While waiting for my friends to swing by my place, I realized how much time had passed since we had made plans for a distant October Saturday. Suddenly, fall was here, the night had arrived, and I was on my way to see Frog at the Lodge Room.
Around sunset, we piled into the car and headed toward Highland Park, one of my favorite East L.A. neighborhoods. I’ve been to the Lodge Room once before for the artist A Beacon School, and I was happy to revisit. The Lodge Room is slyly tucked away above the lovely neighborhood spots I’ve stopped to thrift and eat in.
Opening was the band Mildred. Admittedly, openers for recent concerts haven’t blown me away, but Mildred left a great impression. Their song, “Bird Laugh,” is such an earworm, with the recurring lyric: “You’ve got me if you want me now” on repeat in my head.
As Mildred concluded their set, my friend Lindsay leaned over and proposed a great idea: a mid-set snack break. We ventured over to Checker Hall, an adorable hidden restaurant just on the other side of Lodge Room. The fluffy pita and hummus were incredible and provided yet another reason to revisit this venue in the future.
Just in time for Frog, we reentered the venue to the start of their catchy tune “Hartsdale Hotbox.” Frog is made up of three: lead singer Daniel Bateman, drummer Steve Bateman (yes, they’re brothers), and bassist Thomas White. One of my standouts? Bateman’s falsetto. It’s something else, and his brother’s harmonies only elevated their vocal delivery.
The band’s in-between conversations with the audience were funny and personable; the night felt more like a hangout than a performance. After a couple of songs, White introduced a song he wrote not featured on any album, “yet… wink.” Steve Bateman also noted the band “listened to a lot of live bands today to get pumped,” before smoothly jumping into one of their most popular songs: “You Know I’m Down.”
Frog’s set extended to an hour and a half, including other fan favorites, “Best Buy,” “BARUCH ATTA (IN THE MIDDLE SONG) VAR. XVI,” and “SAX-A-MA-PHONE VAR XII,” alongside “All the Things You Get,” a feature from the new album Frog for Sale. Hopping between guitar and keys, Bateman and the rest of his talented band kept the crowd grooving and inspired, and of course, ended the night on one last encore.
Listen to Frog For Sale here!
