Alt-folk rockers Dawes just began a North American tour and a few SoCal dates will help the Los Angeles band wrap things up. Taylor Goldsmith et al will play two nights at Belly Up Tavern, and then one night at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles.
OC Music News caught Dawes in 2022 at Pilgrimage Festival and they made us fans in one short set. Often during festivals, bands begin to blur together, but not Dawes. The guys injected a memorable rock show with tracks off their then-newly released “Misadventures of Doomscroller,” including “Ghost in the Machine,” “Comes in Waves,” “Everything Is Permanent,” and the title track.
The crowd was very into their performance and sang along to several Dawes “classics:” “When the Tequila Runs Out,” “Time Spent in Los Angeles,” “When My Time Comes,” and “All Your Favorite Bands.”
While Dawes has more “folksy” roots and is often compared to, and inspired, by Joni Mitchell, Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, and Frank Zappa, their 2022 album heads into the alt side even more. As front-man Taylor Goldsmith told The Advocate about the “Misadventures of Doomscroller” at the album’s release, “This album’s songs are built for the show. When we break into a riff together, when we change tempo or play an extended solo, that stuff works on a stage.”
In 2020, Dawes – Taylor (guitars/vocals), his brother Griffin Goldsmith (drums), Wylie Gelber (bass), and Lee Pardini (keyboards) – was home, just like the rest of us, and while family time was a blessing, Goldsmith said that time helped kick this album up a notch. “It’s not completely disconnected from the pandemic,” he explained. “I missed turning my guitar up loud. I missed hearing the drums and bass kick the hell out of me from behind. These songs are a testament to that. The big riff in ‘Someone Else’s Café’ was a dream. Like, ‘Wow, it would be fun to play this on tour.’ A lot of these compositions are love letters to what’s possible on stage.” We concur they made it happen.
Dawes did have some sad news this week though; after this tour wraps up, Wylie Gelber will be leaving the band. Thankfully it is not ugly band drama, but simply Gelber following his passion of building basses, guitars, and pedal boards (as he has done for Dawes).
In the announcement, Goldsmith assured fans, “It’s gonna be hard and tears have been shed but change always leads to some kind of newfound strength and Dawes isn’t going anywhere, I promise.”
All the more reason to catch Dawes on this tour. The April 28th show at Belly Up Tavern (Solana Beach) is sold out, but there are some tickets remaining for the April 27th show. If you want to see the big hometown show, grab tickets for May 5th at The Theatre at Ace Hotel (Los Angeles). OC Music News will review Dawes in Nashville this weekend and surely give you the final push to snag your tickets.
