Yesterday, 24th September, Lazarus Kane performed a live set for ‘intergalactic live music venue’ The Close Encounter Club. He and his band went live at 9pm for a three song set complete with a disco ball and neon lights. If you missed it, you can watch it here.
Kane took to the stage in his signature dark shades, opening with his 2020 single Night Walking. With its disco beat and funky bass lines, this song is a feel good track that perfectly encapsulates Lazarus Kane’s kitsch Americana persona. He wrote the song to get the ‘seratonin’ goin’… it’s entertainment for entertainments sake.’
This playful sentiment is echoed in their second song of the performance. In this, Kane sings ‘this is not the news and this is not the blues// it’s just a song… this is not a test or some moral quest// it’s just a song’. The female vocalist echos him in a Stevie Nicks style vibrato, their two voices working perfectly together. The guitar riffs on this track are impeccable, forming a pastiche of rock and roll, funk and new wave.
Next comes another unreleased number, with Lazarus singing: ‘dogs hair wont change a thing//it makes it worse yeah it makes it sting// and I don’t feel like a living thing… self control is what I lack// and my mind’s about to crack’. Then, a saxophone enters, joining the rhythm section in an unbridled cacophony of jazz-rock fusion. This song is the best of the set, demonstrating the extent of Kane’s lyrical witticism as well as his band’s tight musicianship.
But Lazarus Kane certainly doesn’t lack self control, his pubic persona is an artfully curated amalgamation his influences; a bizarre character that must take a certain amount of effort to maintain. According to him, he was born into a ‘religious travelling community in Arizona’ and used to hang out with Axl Rose back in the 80’s.
Continually pulling everyone’s leg, he is hard to get a straight answer out of in interviews. When asked which historical figure he would most like to spend an hour with, he answered ‘The person who invented the concept of the hour’. Equally comic was his statement that the fantastic bass guitarist Carol Kaye has ‘more hits under her belt than a tall boxer’.
The evasive answers and drawling American accent are a carefully curated effort, an ode to the American “Rock Star” ideal that started with Elvis in the 50’s. It feels both ironic and loving at the same time. What is certainly genuine is Kane’s love of music; his tracks and live performances never fail to disappoint. This kaleidoscopic performance on The Close Encounter Club stage is no different.
