Fans pressed closer to the stage as Last Stand For Lucy made their appearance shortly after midnight, with the crowd coming more alive than it had been for any other set as the quartet lit into its first song.
The New York City-based Buffalo natives of Last Stand For Lucy came back to the Queen City Saturday night to play their album release show at Mohawk Place.
The band began as a project started by Derek Nicholas (guitar) and Michael O'Neil (vocals/guitar) in 2009, and expanded in 2010 to include Jon Serwinowski (drums) and Josh McElroy (bass) from Buffalo rock outfit, Seen It All. Now in its fourth year, the group is touring off the first installment of its two-part EP, Dysthymia.
Drawing from a wide range of experience - stints in California and Germany, and varied careers in law and the Army - Last Stand For Lucy has managed to incorporate their different lives and skills into their music.
"We found a way to borrow elements from everything we've been exposed to, what's going on in California, what's going on in the U.K. and New York City, and we put it all together in one thing," O'Neil said.
With full creative control over its production, the group has created relatable lyrics and powerful vocals over strong bass lines and driving drums - a combination that provides for a true rock show.
After working the crowd into a yelling, pulsating mass with "Seven" and "Heartless Son of a B****," the group's energy in "Burn Everything" led the crowd into the first staggering motions of moshing, which peaked during "Restless."
The crowd - filled with friends, family, and hometown fans - was treated to a nine-song set that Last Stand For Lucy closed out with a cover of one of their bigger inspirations, The Cure.
Concert goers enthusiasm for the headliners carried them into the last band of the night, Super Killer Robots as they already began to anticipating the next time Last Stand for Lucy will make it back to Western New York.
"[Buffalo] is filled with fantastic musicians," McElroy said. "You get to hone your trade, you get to learn new skills, and play with a bunch of great people...The problem is, the industry is not going to come to you in Buffalo - it's not a major market. It just kind of feels like when you're ready...you have to go to them. That was pretty much our mindset with joining [Last Stand For Lucy], let's get where the people are."
Although now removed from the Buffalo music scene, the band chose talented Buffalo groups to play support. With So Far So Good kicking off the night, the 18-and-over crowd was engaged from the start.
So Far So Good overcame technical difficulties to churn out fast-paced and catchy numbers like "Last Call" and "Something New."
The Albrights' instrumentally complex piano driven rock/blues mix provided a powerhouse starting with "Wasting My Time" and left the crowd wanting more after their perfectly chosen closing number, "Hard Times."
Last Stand For Lucy's future includes upcoming shows in Boston and Philadelphia as well as New York City. While fans wait for the band to make it back to the land of lake effect snow and beef-on-weck, they can tide themselves over with the five-track Dysthymia: Part 1.
Email: arts@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Mhdariby / Wikimedia Commons
