Live Review: Lady Lamb at the Divan Orange

Without a doubt the best way to spend Monday night in Montreal was in the company of Aly Spaltro, aka Lady Lamb. Playing the Divan Orange for the second time in two years, Lady Lamb’s audience keeps growing and she picks up new admirers with every passing show. Following a memorable opening performance by New York’sRathborne (their first tour as a duo), Lady Lamb took the stage to huge applause. Rathborne set the bar high for the evening with a set that attracted several new fans, but Lady Lamb succeeded in creating a night that those in attendance will remember for a long time.

Donning a cozy red Adidas sweatshirt, Spaltro was extremely casual throughout the evening. While many artists dress up in full spectacle (often to make up for the mediocrity of their music), Spaltro is able to blow everyone away in a simple sweatshirt and jeans through her strong songwriting and passionate voice. Lady Lamb got the night started with a simple “hello” before launching into “You Are The Apple” off 2013’s Ripely Pine. With the audience still in awe, she had the room nodding their heads along to the stand-out single “Billions of Eyes” that had the crowd singing along to the “da-na-na-na-na” chorus. Where Rathborne were eager to recount rambling stories from the stage, Lady Lamb let her songs reveal more about herself, keeping stage banter limited to the scattered “thank you”.

“Bird Balloons” was one of the highlight performances of the night, showcasing Lady Lamb’s pure talent with a loud-to-soft dynamic. At several times during the set it was remarkable to note Spaltro’s incredible stamina and ability to sing fast-paced lyrics in a stunning delivery without ever taking a breath. On “Violet Clementine”, Aly Spaltro traded her electric guitar for a banjo and had the audience stomping and clapping the whole way through.

After “Craning Your Neck”, the band left Aly Spaltro solo on stage to finish the evening with “Ten”. The beautiful stripped-down track saw Spaltro reminiscing over escaped childhood, touching on long-gone sandboxes and Halloweens. While the vocals remained largely faithful to the albums, musically the band seemed liberated on stage and took more adventurous leaps in their playing than they do on record. On the spectacular After, Aly Spaltro’s lyrics were often masked by heavy instrumentation, but in the three-piece setting, the arrangements allowed her lyrics to shine. Ever personable, Spaltro was eager to meet her fans after the show and sign merchandise. The audience left the Divan Orange with smiles on their faces, as they knew they just witnessed an up-and-coming star in a small venue for one of the last times. It is plainly obvious that Lady Lamb is destined for greatness, and you’ll soon see her headline massive venues across the world.