Lotus – In Bloom

It was hard to believe that 4 weeks had passed since our fall tour ended. Between the bustle of the holidays, working on new tracks and remixes and getting back into the studio the time flew by.

The 3-day sold-out NYE run started on 12/29 at our home away from home, Mr. Small’s in Pittsburgh. aFugate and Tigersapien. got the night started with great sets of dubstep and heavy dance-rock (respectively) allowing Lotus to hit the stage to a very warm room (thanks for that guys because PGH was freezing cold that day). The set list was mainly songs that saw a lot of play this fall with the exception of the rare Contagion. The playing was tight and the improvisation was creative throughout the night.

12/29/09 Mr. Small’s – Millvale, PA
Set 1: Scrapple, Lucid Awakening, Behind Midwest Storefronts, Lou Carchol, Livingston Storm, Molluskunk, Expired Slang
Set 2: Blender, 128, Alkaline -> It’s All Clear to Me Now ->Hammerstrike, Age of Inexperience -> Contagion -> Age of Inexperience
E: In an Outline

Download audio recording here

The next day we headed to West Chester for an intimate show at the Note. The entire crowd had signed on for 2 nights of Lotus. It was interesting to play such a small room the day before playing Lotus’s biggest headlining show to date. The set list featured a number of more rare compositions. Unfortunately, the night ended on a sour note when a drunk driver (not from our show) hit our parked trailer. Luckily the guy was caught, even though he fled the scene, and the damage was light enough that we could drive it away.

12/30/09 The Note – West Chester, PA
Set 1: Bubonic Tonic, Wooly Mammoth, Nri, Turquoise, Monochrome, Cain & Abel, Juggernaut
Set 2: Nematode -> Zelda ->Nematode, Destroyer, Golden Ghost, Intro to a Cell -> Did Fatt ->Comptroller -> Intro to a Cell
E: 72 Hours Awake, Shimmer and Out

On to the big one – Lotus’s first headlining show at the Electric Factory. It felt great to play in Philly after not playing here since Halloween 2008. And it felt really great to step on stage to a sold-out crowd of friends, family and fans ready to dance all night. The musical concept for the show was memorable rock riffs. We picked some of our favorite and most catchy riffs and worked them into Lotus compositions mashing together the grooves and melodies. The energy was high throughout the show and there was great improv from start to finish. I would put this show up against any Lotus has played.

On the visual end Scott put on a hell of a light show. The signature lighthendge stage set up was supplemented by lasers…yes, lasers. When the lasers were used for the first time at the beginning of the jam in Spiritualize to kick off the second set the crowd erupted (listen for it on the audio recording). Kelly made sure the band was looking good with some custom made shirts (that came out in the second set) and appropriately festive top hats and glasses. Huge thanks to everyone involved. Let’s make this an annual tradition!

12/31/09 Electric Factory – Philadelphia, PA
Set I: Grayrigg, Dane Jeer Us > Da Funk1 > Dane Jeer Us > Jump Off, Simian, Wax > Day Tripper2 > Wax, Blacklight Sunflare, Tip of the Tongue > 7 Nation Army3 > Tip of the Tongue
Set 2: Spiritualize > Kids4 > Spiritualize, Tarasque > The Ocean5 > Tarasque, Bellwether > Enter Sandman6 > Bellwether > Dowrn, 128, Hammerstrike, Sunrain >Flower Sermon > Crazy Train7 > Flower Sermon >
Sunrain
1 Daft Punk, 2 The Beatles, 3 White Stripes, 4 MGMT, 5 Led Zepplin, 6 Metallica, 7 Ozzy Osborne

Download recording here

Lasers

Band/Crew before hitting the stage for the second set

Metallica – Enter Sandman mashed with Bellwether (plus some help from the crowd on the vocals) and more lasers.

Ozzy – Crazy Train mashed with Flower Sermon

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