I was fortunate enough to see The Lillingtons three times in 2017. The shows they are playing in 2018 are quite a bit different, but we’ll get to that later. First, let’s talk about the openers. I completely missed New Architects from Kalamazoo, but I heard really good reports. Their name has been popping up a lot lately, and I’m sure I’ll catch them soon. I made it in time to catch Paper Thin, another female fronted band with Kole and Taylor from the now defunct The Lippies/Bloody Lips. I’ve always enjoyed their modern spin on the ‘77 sound, and it was good to see them again. The GR five piece played a few new songs, and have studio time booked to record a full length soon. Fans of classic punk should keep an eye on Paper Thin.

MakeWar from Brooklyn was up next. I’d been listening to their Red Scare album Developing a Theory of Integrity, and was having a hard time getting into it. After seeing them live, I have a much better understanding of their appeal. It’s loud, fast, aggressive punk mixed with grunge. The lyrics are pretty intense, but they have an easy going stage demeanor. Like pretty much everyone else at the show, I enjoyed the long haired trio’s 35 minute set. Even as I type these words, I regret not picking up the MakeWar album.

As far as I know, this was The Lillingtons’ first ever show in Grand Rapids. It took place at the Pyramid Scheme downtown on Saturday, April 28th. The Pyramid Scheme is my favorite place in GR to see bands, and this particular show was also a celebration of the venue’s 7th anniversary. There was a pretty good crowd on hand to see the new, darker version of The Lillingtons. There were definitely a lot of faces that I didn’t recognize.

Last year’s shows were pretty much standard punk club shows. This year’s show actually had some thoughtful production value. The stage backdrop was an eerie figure in the style of the Stella Sapiente album cover. Candles flickered on the dimly lit stage. Creepy background music played in the down time between songs. All four members of the band wore matching triangle pendants. Bassist Cory Laurence was sporting an epic wizard beard.

They opened with the extremely thrashy “Drawing Down the Stars”. All night long they bounced back and forth between their pop punk favorites and their more nuanced Stella Sapiente stuff. The biggest crowd reactions tended to come from Death By Television songs, especially the really fast ones like “War of the Worlds” and “Invasion of the Saucermen”. A rare fight even started to break out during “Saucermen”, but it was quickly squelched. The band stopped to make sure everything was cool before proceeding with the chugging breakdown.

It was thoroughly entertaining watching guitarist/vocalist Kody Templeman and guitarist Alex Volonino wail away on their matching black Flying V’s. I’m pretty sure I even saw Volonino strike the classic Steve Harris pose. Templeman’s voice was a bit weary from the road. He struggled to hit the high notes, but the audience was always there to help. The rowdy crowd was also more than happy with the old school songs in the encore. In the end, The Lillingtons played an impressive and satisfying 25 song 65 minute set.

Confessions of a merch whore: I was a little disappointed that they were sold out of the recently repressed Shit Out of Luck LP’s. Instead I bought the recently repressed double album Technically More Round. It compiles their early tracks from EP’s, splits etc… I also picked up the gray variant of the Project 313 7 inch. That made me happy because they had sold out of it last year.

Lillingtons Setlist:

Drawing Down the Stars

Final Transmission

I Saw the Apeman (On the Moon)

Phantom Maggot

Zodiak

Rubber Room

London Fog

Codename:Peabrain

X-Ray Specs

Murder On My Mind

Villagers

Until the Sun Shines

Pyramids

I Need Brain Damage

Don’t Trust the Humanoids

Invasion of the Saucermen

Knights Templar

Insect Nightmares

Black Hole In My Mind

I Came From the Future

War of the Worlds

One Armed Man

Project 313

Encore:

I Got Abducted By a UFO

Lillington High