The Eulogies opened for Great Northern at the Grog Shop on Saturday night. It should have been the other way around. The Los Angeles rockers played a strong set. But Great Northern's slot wasn't a total loss, thanks to Rachel Stolte’s see-through dress and three-inch heels.
As everyone waited for the Dears to start their set, watching for any action onstage, frontman Murray Lightburn strolled to the bar, turned on a wireless mic and began singing “Savior.”
Not too many audience members realized he was singing behind them at first ("Savior" isn't one of the Canadian band's best songs), but soon the entire crowd was facing the bar as Lightburn hugged almost everyone within reach as he made his way toward the stage.
The Grog wasn’t packed, so it didn’t take him the whole song to get onstage, but the hugs were a hit with the crowd. As Lightburn finally jumped onstage (to much applause and cheers), the rest of the Dears joined him, launching into a solid 90-minute set. (Lightburn returned to the audience one more time in the evening, during “Hate Then Love.”)
Much of the Dears' set came from their most recent album, Missiles. As the audience waited for an encore, one fan even pounded on the the dressing-room door. They exited, Lightburn took a long swig from a bottle of Jameson and launched into “Death of All the Romance,” which capped their stellar performance. —Crystal Culler; photos by Mark A. Pirri
