One of my favorite shows was one that was hard to see. Rhye, a band that likes to keep itself in an opaque shroud of mystery, recently showed up to a sold-out crowd at LPR. In an effort to maintain a certain sense of mystique, the show was lit almost entirely by candlelight. With the few stage lights that were on set as low as they could go – and red – the tabletop candles were the only navigational beacons around. What sounds like hell for a server, turned out to be one of the best shows.
Working at LPR you get accustomed to very different guests. One of our early shows might be an intimate classical music concert where the up-town traversing travelers are in need of a stiff martini after their harrowing trip downtown to Bleecker St. In all fairness to our ‘You-Only-Have-One-Type-of-Rose?!’ friends, anyone who has been on Bleecker at 4am (and sadly at 4pm on occasion), knows that some of the crowds wondering the street can be both ostensibly off-putting and dementedly intriguing. The following concert could be a band classified as minimal, low-fi, alternative, rock, acoustic, electronic, and other classifications that are so hip you probably haven’t heard of them. These throngs of slick-haired straphangers are people who have honestly forgotten that Manhattan lies between them and New Jersey.
The evening of the Rhye performance brought a crowd who expected a great show and a great atmosphere. They were not disappointed. Everyone in attendance was transported by the music and the lights – the booze helped as well – to a wonderfully serine place of melody and sound. This is what LPR offers. From the classical to classic rock; reggae to reggae tone, Broadway to bhangra, there is something for everyone here. Even if you do have to go ALL THE WAY to Bleecker to get there.