Artists: Alex Lahey, Kingsbury
Venue: The Troubadour
Date: August 3, 2019
There was a Melbourne invasion of The Troubadour on Tuesday night; Kingsbury from Melbourne, Florida, and Australian-sensation Alex Lahey swinging over the ocean from Melbourne, Australia.
I was unfamiliar with Kingsbury prior to the show, but they quickly proved why they were the perfect fit for the bill. The three-piece sounded as if they had been transported out of an 80’s high school film, with their synthy blend of bubblegum pop rock. The songs were undeniably catchy and exuberant, with frontwoman Caroline Kingsbury owning the stage with a bombastic performance. Music supervisors of the world should take note, as Kingsbury‘s songs are destined to populate soundtracks for years to come. 
Alex Lahey came on a little past ten, opening her set with a couple of the most memorable songs from her recent album The Best of Luck Club – “I Don’t Get Invited to Parties Anymore” and “Am I Doing It Right?”. Some sound issues kept these tracks from starting the energetic pogo-ing they deserved, but these problems were soon thankfully fixed.
As a songwriter, Lahey has managed to make her pop punk tunes shine with smarts and maturity that the genre is not normally known for. Burners like “Black RMs” allowed for a moodier atmosphere. Lahey also took a chance and made the live debut of “I Want to Live With You”, which did drain some of the energy from the set, but she came back by playing a brand-spanking new rocker that was one of the hardest songs in the set.
The moment I (and the crowd) seemed to be most anticipating was her latest single “Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself”, an insanely-hooky gem that blesses listeners with an explosive sax solo, done courtesy of Lahey herself. It remains one of the best songs released this year, and built the crowd into a proper frenzy which continued to coast with the ending duo of “I Haven’t Been Taking Care of Myself” and “Every Day’s the Weekend”. 
For fans of easy earworms and bouncy choruses with 80’s sheens, catch this tour as it comes through your town, and check out the latest releases from Alex Lahey and Kingsbury below.
The Indy Review 