Book of Love Brings Their Sweet 'Lullaby' to Gramercy Theatre

Damian and I saw Book of Love on their 30th anniversary tour at Highline Ballroom in 2016, so probably wouldn't have gone to last night's 30th anniversary gig for "Lullaby" if my friends' son's band (that I love) hadn't been opening. But they were, so we took the plunge. 

The really great #StrangeNames openers for @bookoflovemusic

A post shared by @ l8dyice85 on Jun 21, 2018 at 5:33pm PDT

With just seconds to spare before (said band) Strange Names went on -- the opener always starts right on time -- Damian and I caught up with our friend Christopher and (Strange Names lead singer) Liam's parents, and quickly got situated. Gramercy Theatre is a great venue for old-timers -- you can stand or sit or a little of both -- and we opted for the former when we found four chairs together. Although the seating area is in the back of the joint, the view is still quite good, thought not nearly as good as taking a load off on a school night. Strange Names -- so named because they are Liam Benzvi (lead vocals/keyboards), Francis Ximenez (guitar/vocals) and Fletcher Aleckson (drums) -- surprised us by doing a mixture of as older favorites as well as songs from their latest album. The single "Into Me" -- which I hear is being used on Netflix's "13 Reasons Why" -- is a modern-day gem. And album track "Rosa" is still my personal favorite. (I love kids who know their musical history enough to channel "Pet Sounds"!)  

Following their well-received set, Book of Love came out and put on a fun show that took the Gen X-heavy crowd back in time -- not unlike the one two years ago but with more focus on their sophomore album, as advertised. Although I didn't know it at the time, singer Susan Ottaviano explained that "Lullaby" was their attempt at a "Sgt. Pepper's" moment, and was influenced by the normal stuff of pop songs (love, less, regret) as well as the harrowing AIDS crisis, which was particularly catastrophic in the New York City art circles in which they ran. Liam's dad (Leslie) and stepmom (Laura) didn't know anything about them, but before leaving after a couple songs, Laura turned to me and said of Susan: "She sounds like Nico and looks like Ann Wilson." (Translation: My kind of heaven!)

Damian and I then went down to get a drink and got flagged over to the VIP seating area by our pal Nora Burns, who is close friends with Susan. Ended up watching the rest of the show with her there, reminiscing about buying the 12-inch single of "Boy" in high school, and falling in love with the band all over again. As a casual fan, I probably didn't need to see Book of Love twice in less than two years. But you never know when these opportunities are going to dry up -- and Strange Names were delightful -- so I'm happy I went.

Witchcraft ...

I always forget how this theater makes me feel so good ...

Song of the Day: 'Lullaby' by Book of Love

Sweet title track from the synthpop band's sophomore album. For some reason I had their first and third albums on heavy rotation back in the day, but never really played this one. (Did I even have it?) I'm making up for lost time now as I prepare to see them perform it in its entirety on Thursday at Gramercy Theatre.

Song of the Day: 'Pretty Boys and Pretty Girls' by Book of Love

Book of Love is hitting the road again, this time to mark the 30th anniversary of their "Lullaby" album. Although I generally try not to see the same act every time they tour and I saw them in 2016 at the Highline Ballroom -- it was fabulous! -- I'll be going again on June 21 at the Gramercy Theatre in part because my friends' gay son's band, Strange Names, will be the opener! Will I see you there? 

P.S.



Here are the boys -- including openly Indian-style singer Liam Benzvi -- doing one of the best songs off their latest album.

Feeling the (Book of) Love

Buying tickets for Book of Love's 30th anniversary gig Thursday at Highline Ballroom turned out to be the best last-minute decision I've made since I dyed my hair like Limahl before the Pretenders concert at the ASU Activity Center in 1984. With my favorite local band -- Fever High -- opening and all four original Book of Love members reunited for the first time in forever, the concert left me smiling from ear to ear, feeling like I was 17 all over again. Fever High quickly got the skeptical crowd dancing and begging for more with a compact opening set that included all the songs from the band's new EP -- available now HERE -- as well as a couple new ones. 

Then Susan and Ted Ottaviano (no relation), Lauren Roselli and Jade Lee emerged, looking overjoyed by the warm response before overjoying the crowd with an album-perfect rendition of "Modigliani (Lost in Your Eyes)" from their classic debut. From there they did two album tracks from the same release -- "Still Angry" and "Happy Day" followed by two from "Candy Carol" (my sometimes favorite LP of theirs) -- "Alice Everyday" and "Counting the Rosaries" (with Lauren on lead). "Lost Souls" came next, followed by the fab new single, "All Girl Band," off their just-released remastered "30th Anniversary Collection" (available HERE). "You Make Me Feel So Good" was next -- and was kind of the theme song of the evening, getting the crowd even more riled up. 

Then Ted took center stage to thank his many fans for supporting the group after all these years, noting how his whole life he dreamed of being in an all-girl band and his dreams came true. He then launched into "With a Little Love," asking the audience for "a little help." 

After a quick costume change, Susan -- now pretty in red -- returned for Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells," then the classic one-two-three punch of "Pretty Boys and Pretty Girls." "Boy" (uh-huh!) and "Book of Love," which had the crowd all but singing lead. 

For the encore, the entire band whipped out bouquets of roses for "I Touch Roses" -- most of them were tossed to the crowd, but Ted made a point of handing one to my Damian -- then they all donned witches hats for "Witchcraft," which ended things craftily enough. Susan noted at the beginning of the show that the four of them hadn't played together in New York since the band's earliest days as wayward art students -- then half-joked as they left the stage, "See you again in 30 years!" Let's hope she was indeed joking. But in case she's not, don't miss them this time around in case it really is the Book end.

All work for Fever High.

Tantalized by Reni Lane and Anna Nordeen ...

Song of the Day: 'You Make Me Feel So Good' (live) by Book of Love

This song makes me feel the same way.

Song of the Day: 'Boy' (DJ Irene Rockstar Mix) by Book of Love

Unlike most of my gay brethren, I am not a remix queen. The ones I first learned were in the '80s -- monotonmous and boring -- and by the time good ones came along, I'd essentially lost interest. Every so often I would realize a remix was better than the original -- "My Love Is Your Love" by Whitney and "Paradise Is Here"/"One by One" by Cher come to mind -- and while DJ Irene's take on this Book of Love gem may not surpass the original, it's awfully good.

Song of the Day: 'You Make Me Feel So Good' by Book of Love

This song makes me happy.