REVIEW: Lake Street Dive celebrates 20 years at The Palace

Apr 9

04/08 @ The Palace Theatre, Albany

“It’s rare to find an act that appeals to so many while also serving as a great role model for aspiring musicians…or simply as pure entertainment.”

I’ve always had a hard time describing Lake Street Dive. They don’t neatly fit into any one genre, nor do they belong to just one category, which means there’s truly something for everyone at their shows. It’s also a very welcoming environment—the band manages to engage audiences of all ages without feeling too vanilla.

Therefore, it was no surprise that they performed to a well-earned sold-out crowd last night at the Palace Theatre in Downtown Albany. The show began with lead singer Rachael Price singing a few bars unaccompanied, her strong and dependable vocals hushing every other mouth in the at-capacity theater. Her vibrant band soon accompanied her, setting the bar for a dynamic performance full of their most well-known numbers, brand new (and yet surprisingly polished) soon-to-be hits, and a handful of covers to which they added their classic flavor, making them delightfully unrecognizable.

This was only the second night of the band’s tour—if that’s how tight they sound now, the rest of the East Coast is in for a treat. While the tour has no album to officially support, the band is celebrating their 20th year together, boasting 3 out of the 4 original members still intact.

They opened with “Hypotheticals” from their 2021 album Obviously, then spent the rest of the night jumping from one album to the next, delivering each fan-favorite they could fit into a nearly two hour set. Even though Side Pony tracks were omitted, I still left feeling quite fulfilled. After five songs, the band offered three new tunes, including one about a mattress from Las Vegas (with quite the story attached) written by drummer Mike Calabrese. They returned to a few classics, including my favorite “Bobby Tanqueray,” before breaking down to some upright bass-driven covers like The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back,” featuring a solo by Bridget Kearney that prompted such reverie that one could barely hear Price on the next verse.

That’s no easy feat considering Price’s impeccable vocals. Walking though the back of the auditorium I heard the awed admission “her voice!” more than I could count. It’s always pitch perfect and flawless without being mundane or boring.
The audience was equally delighted when s
he turned the mic over to keyboardist Akie Bermiss for a cover of Shania Twain’s “Still The One.”

Lake Street Dive is one of those bands where, just when you think you’ve already heard all your favorites, they remind you of more. Not that you necessarily forgot these tunes, but you were still pleasantly surprised. The set ended with “You Go Down Smooth” which would have served as a sufficient end to a stellar show. But, not to be content with just being sufficient, they delivered a double encore of Hall and Oates’ “Rich Girl” and, finally, “Good Kisser.”

Price told the audience halfway through the show that they’ve been polling cities to see which songs fans want to hear most in an effort to keep each stop fresh. Even if they left things exactly as they did in Downtown Albany last night, I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying this tour.

Throughout the night, there was truly something for everyone — the salaciousness of the story about the Vegas mattress was left up to your imagination, and their ability to deliver adult themes in a palatable sippy cup is quite stimulating. I, for one, was surprised, but not disappointed by the number of young people in attendance. It’s rare to find an act that appeals to so many while also serving as a great role model for aspiring musicians…or simply as pure entertainment.

Whatever you were looking for last night at the Palace, I’m sure you found it.