The Irresistible editorial team have been waiting and waiting for an opportunity to use the phrase yacht rock. Thank goodness Lake Street Dive came back to tour Australia to give us the chance to lay that one to rest. Yacht rock can describe a kind of smooth, polished, breezy, up- tempo tune, that might be drawing on jazz, soul, R&B and disco, and is typically associated with Southern Californian music that emerged between the mid-70s and the mid-80s. Think Fleetwood Mac, the Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Toto, songs like Just The Two of Us and You Make My Dreams (Come True). It’s the songs you already openly or secretly love, and you don’t even need a boat.
The modern torchbearer is Lake Street Dive. They’re so smooth and feel- good you would be forgiven for missing some of their deeply political and critical song-making, or missing the deeper meanings to some of  their tunes. One of their heroes is Stevie Wonder and there’s something similar her. A message in a song you can’t stop dancing too. Most of the band met at the New England Conservatory of Music, graduating in, 2004, and taking their catchy floor fillers out in to the world, reaching global stardom with their covers of Hall & Oates’ Rich Girl and the Jackson 5’s I Want You Back.
They’ve got serious musical chops. Lead singer Rachel Price has one of the best fully ranged soul jazz voices you can hear live, and she is fantastic crowd- worker. Akie Bermiss is a force of nature on keys, has his own great deep soul voice, and is pretty funny once he gets the mic to himself. Bridget Kearney is on double bass and electric guitar and is clearly a powerhouse behind the band, keeping it together and leading on songwriting. James Cornelison is on guitar which some funky solos, and Mike Calabrese is clearly having a great time on drums and vocals at the back.
After a lot of waiting and chatter about why it hadn’t happedned yet, Lake Street Dive were finally nominated for a Grammy this year, for their Good Together studio album which was released in 2024. They didn’t win for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, but it’s something of a Grammy correction, and one that their devoted fans and sell-out audiences have been waiting for.
At their Sydney set, it was just one good time after another, with Price’s vocals easily going the distance. They opened with Good Together from the new album, and continued to reach high crowd- pleasing factors with all their hits, including Side Pony, a brilliant Better Than and Bad Self Portraits. Â
In between we had some fun insights into the bands travels, including the fact that Price spent some of her formative years here in Australia. She also spoke passionately about the environment and our current political storms, before launching into Making Do and Same Old News. The band were last here in 2017, and as they always do, Price promised it wouldn’t be so long till they’re back again.
They left on a complete high with their Rich Girl cover and Good Kisser. With tunes as rich and hip- popping as theirs, it was impossible for everyone to leave without having had the best night. The crowd definitely left hoping they’d be back soon- not much can guarantee good times these days as much as Lake Street Dive can. Â
LAKE STREET DIVE
Enmore Theatre, Sydney
18th March 2025
SETLIST
Good Together
Far Gone
Better Not Tell You
Hypotheticals
Seats at the Bar
Get Around
Better Than
Baby, Don’t Leave Me Alone With My Thoughts
Making Do
Party on the Roof
I Want You Back
Side Pony
Help Is On the Way
Bad Self Portraits
Same Old News
You’re Still the One
Twenty-Five
Seventeen
Dance With a Stranger
You Go Down Smooth
Rich Girl
Good Kisser
