La Dispute rocks downtown show

Last Thursday, Michigan natives La Dispute made their fifth Hattiesburg appearance at Bennie’s Boom Boom Room. Their last show in Hattiesburg was at the 1126 House, which has since shut down. The band has greatly grown in popularity over the past two years, and the show drew a crowd of close to 200 people from Mississippi and beyond. One concertgoer made a 10 hour drive from Savannah, Ga. to see the band.

The show opened with local bands Les Doux and Waypoint, followed by the tour package of Sainthood Reps and La Dispute. The two bands toured previously to promote La Dispute’s latest record, “Wildlife,” and they have reunited for this week-long tour, which the bands unofficially named “The Worst of the Wildlife: Strikes Back.”

Madelyn Roberts, a junior graphic design major, enjoyed the show from start to finish.

“It’s the type of music that can keep a smile on my face the whole time,” Roberts said. “It’s so hard to pick a favorite part. La Dispute’s set was the perfect end to the show.”

Sainthood Reps formed in September 2009 and have been steadily making their mark on the alternative music scene. With Derrick Sherman, touring guitarist for Brand New, how could the band not make an impact? Naming musical influences such as Modest Mouse, Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai and Sunny Day Real Estate, their performance held a lot of energy and feeling.

The band’s usual lead vocalist Francesco Montesanto was feeling under the weather for the Hattiesburg show, so Sherman stepped up to the plate and delivered a flawless performance. Even though they are a newer band, the four members were entirely in sync, and the chemistry was apparent. Crowd favorites were “Animal Glue” and the title track of their full-length album, “Monoculture.”

After Sainthood Reps, the excitement in the crowd was at a high as La Dispute took the stage with one of their older songs, “Said the King to the River.”  Vocalist Jordan Dreyer gives especially passionate performances, and Thursday night’s show was no different. Easily one of the standout characteristics of the band’s music are the lyrics. Descriptive wording packs an emotional punch that clearly paints a picture for the experience that Dreyer writes about in each piece.  Seamlessly, each instrument is used to heighten the sentiment that each song tries to convey.

The set-list consisted of a mix of old favorites such as “Castle Builders” and “Andria,”  as well as songs from “Wildlife.” The crowd screamed lyrics along with Dreyer, and a few brave souls surfed the crowd during their favorite songs. The band delivered one more song, “King Park,” at the urging for an encore from the attendees.  

The show was booked by Jackson native Caleb Rowe, who went out on a limb to make the show hours away from his home a success.

“The bands are pretty popular, and I knew kids from all over the state would love to see them,” Rowe said. “When the opportunity was passed my way, I couldn’t resist. It was a great show, and I was extremely pleased with how well the crowd reacted.”