They/Live took the stage at Zebulon on a December night. It was an interesting route to Zebulon on my part, but I'm glad I made it. The previous night, I got a last minute request to cover a set in DTLA. I pinged my contact the next morning (being the night of the They/Live set). I was told that everything was a go with a photo pass and ticket at the box office window. I got to the venue at around 7:30 p.m. I went to the box office booth and was told I had a ticket, but I wasn't on the photo list. I spent the next 45 minutes trying to resolve the situation. I sent texts to my contact. I sent Instagram messages to the two performers that night and even sent a message to someone I know who occasionally works at the venue. It just wasn't meant to be.
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| They/Live at Zebulon |
As I walked to my car, my first thought was to just head home. But then my brain started to think through other options. I knew there were bands at both Zebulon and The Goldfish -- venues that are relatively close to where I live. Of interest, both venues had familiar bands on the bill. I will admit that a deciding factor was time. Zebulon is right off the 5 and 2 freeways and so I could just get there faster than heading to The Goldfish. Also, I had seen the band at The Goldfish just this year while I couldn't pinpoint the year that I last saw They/Live (research indicates that I saw the band twice in 2022).
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| They/Live at Zebulon |
I'm not saying that either choice was better than the other, but I will say it was a perfectly good decision and helped sooth the frustrations of having to deal with a snafu that was not of my making. Zebulon was filled with fans of the synth ambient music of Whiney Mower's brainchild. I'm sure they were also fans of her subdued disco dance moves. An Instagram post by Mower explains the music better than I can, "I wanted deeper textures—darker, grander, more fantastical even—than the ones I had been utilizing as a singer songwriter." The reference to singer songwriter is to prior musical endeavors under Iva Dawn and Dawn & Dupree, which had a more western bent. Looking through the Dawn & Dupree Instagram page, I do see they played Grand Ole Echo and Echo Park Rising in 2018.
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| They/Live at Zebulon |
Comment of the set: You guys are so quiet and respectful.
Of course, immediately after that comment, the crowd gave a good rowdy response. I will say that Zebulon seems to attract some of the more respectful audiences around the Los Angeles club scene. As I'm writing this, I can't help but think about last night when I hung out at the Bigfoot Lodge. One could hear the crowd more than the opening band.
The song spotlight goes to "Master Melody," the final song of the set that was given the introduction, "Okay, should we dance it out for one more song? Fortunately, it isn't another Cher song." The song indeed had the crowd dancing while she kept her sunglasses on that she started to wear during the "Believe" Cher cover song. The song is somewhat similar, I would say, to a song spotlight that I wrote for John Vincent III's "City Rain." You can read that here. A sort of rebellion against working in a corporate climate.
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| They/Live at Zebulon |
Take your attitude and pay the rent
Are there humans on my hard drive?
In the world of country music, which is where Mower first cut her teeth, there is this back and forth between songwriters about the virtues of small town living. I'm not sure there is a similar back and forth between songwriters about the virtues of corporate life.
Setlist: Telestial Tear, To Know Your Love, Gravity, For The Pleasure, Teeth Show, My Lover, Believe (Cher cover), Circles, Master Melody.
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