Michael Doherty's Music Log: The Mekons at Lodge Room, 7-26-25 Concert Review

The Mekons

The nation has gotten ugly, but there is a lot of great music that will carry us through these nasty times. It feels more important than ever to gather together and celebrate. Celebrate what? you might ask. Well, this! This whole crazy thing. That we're here at all. And that we get to be here at the same time as the Mekons. They released a new album, the aptly titled Horror, and decided to go on tour with it. Yes, a full band tour. It's been several years since they've done it, so this is certainly something to celebrate. The tour started in the UK in May, then moved through Europe, with stops in Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Munich and Paris (among other cities). Then they came to the U.S. early this month, playing Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Boston, New York, and several other places back east. The last leg of the tour is the west coast, which started with last night's show at Lodge Room in Los Angeles. The band delivered an excellent set that included several songs from the new album, as well as older gems.

Kendall Jane Meade

The concert began with an opening set by Kendall Jane Meade, who was joined by Eleanor Whitmore on violin and Mellotron. Jill Sobule had been scheduled originally to open this show and every show on the west coast part of the tour. After her shocking death in May, several fans wondered if the band would have an opener at all. It must have been difficult for Kendall Jane Meade to come in under the circumstances, but she delivered a really beautiful set. The show was scheduled to start at 8 p.m., and at 7:59 she and Eleanor took the stage so as to start promptly. Kendall opened with "The Garden," the lead track from her new album Space, an incredibly pretty song. "There's no rest for the weary/And your heart can't hear me/Wait for me." Her set focused on songs from Space, including the title track, "Off The Grid," "Solo" (which featured an excellent lead on violin), "Stereo," "I'd Like To Know Myself" and "Heaven On A Car Ride." Before that final song, she asked if someone could cue the disco ball, and then as she started the song, the ball began to spin, bathing both performers and audience in bright sparkles. Her set ended at 8:33 p.m., and Sally Timms came out to take a moment to honor Jill Sobule.

"Oblivion"

At 9 p.m., the Mekons took the stage, and you could feel the joy in the room even before they played a note. "Thank you for coming out," Sally said. Jon Langford gave the briefest of introductions: "We're the Mekons; we're from Leeds." And they launched into "Beaten And Broken," a song from Jura. There was a fantastic energy, with an enthusiastic vocal performance, right from the start. It's a great choice of opening songs. They kept the energy high with "Mudcrawlers," the first song of the night from Horror, and when Jon mentioned that, he shouted the name of the album. It was doubtful there was anyone in the room who didn't feel that what this country is doing to itself is horror, and so that shout was received with a sort of catharsis. The band then went straight into "I Heart Apple," a song from I Heart Mekons, with Tom Greenhalgh on lead vocals. Drummer Steve Goulding got "Keep On Hoppin'" started with a beat that might remind you of a certain Sweet song, leading Jon to ask, "Are you ready, Steve?" The band seemed to be flying through the set, but after "Keep On Hoppin'" there was some of that banter that we've come to love from these guys, with Jon calling Sally the "queen mother of punk rock." Sally then sang lead on "Oblivion," a wonderful song from The Edge Of The World. Afterward she thanked the folks at Lodge Room for the "beautiful Mekons cake and flowers in the dressing room." Lodge Room is a cool venue, with a nice, relaxed vibe. This was only my second time there (the first was a Yonder Mountain String Band concert a couple of years ago), and I really liked the place.

"War Economy"

Jon introduced "War Economy" as a song from the new album, once again shouting the word "Horror." This song featured a great lead vocal performance from Tom, a sort of perfect punk snarl that captures the mood of the nation, or at least of those of us who haven't succumbed to the moronic cult. "Isn't it always a war economy?" Sally commented afterward. In introducing "Sympathy For The Mekons," Jon joked about how they tried to sell their souls to the devil, but it didn't work. This song featured some great stuff by Rico Bell on harmonica. A woman named Shirley was celebrating her sixty-fourth birthday last night, and for the occasion had purchased sixty-four tickets to the show to share among friends. She was also letting the band stay in her house, and so the Mekons led the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday To You." They then played "Chivalry," and the line "Fear and whiskey kept me going" got a big cheer, in part because the line mentions the title of the one of the band's most beloved albums, 1985's Fear And Whiskey, but also because fear and whiskey probably are keeping many folks going these days. Sally then mentioned that they had vinyl copies of that album available at the merchandise table (yes, I bought one).

"Neglect"

Jon talked about how certain songs had been forgotten for a while, including the next song they were going to play, "Love Letter," from I Heart Mekons. When no one in the audience clapped at the mention of the song, Sally quipped that everyone else has forgotten this one too. Sally was on lead vocals, delivering an absolutely beautiful performance. "Offend me and you'll see/Just how much trouble I can be, my darling." They finished the song, then began it again, this time as a disco number. "Welcome to our new direction," Sally said. "What do you think?" People were into it. I think fans of this band are ready to go with them no matter the direction they choose. After all, they've gone in many different directions over the course of nearly fifty years, not steering their fans wrong yet. Well, the next song wasn't forgotten by anybody, judging by the crowd's reaction. And that was "Last Dance," from Fear And Whiskey. This song was so much fun. "I wanted to say fall in love/I wanted to say fall in love with me." Tom said the next song, "Neglect," was about money, leading Susie Honeyman to ask him (off microphone), "Is it about money?" It was another fun one, this one coming from Journey To The End Of The Night. "I can smell the truth of this lie."

"You're Not Singing Anymore"

"This is another song off our new album, Horror," Jon said, stressing the word "horror." The song, "You're Not Singing Anymore," is one of my favorites from the album, and it was fantastic to hear it last night. They followed that with "Lyric" from The Curse Of The Mekons. And then they gave us "Millionaire," first sort of joking that inflation has made this song obsolete, that all of us in the audience must have been millionaires to afford to live in this city. Perhaps to afford to live at all. Both Sally and Jon, during the introduction, mentioned the hope that the concert was a joyful experience for everyone. Like I said, that is exactly what we need, and likely the very reason people did come out for the show. We are looking for that uplifting experience, that joyful experience with others. Having a drink, dancing around to one of the world's best bands, getting to know some of the others in the audience. Yes, what the band hoped would happen is exactly what did happen. Toward the end, they swapped in the word "billionaire" for "millionaire," and at the very end sang, "We hate them billionaires/Strap them to the electric chair/We hate the billionaires." The crowd loved it. The band wrapped up the set with a couple of high-energy numbers, "The Curse" and "Hard To Be Human Again," everyone dancing with abandon, fully immersed in the great joy of the moment. Jon then introduced the band, called Dave Trumfio "Baron Von Trumfio." I thought he might call him "Nervous Boy," referring to his new solo project. Anyway, in introducing his band mates, Jon left himself out, leading Sally to ask, "Who are you?" "I'm Brad fucking Pitt," Jon answered.

"Where Were You"

A couple of minutes later the band returned for the encore. Someone in the audience shouted out, "Come on, Brad!" Jon heard him, clearly happy that someone was running with the joke. The encore began with "Fallen Leaves," a beautiful song from Horror. The fun "Big Zombie" followed, which featured some good stuff on accordion. "I'm just not human tonight." Then, when folks heard that familiar guitar part at the beginning of "Memphis, Egypt," there was a loud cheer. "Destroy your safe and happy lives before it is too late." Most people were singing along with this one. They ended the show with "Where Were You," that great punk song from the beginning of the band's career.

Set List