Having found success on TikTok, Californian pop rock duo Loveless headlined Camden’s Electric Ballroom having only formed in 2020. The band, composed of vocalist Julian Comeau and guitarist Dylan Triapelli-Jamail, played to the 1,500 capacity venue in support of their latest EP End Of An Era, as well as, their latest single ‘Picasso’ and marked the 1 year anniversary of the band touring the world.
Joining Loveless on their biggest London headline show to date was Welsh rock band Himalayas. The indie rock four piece played a technically brilliant, if theatrically lacking set, which was fantastic to listen to but rather boring to stand and watch. The band is very promising and has a lot of talent, if they would just work on their crown engagement and showmanship, Himalayas could soon be headlining the Electric Ballroom themselves.
Loveless on the other hand, certainly didn’t lack on the showmanship front. Comeau made himself right at home as he strutted and danced all over the stage. Guitarist Triapelli-Jamail was much more reserved throughout, but still engaged in banter with his more eccentric bandmate.
Their stage antics would ultimately culminate in with the pair and their drummer performing their encore in matching pokemon hoodies which Traipelli-Jamail quipped were ‘childsized’.
In terms of the actual performance, Loveless played an equal balance of songs from End Of An Era and their debut album Loveless 1. Playing 7 songs off of each, it’s easy to list what songs weren’t played than to highlight which ones were. Needless to say, many of their hits were played including “Lighthouse”, “Drag Me Down” and the Kellin Quinn featuring “Someone Else”.
Perhaps what was surprisingly absent from the setlist was the band’s rendition of the Kate Bush megahit “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)”. Considering the newfound popularity of the track thanks to Stranger Things, many in attendance probably expected the cover to be played, but alas it was not.
Another strange choice was for the song “Middle Of The Night” to be a track played at the end rather than performed live by the band themselves. Julian Comeau did sing some of the chorus for the crowd, but instead the band waved and thanked fans as they left the stage.
Despite playing a whopping 17 songs, the show was over and done within a little over an hour so there was plenty of time for these songs to be played.
Overall, Loveless gave their all to a short but sweet set. Although both the headline and support act felt more at home in a support slot at this stage in their careers, both also demonstrated extreme promise which should elicit excitement for their future shows and musical releases.
Electric Ballroom was an impressive achievement considering Loveless’ short existence and another album and year or two of touring should result in the band evolving into the next big thing in alternative music. So watch this space.
Photography by Martina Antonia Liberini + Words by Dan Harden
