LANY show: A night to remember

HEINEKEN'S Live Your Music movement has done it again, this time bringing another great international band to thrill Malaysian fans with the music experience of a lifetime.
The most recent event took place last Saturday at KL Live featuring US indie pop band LANY, whose name is inspired by the two iconic US coastal cities (Los Angeles and New York).
The band gained global attention after its debut album was released in June last year.
Since then, LANY has been playing around the world, including a lineup gig at Good Vibes Festival 2017, where Malaysian audiences first fell head over heels in love with it.
Ahead of the sold-out show in Kuala Lumpur, LANY band members - lead vocalist Paul Jason Klein, drummer Jake Goss, and guitarist Charles Leslie ‘Les’ Priest - took some time to reflect on why their music resonates so easily with fans.
Now in the midst of working on LANY’s second album – expected to be named Malibu Nights – frontman Klein says he found himself “in a pretty interesting situation,” leading to a back-and-forth routine to the studio.
“I had a lot on my mind, and a lot on my heart that I had to say,” said Klein.
“Every day pretty much consisted of going into the studio, writing and working all day then driving back to Malibu and pretty much, like, passing out on my bed, then waking up and doing it all over again.
All three band members play major roles in the songwriting process, although Klein comes up with the lyrics.
Klein explained: “Les or Jake would build some sort of groove or beat, and then I kind of build [lyrics] around that and then we build [further] together around it.”
It is mainly due to the band’s vulnerability and straightforward lyrics, heard in hits like ILYSB, Super Far, and pink skies, that LANY’s music strikes a chord with fans.
Klein said: “It’s our words, it’s our lyrics, it’s our melody, it’s our ideas, it’s our instincts [and] it’s really easy to know when somebody means something and when it feels true to who they are.
“I think we have to protect that for as long as we’re a band [by] always keeping it super pure and super honest.”
But even when the track is instrumental, such as So, Soo Pretty from LANY's self-titled debut album, Klein’s skills on the piano added a nice touch, “almost like a breather from other songs.”
According to Goss: “Paul is a really good piano player so we wanted people to hear that side of him playing too.”
In fact, the addition of So, Soo Pretty to the album was just as spontaneous as its creation.
“I just remember sitting in my bedroom really late at night and I just kind of tracked that in one take, just on Garageband (music production software),” explained Klein, adding that “it was just really more for fun.”
After finishing it, he said to a friend that the track is “really pretty,” and “they’re like, that is so, so pretty.”
“And I was like, cool, let’s call it So, Soo Pretty,” said Klein with a grin.
LANY’s magnetic appeal was evident as Malaysian fans waited outside the venue since 7am, with the line stretching until the Raja Chulan monorail station by the time doors opened at 8pm.
Local band Midnight Fusic, comprising 18-year-olds Raja Arif Aizuddin, Adrian Danial, Firdaus Azmi, and Muaz Rabbani, took the stage as the opening act, warming up the crowd before the main show.
Playing their own singles like Heart of May and Lovesick, the band managed to hold their own, and kept everyone entertained as the venue filled up.
After the performance was over, fans were eagerly chanting for LANY, still enthusiastic despite an announcement that the band would be slightly delayed.
When LANY finally took to the stage, it was Goss who walked on first, donning a bright red floral top, followed by his two band members in minimalist black.
The intimate space of KL Live was filled with screaming and adoring fans who threw red roses at Klein’s feet, while the song Flowers on the Floor was performed.
Klein looked amazed, not just at the sheer number of fans crowding the venue, but also because they knew the lyrics to all LANY’s songs.
At one point, Klein approached the front of the stage, causing the screams to go up several decibels.
If it wasn’t for security personnel holding onto his legs, Klein could have risked being pulled into the crowd.
Later, as he sang a mashup of Harry Styles’ Sign of the Times and LANY’s own Current Location on the piano, Klein again looked surprised as the song was echoed by the audience.
It was also a slow tempo break from the otherwise highly charged performance of the night.
The night seemed to have passed like a breeze, because before anyone knew it, Klein said: “Thank you so much, Malaysia. Good night!” and the trio left the stage.
Deafening shouts from the crowd for an encore eventually brought LANY back out to perform two of its greatest hits, Super Far and ILYSB.
Listening to LANY on Spotify will make you fall in love with the band’s music, but watching them live will musically make you want to get married and live happily ever after.
More than just a show, it’s definitely an experience you don’t want to miss.

For the next Live Your Music moment, Future Sound Asia will be presenting renowned DJ and music producer Zedd, for an equally explosive experience.
The 28-year-old Grammy winner whose songs like Clarity, Beautiful Now, and Stay, usually reaches Billboard’s Hot 100 charts, and will be making his Malaysian debut tomorrow night at KL Live.