrah
2. Pain Killer
3. Under the Sun
4. On My Fingers
5. Plead the Fifth
6. The Lord’s Favorite
7. Thieves Like Us
8. The Day the Music Dies
9. Morals
10. Take It All
11. White Rune
12. Ecstasy
13. Beyondless
14. Plowing into the Field of Love
15. Catch It