Photos by Nathan Rifkin
This one is for all the lovers. The lovers of Love Spells, that is.
I took a trip down Sunset Boulevard last Saturday to see Sir Taegen, known in the music world simply as Love Spells, perform at the Roxy. The glowing neon sign of the theatre greeted me in the warm Los Angeles night, proudly displaying “Love Spells, with special guest Orca.”
My night was made before the show even started: as I was waiting in line to enter the venue I came face to face with Love Spells himself. Clad in a ridiculously fashionable leather jacket and a mesh tank top, Love Spells exuded cool. Flustered, I introduced myself and left him to his pre-show routine.
Pretty soon after I entered the venue, the stage curtains opened as the intro to “Lovers Only” rang out. Love Spells danced onto the stage, swaying to his signature dream pop meets R&B sound. The beginning of his set was absolutely perfect, as he rounded out his first three songs with my favorites of his singles: “Love Costs” and “Come Over and Love Me.”
Love Spells’ voice is ethereal, a lilting falsetto that is reminiscent of Cigarettes After Sex. His dancing, on the other hand, seems inspired by Michael Jackson, and I would love to see him do a cover of “The Way You Make Me Feel.” Love Spells did perform a cover that night to another iconic song: none other than “Footloose.”
The leather jacket and tank top came off midway through his set, much to the pleasure of his screaming fans. Love Spells danced the entire night, continuously dropping into an impressive splits during “Stupid” and “LOVE IS THE LAW,” the latter of which is the title of his most recent album, released earlier this year in July. Love Spells reminded us: “Don’t go breakin’ the law / Cause baby, love is the law.”
Love Spells finished an incredible night with “Maybe I Still Love You,” “How?,” and “Reach Out and Kiss Me,” all throughout which he took videos with a couple lucky concert-goers’ phones (they’ll be posting those for sure!!). With a beautiful solo from his guitarist, Love Spells took his bows and left us with a concert to remember.
"Come over and love me / I just want some more"
Listen to Love Spells here:
