Lotus Packs Terminal 5 in NYC Once Again
Lotus made their annual winter stop in New York City packing Terminal 5, a 3,000 person venue, without a hitch for the second year in a row. The 15-year jamtronic veterans made easy work of an eager crowd after El Ten Eleven, a drum-and-bass duo, warmed the crowd. The five-piece took city-goers on a roller coaster of tranquility, showing off their range, playing songs from all over their discography and various covers that fit ever so smoothly.
Lotus wasted no time pleasing their longtime fans with a favorite off of their 2004 album Nomad, “Greet The Mind.” The smooth bass line of Jesse Miller crept over the venue, and the party was fully underway. After taking “Greet The Mind” into “Philly Hit,” Lotus went to a more recent sound of theirs with “Neon Tubes,” a funky tune with a progressive synth sound and samples galore, before continuing on that same wave length with “Molluskunk” off their 2011 self-titled album. A long, ten minute-plus “Travel” formed back into “Greet The Mind,” completely blowing the crowd away. Lotus slowed it down to bring the first set to an end gently with “Marisol” and “Age of Inexperience” before taking a quick break, giving everyone a chance to catch their breath.
As if the crowd wasn’t already excited enough, Lotus wasted no time starting the second set debuting a new song, “Eat The Light,” a fun song with highs, lows and a hell of a jam in the middle. “Kodiak,” an upbeat, popular tune, came next before what was easily the highlight of the night, an old school “Spaghetti” transitioning ever so smoothly into “Nematode.” Mike Rempel soothed fans through “Spaghetti” with the beautifully clean notes of his guitar, leaving all 3,000 people pondering the beauty and despair of this strange planet before giving everyone what they wanted, a nice, long, “Nematode.”
Lotus followed the beautifully calm, old-school jams with a cover of Tame Implala‘s hit “Elephant,” sending the place into a frenzy once again. The band stuck with the darker, rock-type theme, following with “In an Outline” before “128” took us out in great fashion to end set two and a hell of a night in New York. The fun wasn’t over just yet, though, as Lotus returned to serenade fans one last time with “Behind Midwest Storefronts,” a song off their newest album Gilded Age, and left us with exactly what we all needed, a Talking Heads cover of “Once in a Lifetime,” leaving us all waiting for that annual return in 2017.
02/06/2016 • Lotus • Terminal 5 • New York, NY
Set 1: Greet The Mind > Philly Hit > Neon Tubes, Molluskunk, Travel > Greet The Mind, Marisol, Age Of Inexperience
Set 2: Eats the Light, Kodiak, Spaghetti > Nematode, In An Outline, 128
Encore: Behind Midwest Storefronts, Once in a Lifetime