Live Review: La Dispute - Thekla Bristol, UK (1/25/11)

There is much to be said for the role of unity within music, given that it is one of the only forms of communication that effectively transcends all barriers, from class to religion, and from gender to language. Sigur Rós, for example, are one of the most emotionally evocative bands to emerge from the last three decades and their lyrics are composed in an entirely fictional language. A certain level of unification is implicit within music even when it hasn't been given any specific consideration, so when you take a band like La Dispute who so passionately uphold the connection between individuals as achieved through live performance in particular, the concept of unity begins to adopt a more palpable significance.

With a 10pm curfew, things begin to kick off pretty early and there is already a lengthy queue of people winding along the waterside outside Thekla - a fairy light-clad boat permanently fixed at a dock in Bristol city center - before the doors open at 6:30. Even when waiting, there is an atmosphere beginning to form; expectations buzz, anticipations build. Unsurprisingly (yet none the less significant) for a band who offered up their full discography on Christmas day to raise money for 826Michigan, there are signs peppered around the venue raising awareness for Teenage Cancer Trust, to whom a portion of all proceeds gained from merch sales on this tour will go directly.

The first band are &U&I, who step up after being given the slot at short notice and had all of two hours to bomb it to the venue from Birmingham. Even in their rush, they deliver an energetic and dynamic set of mathy hardcore, at times channeling The Blood Brothers circa the early years. Next up are Former Thieves, the main support for La Dispute on this tour, who crank out a heavy and powerful set. Currently signed to No Sleep Records (the same label that have put out most of La Dispute's material), Former Thieves' music occupies a dark and hostile terrain. Matt Schmitz is a powerful frontman, and as a whole they capably bring the same saturnine tension and atmosphere achieved on record to their live performance. Despite playing to a fairly stationary audience during the opening sets, both &U&I and Former Thieves easily pull and sustain everyone's attention.

Without as much as a hello or an ominous intro, the opening notes to 'a Departure' ring out. Conversations stop midway through sentences, necks snap towards the stage, and La Dispute kick into action. The intense and tempestuous nature of any of La Dispute's songs has a tendency to border on unnerving at times, and to witness them traveling their vividly mapped emotional landscapes live is something quite remarkable. Kicking off the set with 'a Departure' immediately has the atmosphere of the crowd mirroring the tone of the song - both pace forwards with a slow-building, caged-lion aggression. 'The Most Beautiful Bitter Fruit' is the second track and as soon as that hits its peak, any and all inhibitions are smashed underfoot and the floodgates open. The crowd crush forward and from there on it is fierce passion met by fierce passion; everyone in the pit throwing themselves forward like waves, spilling onto the stage towards singer Jordan Dreyer who slings his tiny frame, barefoot, into the crowd, tugging at his well-worn Mountain Goats t-shirt with one hand and gripping a tambourine in the other.

Anyone who has seen La Dispute before (or has access to YouTube) will know that Jordan doesn't have the most exemplary voice when it comes to live performance, but mostly that's due to shortness of breath, and where he lacks in proficiency he more than makes up for in passion and energy. His wholehearted eagerness to connect with people easily makes him one of the bet frontmen around, and every time he thrusts the mic into the crowd and hears his own lyrics screamed vehemently back at him, he does something that can be very rare on stage at a hardcore show… He smiles. Musically, though, you couldn't ask for a tighter or more wild performance. Just watching drummer Bradley Vander Lugt at work is enough to make you break out in a sweat.

The setlist is weighted more towards material from Wildlife, with 'Harder Harmonies', 'Edward Benz, 27 Times', 'All Our Bruised Bodies…' and 'You and I In Unison' all making an appearance. A couple of tracks from 'Somewhere At The Bottom…' raise their heads along with 'Why It Scares Me' from the split with Touché Amoré. For an encore they play 'I See Everything' followed by 'Said The King To The River' in spite of chants for 'King Park' (which, surprisingly, they haven't been playing on this tour so far), but their choice doesn't disappoint anyone and the crowd absolutely lose it in these final four minutes. "You have given all of us a name", Dreyer sings, pointing at the crowd and tracing a circle above their heads with his finger as he leans into a sea of raised fists and ernest faces.

The more you give to something, the more you get back from it. Tonight, both La Dispute and their fans gave absolutely everything, achieving exactly what Dreyer has spoken about in interviews when discussing the importance of music. La Dispute write songs that intentionally deal with very difficult subject matter, and to listen to, let alone watch, a group of friends perform such emotionally exhausting music with such sincerity is an experience as rare as it is affecting. By tackling the vulnerable, the fragile, and the terrifying through a cathartic combination of passion, determination, and sweat (and probably blood and tears too, for some people), they are here to remind us of the bittersweet uniqueness that comes from being broken or lost, and reinforce the underlying unity that can come hand in hand with it. If you ever get a chance to see La Dispute play live and you don't jump at it, you have sorely missed out.

Emma Garland