Concert Review: LANY Romanticizes Their Way To Radio City
“I could stay here in this moment for a thousand nights,” said lead singer of LANY: Paul Klein. He was moved; entering the crowd to hug them as if they were a pile of sacred rubies he had fallen upon. We were witnessing “his moment;” the time and space you give yourself, in your head, to which you say, “When that become real, I know I will have “made” it.”
We all do it! Vision boards, literally, exist because we see our dreams so specifically we have to print them out in picture form, staple it to a board, and hope the physicality of it manifest the reality. Who, as a child, did not dream of their Oscar speech or driving a race car? Heck! I understand! As a writer/ songwriter, my words are my way of manifesting; releasing what I see in my head like a verbal impulse; desperate to put into phrase how we are entertained. For LANY, they were in the epitome of manifestation; smiling through their sad, love songs as if heartbreak had hazed them into a bliss. It was a sweet irony that all the songs they had written and sung about being rejected had managed to get them a packed house at one of the most legendary theaters in the world.
I have seen LANY in several venues through the years: each getting and bigger. They always presented themselves like a neon color palette for those falling out of love; somehow providing delicate vocals and soundscapes that made you dance and swoon over a relationship’s grave. Visually, their show felt like a candy bar where each lollipop was flavored with tears from an ex. Yet, in reality, we were a crowd supporting a band that had supported us because nothing helps you out of a “low” then a musical high, and, for many, tracks like, “Thick And Thin” and “ex I never had,” made Paul their mutual partner in healing love’s frustrations, which made him their “dream boyfriend:” a guy that felt their pain but was romantic enough to alleviate it.
I am a sappy person so when I see people happy, I feel so HAPPY! I am all about the “happy ending” of a film where everybody get what they want and we all walk into the sunset. Why not? For LANY, this was their sunset; a culmination of so many years of hardwork and heartbreak to fill out a show where a crowd of thousands sang their words back to them. It was beautiful. It was emotional. It was LANY.
