Lespecial Brings Late Night Heat to Brooklyn’s Knitting Factory
Lespecial is a band sometimes best-suited for a late-night time slot, as they bring a dark and driving energy to every set they perform. The power trio, made up of Jon Grusauskas (lead guitar, keys, samples, vocals), Rory Dolan (drums, rhythms), and Luke Bemand (bass, keys), brings a varied and unique sound to every show, as they can touch on some funk grooves, some heavy metal riffs, some synthy-spacey points, a little reggae, and generally rock as hard as anyone in the scene at the moment. The band can jump between sounding like Umphreys McGee or The Disco Biscuits to Primus or Nine Inch Nails or even Sublime. They just finished a 12-show, multi-city east coast tour with reggae/hip hop group Zion I, and were happy to be returning “home” to Brooklyn for this gig at Knitting Factory.
Friday’s show at the Knitting Factory provided a full display of what Lespecial is capable of, as they jammed between originals and covers, running the gamut of genres and styles. Early in their set, they busted out a Space Jesus cover, and showed their chops on the keys and synths. Their Nine Inch Nails medley, which included brief samples and covers of “March Of The Pigs” and “Piggy,” was super proggy and a time capsule to ‘90s metal. One of the highlights of the night was the mashup of King Crimson’s “21st Century Schizoid Man” and Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.” They then busted out a raging cover of Primus’s “American Life.” All of a sudden, it was a late night dance party at the Knitting Factory and everyone in the room was throwing down. The Lespecial boys then showed their versatility, as they did a cover of the Kendrick Lamar/The Weeknd tune “Pray For Me,” off the “Black Panther” soundtrack, and Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves).” They also did a tribute to the band they just finished touring with, Zion I, as they covered “Wake Up!” The band closed out the night with an encore of Radiohead’s “National Anthem.”
Per usual, this Lespecial gave the crowd a little bit of everything: groovy dance music, deep, dark bass backbeats, metal moments, and an overall fun party. They can be seen locally again on April 19th at The Acoustic in Bridgeport, CT.