La Sera, Springtime Carnivore and Colleen Green Live at the Echo

Colleen Green

So once again my attendance pushed up the median age of the audience, but the truth is you know you're in for a good night when as you walk through the door you hear the PA playing "The day the world turned Day-Glo" by X-Ray Spex... The Echo now has a Xeroxed fanzine... And it's launch night for the brand new La Sera album "Hour of the Dawn"... Oh and there's Katy Goodman selling copies herself (spoiler - it's La Sera's best to date...) 

First up is La Sera's fellow Hardly Art stable mate Colleen Green. Armed with only a guitar and drum machine, she managed to create a melodic wall of fuzzy lo-fi guitar indie-pop married to a harmonic vocal style that was at times reminiscent of those great sixties all-girl groups (which is no mean feat when you're a one woman whirling dervish!) She was also the epitome of cool; sunglasses propped on face and then getting the house lights turned up... All the better to see you Ms. Green... who from her all to brief set did more than enough to suggest that her debut album "Sock It to Me", nestling forlornly at the edge of the Merch stand as it was, just had to be added to my collection... 

Check out "Time in the world" from the album...

 
Next-up, and a complete change of pace, Springtime Carnivore or Greta Morgan as she's better known (at least to family and friends), ably assisted by Todd Wisenbaker on guitar and Nate Lotz on drums, wowed the crowd with the most gorgeous combination of swirling synths and guitars that fused dreamy pop together with sixties infused melodies - all topped-off with Greta's glorious vocals which seemed to float and soar above the stage. Although only vinyl was available on the night I discovered that Springtime Carnivore's eponymous 6-track EP was available from Bandcamp. It's more than worth downloading (checkout "Last one to know," from Springtime Carnivore's SoundCloud page, below):

 
Springtime Carnivore release their debut album in October and are touring with La Sera on the latter's forthcoming European tour - take my advice, get there early and check them out...

Katy Goodman / La Sera

And it's safe to say that Greta, Todd and Nate were the hardest working trio in rock this evening; re-emerging with Katy Goodman as the backing group for La Sera's set...

Although drawing heavily from the "Hour of the Dawn," La Sera's set kicks off with a storming rendition of "Break my heart," Katy Goodman literally bounding about the stage (and later in the set joining the crowd for the guitar-fueled jam to end "Hour of the dawn"). The new song "Summer of love" is introduced by way of great applause as Katy informs us that she's recently moved to LA (trust me - traffic is fairly shit, but the beaches and weather make up for it). 

This is an at times a frantic set, pausing barely for breath - save a joke at the expense of Todd - the songs are rattled off at break-neck speed... 

La Sera rock the Echo

I mentioned "Summer of love" earlier and it has to be said that live, the songs off of the new album sound amazing; gauging the crowd's reaction it's obvious that there are a so many "instant" classics here - "Losing to  the dark" sounds even more raw and angry - the vitriolic put-downs resonate through the room; "Running Wild" is played at 100 miles-per-hour... I could go on (and undoubtedly will later), but what strikes me is how seamlessly songs from "See the Light" and "La Sera" fit into the set - if you listen to the albums there's a notable change of pace between "Hour of the Dawn" and the previous albums - but tonight the songs just flow naturally one into another. In fact, I'm totally entranced by "Never come around," as I'm listening I'm transported back in time and listening to a cross between Dolly Mixture and The Chefs - at times there's a Helen McCookeryBook quality to Katy's vocals (and that, dear reader, is high praise...)

I don't think I've had this much pure unadulterated fun at a gig for ages... The Echo tends to do that to you, there's always a great selection of bands - I don't think I've ever regretted turning up early to catch any band on the under-card here - but tonight just topped all expectations (and the fact that I ended up buying music from all three bands, just sums up what a great show this was) - all the musicians - Colleen Green, Springtime Carnivore and of course La Sera - played with an infectious enthusiasm that readily transferred to the crowd. Katy Goodman was moved to state that this was the best launch show she's played... 

Those of us there were probably inclined to agree.