Staff Editor on June 22nd, 2019

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JR JR came to the Lodge Room on Thursday night in support of their double album “Invocations / Conversations,” sporting some Lysol- and Cheerios-logo NASCAR racing outfits, a tribute to their original Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. name.

The band might be known for their indie-pop sound and catchy hooks, but they know how to put on an entertaining 90-minute set. When the band went into “If You Didn’t See Me (Then You Weren’t On The Dancefloor),” Daniel Zott took a leap onto to the floor and showed the crowd how to dance. Later, they mentioned that in their rider, they always ask for bread, peanut butter and jelly. Why? So they can share it with the crowd. With that, they pulled up on stage a volunteer who proceeded to make PBJ sandwiches for the fans during “The Gambler.” (They did check to make sure no one had airborne allergies to peanuts.) They then upped the PBJ enjoyment by bringing up somebody from PBJ.LA (an eatery in Grand Central Market), who proceeded to hand out sandwiches from his shop. Joshua Epstein proclaimed shortly after, “This is the most fun I’ve ever had playing in Los Angeles.” All this fun, plus two bubble machines.

The band played several songs from “Invocations / Conversations,” but also played a few songs from their other albums. The crowd particularly responded strongly to the sweet, vocal-driven sounds of “Same Dark Places,” the electronic mix-up of “Dumb Myself Down,” and the “party like it is 2010” song “We Almost Lost Detroit.” And, of course, “Gone.” They ended the night with their tribute to the Beatnik culture. “Is Beatnik still a thing? This song is meant to sound like that,” they informed as they concluded the night with “Rip RnR.”

Big reveal of the night: Joshua Epstein’s dog is dating Lassie’s granddaughter, because in Los Angeles there are famous dogs everywhere.

Opening the night was Model Child, who brought plenty of sonic energy to their set. The band had their fans in the audience, as there were screams of “I love you” shouted throughout the set. And as the set was ending, two fans rushed the front to help lead singer Danny Parker off the stage to dance among the crowd.

Set list for Jr Jr: All Around You, If You Didn’t See Me (Then You Weren’t On The Dancefloor), Low, James Dean, War Zone, Control (Secretly Sorry), Twice as Hard, Simple Girl, Vocal Chords, Same Dark Places, The Gambler, NYC, Young Forever, Dumb Myself Down, We Almost Lost Detroit. Encores: Gone, Nothing But Our Love, Rip RnR

Photos and recap by Notes From Vivace