MJ Lenderman & The Wind at the Electric Ballroom

MJ Lenderman & The Wind

Trace Mountains

Electric Ballroom, 4 June 2025

He wore an Magnolia Electric Co. tee, he covered Sparklehorse and Jackson Browne, and he played You Are Every Girl To Me, the first time I've heard it live. I thought I couldn't love him more but he did it. Another mind-blowing show, that I'm still on a high from!

You know when you see that special gig that you just can't stop thinking about? It's happened to me a couple of times in the last two years, notably The Mars Volta in 2023 which kind of reminded me why I love music and was a show brimmed with amazing nostalgia for me, but it also happened to me last year with MJ Lenderman and his two shows at the Garage. There was no nostalgia clouding my reaction to those shows, just the pure joy of music, as I had been obsessively listening to his music that past year and those gigs just encapsulated all the joy I felt in his music and it was just a revelationary moment seeing an artist having his moment and beginning to fully bloom. 

I already had my ticket for this show at the Electric Ballroom before those shows, but after I was full of anticipation to see him live again even though it was six months away! It was absolutely definitely worth the wait. It wasn't quite as mind-blowing as the Garage shows (they were so intimate and I was so close to the stage and it came right on the height of my obsession, as well as being near the start of the tour where everything was fresh and thrilling for the band themselves, that it would be hard to match them), but it was pretty close. I also felt supremely grateful that I had another chance to see Lenderman and his incredible band The Wind in a still fairly small venue, as his next show in London will be at the far grander Roundhouse and I can't imagine I will get to see him in such a small show again.

I got there early to make sure I got a good spot at the front. Being at the Throwing Muses show last week gave me a good idea that it could still feel pretty intimate in the right spot, so I'm definitely glad I did. It was also great because I got to chat with fans of all ages who were equally enamored with Lenderman, although not many had got to see him at his first London show at Rough Trade, so of course I did feel special. He has the nicest fans I must say and it really says a lot about an artist when they attract such cool, lovely people, which is so gratifying.

Support act Trace Mountains were a good fit and are apparently good friends of Lenderman and the band. A lot of people told me they reminded them of The War On Drugs, which may be true but I've never listened to that band so I don't know if that is the case. 

They have released five albums though and been around for a decade so it's surprising when singer Dave Benton (I think it's essentially his musical project) tells us that this is their first ever London show. They certainly deserve to be more well known and I loved that they even had a very cool woman (Mallory Hawk) playing a glittery bass in the band. 

The only track I really recognised was the excellent single from the new album, In A Dream, which had a driving upbeat feel. Another track, Won't Go Home had a Bonnie "Prince" Billy feel, with its striking first line "I won't go home, until I see that fucker burn" (and also a nice Replacements reference), while the final song of the set, Lost In The Country, had a nice bass line which reminded me a little of Fleetwood Mac's Dreams (never a bad thing being compared to the Mac). It sounded good and I really enjoyed their set and I'm looking forward to checking out more of their stuff.

Obviously it was a sold out show, so the venue was packed and there was a lot of excitement when the band took the stage without a word, Lenderman looking very cool, pouty and moody (he has his hair short again, which looked good, but in some ways I wouldn't have minded seeing him with the long curls!), as they launched into the almost entirely instrumental Ghost Of Your Guitar Solo. It was nice an epic, noisy, fuzz-filled way to start: very Neil Young & Crazy Horse, waking everyone up and keeping us all on our toes. I loved it.

Then he ploughed into the far more accessible "hits" as it were: Joker Lips, Rudolph, Toontown (I always get such a thrill hearing anything from Boat Songs) and an absolutely storming SUV, the band sounding at their most punky, most noisy best. 

These first songs were great, don't get me wrong, but Lenderman did seem more laid back and perhaps a little more tired, than he had seemed at the Garage (we are almost a year into the tour afterall), and he seemed maybe a little more slow-paced and laconic, as if these songs were warming him up but SUV, with its full-on punk attitude seemed to give him renewed energy and removed any sign of being at all sluggish for the rest of the show.

We then got a really lovely electrified version of Catholic Priest (he performed this both at Rough Trade and the Garage and it always sounds great) and even more thrilling, as I've been listening to it a lot recently, his cover of This Is Lorelai's Dancing In The Club (I thought he might as we had been talking beforehand about how he's been playing it recently and we all agreed it's even better than the original). It sounded so good, it was hard to believe it wasn't a Lenderman original. 

