ST. LUCIA - TERMINAL 5 TAKEOVER - Pancakes And Whiskey

A sweaty St. Lucia aka Jean-Phillip Grobler approached the mic in between songs to address the crowd.

“Terminal 5! I can’t believe this is happening right now.” He said to a packed house of dancing fans. “So many of these songs have been written so close to here in New York, and to play them here… it’s amazing.”

New York was one of the last stops on the New York act’s multi-month long tour in support of their first full-length label album, When The Night, which came out back in June. As always a busy night anytime someone’s visiting the city, the band seemed to have no problem rushing over to play after having to film/perform for Seth Meyers’ late night show shortly before the T-5 doors opened.

Local up and coming New Yorkers Haerts got the night started, getting the audience all lubed up working them with songs from their self-titled album. The warm sounding indie-pop group has also been on tour opening for St. Lucia, and was able to rip through some of the more popular songs off the album including my favorites in ‘Heart’ and ‘Wings’. Similar to their headlining counterparts, their sound comes from more modern version of those 80s synth-pop tunes.

It was an all-out dance party as soon as St. Lucia took the stage however. Quite the natural and talented frontman, Grobler was leading the charge, leaping, dancing, and throwing himself and his Rickenbacker around stage throughout their hour and a half set. All the while giving fans fantastic live versions of ‘Closer Than This’, ‘Before The Dive’, The beat heavy ‘September’, ‘Wait For Love’, ‘The Night Comes Again’, and ‘Elevate’.

A show full of hot-worthy singles is not complete without a talented backing band to keep the musical energy alive. Nick Paul helmed the electronic “spaceship” and Grobler’s right hand woman, Patricia Beranek, on keys and side-percussion was Richard Simmons for the evening bouncing around stage like a lady possessed.

The homecoming show ended quite appropriately with a confetti party during ‘Elevate’. Grobler ended up on his back at the end of the song, looking exhausted and on cloud nine at the same time. He took a minute to get up, and why rush? The local New Yorker had just played a roaring show in his own back yard, having a moment to take it all in is all part of the process.

Article by: Tom Shackleford

Photos by: Shayne Hanley