TLA : RCR Tour

A slightly chilly night in Lancaster, PA was the setting for The Lawrence Arms, Red City Radio, and Sincere Engineer as they came to the Chameleon Club as a part of the North East portion of their tour.

Sincere Engineer

Sincere Engineer (aka. Deanna Belos) sometimes plays with a full band, but at least for this tour, she was touring solo and acoustic. Her performance was largely in support of her debut LP Rhombithian which came out late last year. She also covered “My Friend Peter” by the Alkaline Trio with copious amounts of crowd participation. The future is bright for Sincere Engineer. Keep an ear out for her to be making some real noise in the future.

Red City Radio

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Red City Radio – Photo by Henry Chung

 

Red City Radio – Photo by Henry Chung
Red City Radio – Photo by Henry Chung
Red City Radio – Photo by Henry Chung
Red City Radio – Photo by Henry Chung
Red City Radio – Photo by Henry Chung
Red City Radio – Photo by Henry Chung
Red City Radio – Photo by Henry Chung
Red City Radio – Photo by Henry Chung
Red City Radio – Photo by Henry Chung
Red City Radio – Photo by Henry Chung
Red City Radio – Photo by Henry Chung
Red City Radio – Photo by Henry Chung
Red City Radio – Photo by Henry Chung

Red City Radio is the band that always seems to be playing when I’m there to interview a band. With that said, they lived up to the other times seeing them and brought the four(!) part vocal harmonies and guitar interplay to the party. Of course, there were some of the usual highlights “Two Out of Tree Ain’t Rad” and “Electricity” but they also introduced new material from their first release on Red Scare Industries an EP called Sky Tigers.

The Lawrence Arms

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The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung

After releasing their sort-of best of collection We Are The Champions of the World, one might think it would be appropriate for the Lawrence Arms to draw heavily from that for their live set.

Well, that’s exactly what they did. As such, this meant that they played a variety of their biggest songs, touching on all of their eras, much to the delight of the crowd. We got oldies like “Ramblin’ Boys of Pleasure,” “On With The Show,” “Right As Rain Pt 2” some ‘Oh Calcutta’ goodies “The Devil’s Takin’ Names” “Are You There Margaret? It’s Me, God” and some recent favorites (“You Are Here” “Seventeener”).

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The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung

They began their encore with “100 Resolutions” and by the time they walked off the stage for a final time, it was clear that the band has a lot left in the tank and a lot left to say.

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The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung

Would you expect anything less from the champions of the world?

Before all of that, I had the pleasure of sitting down with 2/3 of The Lawrence Arms: Brendan Kelly and Chris McCaughan. We dove deep into a lot of the thought process behind putting together their sort-of best of collection ‘We Are The Champions of the World’. Plus, we got some insight into where the band is at in life now and what their intentions are for the future.

Words/ Interview: JJ Ellis
Photos: Henry Chung

 

The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung
The Lawrence Arms – Photo by Henry Chung