Then we got back to the Manning Fireworks tracks, as this is a tour to promote that album afterall (and it is a perfect album, but it was so exciting to hear some of the older tracks or songs I hadn't heard him play before), easing us in with the lovely title track and then giving us the delicious double jolt of On My Knees and She's Leaving You (I was pretty much jumping throughout these two songs, particularly the latter, it always sounds incredible live and I just love it so much).

Everytime I've seen Lenderman he's always given up some wonderful covers (his taste couldn't be more perfect, for me anyway), and this time was no exception, as we got an exquisite version of Sparklehorse's Maria's Little Elbows, which sounded magical. I saw Sparklehorse live way back in 2006 and it was such  a beautiful experience and this more than matched that. Mark Linkous died back in 2010, so obviously I will never get the opportunity to see him live again, so this was a really lovely tribute and a moving moment in the set for everyone I think.

Back to the new album and it was fun to hear Rip Torn again (I think the Rough Trade show was one of the first times he had played it, so it's been fantastic to hear it grow into an essential part of the set every night) and then the joyful Bark At The Moon, which easily could be played at the end of every show as it descends into a wall of guitar noises and feedback. There's something so cool and exciting to hear it played in the middle of the show instead, during which the hairy Jon Samuels (still looking very much like Jim Martin) looked in heaven throwing his hair back and making his guitar make wild sounds, while Lenderman himself, took off his guitar and looked like he was almost sweeping the floor with his guitar, as he gently kept moving the fretboard over the ground, to get lots of haunting and droning sounds from it.

Thankfully it wasn't the end and he strapped his guitar back on and played I Ate Too Much At The Fair (another I hadn't heard live before) and the far more gentle You Don't Know The Shape I'm In (which had many singing along, the "we sat under a half-mast McDonalds flag, broken birds tumble fast past my window" is always a particular joy to hear and sing).

I had prayed for it, I had even told everyone beforehand how much I wanted to hear it, as he never had played it at the previous shows I had seen, but my wish came true when I heard the opening, Sonic Youth-like chords (at least I think it sounds like that), to You Are Every Girl To Me and, oh my, it took my breath away, it was so magnificent. It was so exciting to hear and fulfilled every dream I had of hearing it live. 

When he then played Wristwatch, which actually got some radio play over here, it already sounded like an absolute classic, and Hangover Game, with its cool, soaring riffing and Michael Jordan-referencing lyrics, was a complete joy. Knockin' with its lyrical tribute to the Bob Dylan classic and anthemic chorus, felt a natural and spirited way to end the main set and the band left the stage looking pretty pleased with themselves, as they should!

It wasn't long before bassist Landon George returned to the stage and, once again, not only enticed the crowd to scream louder for the band's return but also got us to sing Happy Birthday for lap steel player extraordinaire Xandy Chelmis (who also plays with Wednesday and is always great fun to not only hear but to watch him play live). 

The birthday song was premature though, as Lenderman himself returned holding a small birthday cake topped with lots of lighted candles and we all sang it again as he blew them out and held up the cake with a huge grin on his face (he turned 31 at midnight, they said)!

The whole band put on little party hats including Lenderman but he only had his on for seconds when the string broke and it fell off! Someone shouted for him to put the hat back on and he said "I can't! It broke!" But Samuels put the string into another hat and handed it to Lenderman. He put the hat on again and immediately the string broke again! He held up his hands as if to say, I tried! It was a cute moment. 

They then launched into the fun, funky riff of You Have Bought Yourself A Boat and the band looked noticeably happy at this point and it was completely contagious. They had promised us a special end to the set and they certainly delivered when they invited support act Trace Mountains onto the stage, as it was their final night on the tour, and together, on the crowded stage, they sang a rousing version of the Jackson Browne song These Days, before ending things with a completely storming Taste Just Like It Costs (maybe my favourite ever MJ Lenderman song), with the two bands, obviously having the time of their lives: it was tremendous fun and a fantastic end to the show. They definitely didn't lie when they promised us something special.

What a glorious show. I can't stop thinking about good it was: that is the power of music. Even though it's a much bigger venue, after this, I absolutely can't wait to see MJ Lenderman and his incredible band The Wind in August at the Roundhouse as I know it will be just as wonderful.