Lawrence, the NYC soul-pop outfit fronted by the brother-sister pair of Clyde and Gracie Lawrence, a “family business” through and through, a DIY organization comprised of eight longtime friends-turned-entrepreneurs who manage their own tours, run their own merch business, engineer their own sound, stage their own tours, and even take their own stands on the Senate floor against monopolistic music business practices. Their latest LP, the aptly titled Family Business, leans into that wholesome concept with a disarming lack of irony.
But to Lawrence, “Family Business” is more than just an album title or a play on the sibling relation at the band’s core, it’s a celebration of the collective blood, sweat, tears, talent, and vision that have allowed them to get to where they found themselves on Thursday night: onstage at the iconic Radio City Music Hall, performing for a sold-out crowd of hometown fans to help kick off their biggest headlining tour to date.
Lawrence’s engaging brand of clever, broadly relatable songwriting and airtight, high-level musicianship has always been tailor-made for mainstream success, even as many of those in attendance on Thursday followed the band through the ranks of New York City’s smaller clubs and venues for the better part of the last decade. While this sold-out, milestone Radio City show marked the group’s most prominent New York headline to date, Lawrence commanded the celebrated stage like they had been ready for this debut their whole lives.
The setlist pulled heavily from Family Business, with 11 of the album’s 13 tracks making appearances. The focus on this excellent crop of new music, all loosely tied to the album’s titular theme, allowed the band to lean into its retro-drab aesthetic. Mixed in among three large screens on platforms with LED frames were cubicles, file boxes, desk chairs, a water cooler, and other office accoutrements. Stage dress code was business-casual. Faux orientation videos introduced the new hires in the audience to important team members like tenor saxophonist/head of the horn department Jordan Cohen, who doubles as the band’s tour manager/”director of logistics,” while an office birthday celebration for trumpeter Mark Langer fit the ambiance to perfection.
Related: Questlove Sits In With Lawrence For “Whatcha Want” On ‘The Tonight Show’ [Watch]
From the opening “Family Business”, which quite literally welcomes listeners into the fold and invites them to get comfortable, Lawrence engaged the 6,000-ish in attendance with unshakable magnetism. The renditions of “Do”, “i’m confident that i’m insecure”, and “Casualty” that followed were bold and dynamic even as their lyrics explored vulnerable themes.
Lawrence – “i’m confident that i’m insecure” – 9/19/24
[Video: Alex Iwanicki]
A rendition of self-love anthem “Freckles” was selected by the audience out of three choices by way of applause, and the crowd maintained that elation with a chorus of “you know you’re beautiful” affirmations. After, Gracie Lawrence offered her appreciation for the fact that this band, which features “seven dudes,” can get such a rousing response from such “distinctly feminine” songs as this one.
Moving back to the Family Business at hand, the show continued with the Randy Newman-inflected “Guy I Used To Be” and the album-style pairing of “Death of Me” and “Funeral”. While he said they weren’t planning on it initially, Clyde couldn’t pass up the chance to perform deep cut “So Damn Fast”, which he wrote as a high school sophomore not far from Radio City, making for a moving moment of reflection on the storied stage.
Lawrence – “Guy I Used To Be” – 9/19/24
Lawrence – “So Damn Fast” – 9/19/24
[Videos: Alex Iwanicki]
Midway through the show, echoing the band’s beloved “acoustic-ish” video series, Lawrence brought the crowd into the company’s “acoustic office”—the annex, if you will—for stripped-down takes on bouncing Family Business ditty “Promotion” (featuring a searing trumpet sit-in by Jon Lampley), heartbreak tear-jerker “The Weather”, and new album standout “Something in the Water”.
Back in the main office, the band goaded the crowd back into party mode with its staple recreation of Sean Paul‘s “Get Busy” as Gracie cranked out push-ups, filled the stage’s screens with old polaroids of the band on “More”, and vented about a confusing age on “23” before taking things back to the Lawrence’s 2017 debut with one of its most well-known songs, “Do You Wanna Do Nothing With Me?”. All the while, the band made full use of the massive room, from running out to one of the tiered areas to the sides of the stage to taking laps up and down the aisles of the theater.
Lawrence – “Do You Wanna Do Nothing With Me?” – 9/19/24
[Video: Alex Iwanicki]
Ahead of a set-closing “Don’t Lose Sight”, a song written about getting burnt out by the music industry that went on to become the band’s biggest hit to date in 2021, the band explained that this song and the attitude of perseverance behind it helped pave the way to Family Business—to where the band is now. As the emphatic song came to a close, the stage screens flashed the band’s current mission statement, “Welcome to the Family Business.” Sure, ending a show with a “welcome” may be a little unusual, but it’s the second part of that sentiment that holds true. If you’re on this journey with them, you’re part of the family.
But wait, there’s more: After leaving the stage, one final pre-recorded Family Business instructional video began to play, beckoning the already-howling crowd to chant for “one more song.” The grinning band members, clearly enjoying this characteristically kitschy-yet-endearing bait-and-switch, took the stage once more and offered up two, instead, closing out the night with “The Heartburn Song” and “Whatcha Want” before taking their leave to the piped-in sounds of Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5”. All in a day’s work at the Lawrence Family Business.
Find tickets to upcoming dates on the Lawrence Family Business Tour here. Below, view the full setlist and a gallery of photos from Thursday’s sold-out Lawrence shot at Radio City Music Hall via Scott Harris.
Setlist: Lawrence | Radio City Music Hall | New York, NY | 9/19/24
Main Office: Family Business, Do, i’m confident that i’m insecure, Casualty, Freckles [1], Guy I Used To Be, Death of Me, Funeral, So Damn Fast [2], Hip Replacement
Acoustic Office: Promotion [3], The Weather [4], Something in the Water
Main Office: Get Busy (Sean Paul), More, 23, Do You Wanna Do Nothing With Me?, Don’t Lose Sight
Encore: The Heartburn Song, Whatcha Want
[1] Selected via crowd volume out of three songs from the band’s first three albums suggested during pre-show VIP event: Breakfast‘s “Shot”, Living Room‘s “Make A Move”, and Hotel TV‘s “Freckles”.
[2] Clyde noted that they weren’t going to play this one but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play a song this song he wrote in 10th grade in NYC at Radio City.
[3] with Jon Lampley (trumpet)
[4] Gracie and Clyde only, both sitting on lip of stage.
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