Just over two years after their debut, L.S. Dunes are gearing up to jump back into another album cycle. The supergroup that unite all-star songwriters and musicians from the likes of Circa Survive, My Chemical Romance, Coheed and Cambria, and Thursday are currently supporting Rise Against on a fall jaunt across the United States. The tour greeted hundreds of fans at Orlando, Florida’s House of Blues, who had eagerly packed out the venue not long after doors opened.
The meeting of these minds after 20-plus years of each making music professionally has resulted in each member bringing their best to the table, with melodies that get stuck in your head, lyrics that look over your shoulder, perfectly complementary dueling guitars, and a rhythm section that constantly demands attention.
The band wasted no time getting to the powerful core of who they are, unleashing a wall of sound into the crowd the moment they took the stage. Singer Anthony Green seemed to look each audience member in the eye as he vocalized the brutally honest statement, “If I can’t make it ’til 2022, least we’ll see how much I can take,” a lyric that feels both triumphant and chilling in 2024.
Over the course of a 40-minute, eight-song set, the band revisited much of their first record, Past Lives, from the melancholic yet danceable “Grey Veins” to the striking title track. Dunes also gave the audience a small taste of what to expect on their sophomore album, Violet, which is due to be released in January. Their latest single, “Machines,” was designed to be played live with its almost ballad-like verses churning into an anthemic chorus. As the band closed in on their finale via a second new song by the name of “Fatal Deluxe,” they left the audience to ponder “How much is too much? How much is enough?”
With a new record on the horizon, it is inevitable that a few of the tracks heard on this run of shows will be retired, for now at least. Now’s your chance to say goodbye to the era of Past Lives and witness this historic supergroup welcome a new set of stories into the world.
