Lakeview Live at The Camden Assembly
After a roaring European debut at this year's C2C: Country to Country festival, the Lakeview boys were back in town to kick-start the festive season in the UK's capital city and boy, did they bring it to The Camden Assembly on a Sunday night.
Our first introduction to this pair of blue-collar boys from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was over in Germany the week prior to their London debut but during the event at the O2 in Greenwich was where we really understood what the duo were all about. Since March, Luke Healy and Jesse Denaro have released their self-titled debut record so this winter tour at shows in Glasgow, Manchester and London (in addition to mainland European dates in Amsterdam along with four German shows in Cologne, Stuttgart, Hamburg and a return to Berlin) have allowed fans to see them after sampling a fuller body of work and gain a better understanding of what they stand for.
What they stand for is the grind, it is the hard-working blue-collar mentality synonymous with the great city of Pittsburgh, which they deliver with an intense amount of energy and in the full band setting as on this tour, they were true to their word as it indeed a lot heavier with more rock and metal elements. In our interview back in March (read HERE) Luke also described it as a lot more engaging and this was definitely true throughout the sixty minute set on their return to the UK capital.
The Camden Assembly is one of London's real gems, an iconic venue with a vast history of hosting some of the biggest names across the scope of musical genres through its history and as Barfly which the previous incarnation of the venue. It is notorious for hosting a lot of heavier gigs and is particularly synonymous in the early stages of Pete Doherty and Carl Barât's careers with The Libertines so is well set for bands that want to play loud as the sound is amongst the best in the country.
Our first introduction to this pair of blue-collar boys from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was over in Germany the week prior to their London debut but during the event at the O2 in Greenwich was where we really understood what the duo were all about. Since March, Luke Healy and Jesse Denaro have released their self-titled debut record so this winter tour at shows in Glasgow, Manchester and London (in addition to mainland European dates in Amsterdam along with four German shows in Cologne, Stuttgart, Hamburg and a return to Berlin) have allowed fans to see them after sampling a fuller body of work and gain a better understanding of what they stand for.
What they stand for is the grind, it is the hard-working blue-collar mentality synonymous with the great city of Pittsburgh, which they deliver with an intense amount of energy and in the full band setting as on this tour, they were true to their word as it indeed a lot heavier with more rock and metal elements. In our interview back in March (read HERE) Luke also described it as a lot more engaging and this was definitely true throughout the sixty minute set on their return to the UK capital.
The Camden Assembly is one of London's real gems, an iconic venue with a vast history of hosting some of the biggest names across the scope of musical genres through its history and as Barfly which the previous incarnation of the venue. It is notorious for hosting a lot of heavier gigs and is particularly synonymous in the early stages of Pete Doherty and Carl Barât's careers with The Libertines so is well set for bands that want to play loud as the sound is amongst the best in the country.
The duo emerged on stage just before 9pm and straight away showcased the different level of intensity that their full band shows bring. These guys clearly love to put on a show and what a show it was, the room was bouncing throughout and the crowd were fully there for it. It’s a high-octane wild ride where the energy on stage is reciprocated by the crowd receiving it.
Their sound is heavy and may not appeal to all tastes, but more fool on those haters. Their ability to fuse metal and country music is truly cohesive and with the intensity throughout the live is a really dynamic sound that blends both of the genres so perfectly. It's lively and very loud but in terms of performance and their lyrics, the perfectly showcase the core values of country music, they just go Fuck it, this is how we do it.
The fifteen-song set was filled with back to back bangers from their own catalogue along with a cover of Hinder's 2006 smash "Lips of an Angel" and ended with the funky "Son of A". They are a very different band with a full-band and there is an obvious marmite element to country fans but we fucking love it and look forward to them returning more and more to far bigger rooms as this was the best way to kickstart our December.
Setlist: Hits Different, LOSER, Wrong Side of the Track, See Me In a Suit, Money Where Your Mouth Is, What I Know Now, By Now, Dying Breed, Neon Nightmare, Rock Bottom, Drink With My Friends, She Drove Me To The Bar,
Lips Of An Angel (Hinder cover), Home Team, Son of A.
The self-titled debut album from Lakeview is out now and available HERE. Whilst we attended the last of their UK shows, Jesse and Luke are back on the road in 2025 for the "Blue Collar Country Tour" which kicks off in West Peroria, Illinois on January 16th and full tour dates along with ticket information can be found on their WEBSITE and you can keep up to date with all that the boys are up to on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK or FACEBOOK.
Their sound is heavy and may not appeal to all tastes, but more fool on those haters. Their ability to fuse metal and country music is truly cohesive and with the intensity throughout the live is a really dynamic sound that blends both of the genres so perfectly. It's lively and very loud but in terms of performance and their lyrics, the perfectly showcase the core values of country music, they just go Fuck it, this is how we do it.
The fifteen-song set was filled with back to back bangers from their own catalogue along with a cover of Hinder's 2006 smash "Lips of an Angel" and ended with the funky "Son of A". They are a very different band with a full-band and there is an obvious marmite element to country fans but we fucking love it and look forward to them returning more and more to far bigger rooms as this was the best way to kickstart our December.
Setlist: Hits Different, LOSER, Wrong Side of the Track, See Me In a Suit, Money Where Your Mouth Is, What I Know Now, By Now, Dying Breed, Neon Nightmare, Rock Bottom, Drink With My Friends, She Drove Me To The Bar,
Lips Of An Angel (Hinder cover), Home Team, Son of A.
The self-titled debut album from Lakeview is out now and available HERE. Whilst we attended the last of their UK shows, Jesse and Luke are back on the road in 2025 for the "Blue Collar Country Tour" which kicks off in West Peroria, Illinois on January 16th and full tour dates along with ticket information can be found on their WEBSITE and you can keep up to date with all that the boys are up to on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK or FACEBOOK.