UOB Live's main hall seemed shrouded in a thin fog while the air inside was kept chilly as fans gathered for Lany's Bangkok stop of "a beautiful blur: the world tour" on Sunday. Clearly in anticipation of the heat that was about to come onstage.
To the best of my knowledge, it was the sixth time vocalist Paul Jason Klein and drummer Jake Goss performed in Thailand. Considering they debuted in Thailand in 2017 and it's 2024, the LA-based pop-rock band is probably one of few foreign music acts to perform almost annually in Thailand. We can't seem to get enough!
Culture Wars, an American rock trio from Texas, warmed up the crowd with a 30-minute set, including groovy Wasting My Time, and jokingly dedicated a song to Moo Deng, the current world heartthrob.
A curtain went up after Culture Wars left the stage, while ethereal ambient music started to play, slowly building up the anticipation. The lights went off, sending fans into a screaming frenzy. Spotlights briefly showed silhouettes of everyone on the stage while the unmistakable outline of Klein with a guitar in tow made girls behind me scream their heads off. Luckily, it did not impact my hearing.
The curtain finally fell with the word "LANY" in all caps shown on the huge background screen as they kicked off the night on a high-energy and anthemic note with You!, the third single off their third album, Mama’s Boy.
I finally got to see the full stage setup, which was something that deserves a mention before we go any further. Besides the usual features of two screens on either side of the stage and one big screen behind the band, a circular screen floated above the stage. There's also a raised walkway, which extended from the main stage in the outline of a slim trapezoid and standing inside the trapezoid were fans who paid for the top-tier tickets. Klein didn't waste much time putting the runway into good use, like it's a b-stage, towards the end of You! and at many other points during the concert. Of course, every time he performed on the runway, the screams got automatically louder. Needless to say, members of the opposite sex formed a majority of the audience.
Without stopping, they moved on to Ex I Never Had. The break-up-but-fun song from their fourth album Gg Bb Xx prompted enthusiastic singalong from the crowd as Klein shouldered a camera to broadcast the crowd on the big screen behind the band.
He briefly greeted the crowd before playing Up To Me, a breezy pop number about the one that got away. It was followed by It Even Rains in LA, a pick-me-up from their latest album A Beautiful Blur, as the central screen went into overdrive, switching between static noise, TV colour bars and the live performance.
The central screen turned into silhouettes of seven tall windows with an orange sky (look closer and you'll see birds flying, too) as Lany performed I Pray from the latest album. Things got mellower with a beautiful self-introspection session of Somewhere and Sugar & Cinnamon.
Klein took a break to properly greet the crowd and expressed his appreciation for them. He further buttered Thai fans up by saying Thai food is the best in the world before asking them to jump with him as he performed Care Less. Beach balls were tossed around among the crowd, adding to the carefree vibe.
Another singalong favourite was Congrats, a sarcastic heartbreak rock song filled with fun angst thrown at your ex with whom you have the worst break-up. An extended version of mid-tempo pop I Don't Wanna Love You Anymore from their Malibu Nights era, rumoured to be about his ex Dua Lipa, was performed next while red alphabets rained on the central screen. A disco ball was aptly lowered from the central point of the circular screen for synthpop Dancing In The Kitchen, an upbeat number about newfound love. The lovey-dovey vibe continued with Pink Skies from their fourth EP Kinda.
Klein moved to the furthest edge of the runway where a keyboard had been set for him to perform the most emotive moments of the night with Alonica, an uplifting anthem from their latest album. Thick And Thin from Malibu Nights, Out Of My League (with Thai singer Pun as their surprise guest) from A Beautiful Blur and DNA from Gg Bb Xx were served up next.
Perhaps, the biggest highlight of the night came when Klein and Goss performed Super Far from their self-title debut studio album but suddenly snuck Mean It, a collab with American singer-songwriter Lauv, in the middle of it to much delight of fans. Lany continued to treat day one fans with 13 before forwarding to the latest album with 'Cause You Have To. They then seemingly sent off fans with Thru These Tears (Dua making an appearance again) and Malibu Nights from their sophomore album.
Seemingly because they returned for an encore with ILYSB, their breakout song which was first released as part of their 2014 debut EP Acronyms, which accumulated in a confetti rain. Klein ended the night in a big way with XXL as he walked down the stage and climbed the fence to perform part of it among the crowd.
Lany bid farewell to the fans against a "That's All Folks!" backdrop, which is obviously inspired by Looney Tunes' signature closing sequence.
While the crowd may not dance as much as Klein urged them to, they gave enthusiastic singalongs (and screaming) throughout the 20-plus-song setlist. Lany took fans all over the place on their discography with an accompaniment of impressive visuals and lights to boot. I won't be too surprised if Bangkok gets a Lany concert every year. Well, they have to come back anyway since Klein promised he would visit Moo Deng, his "boo thang", again.
