L.S. Dunes Casts A Spell Over Toronto
april 22, 2025 - toronto, canada
Rock group L.S. Dunes formed during the pandemic as the band members traded tracks back and forth while recording separately. Made up of rock legends Anthony Green, Frank Iero, Tim Payne, Travis Stever, and Tucker Rule, their 2025 album release, Violet, is the product of finally writing and recording in person. The rawness of the record came together at the Velvet Underground in Toronto.
The set leads with the opening track from Violet, “Like Magik” (aptly the titular track to the tour itself). As the speakers hummed, singer Anthony Green, embraced the crowd with one foot on the barricade and open arms. Warming the crowd with isolated vocals for about a minute before the climactic guitar riff and kick drums burst in.
Clearly seasoned professionals, the band spends the set throwing themselves entirely into the music and crowd effortlessly. The negative space where Green’s vocals shine through is halfway between a falsetto, contrasting the stacked guitars shifting and whiny screams. Green wails over the guitar's catchy ostinato as he rocks on his feet, using hand motions as if he were casting a spell to charm the crowd (spoiler alert: he did).
Notably missing from the stage was Travis Stever, when a crowd member shouted asking about the guitarist, Green replied with a slight giggle and vaguely said, “Where’s Travis? Well…he had something else to do tonight.” While there was a hole in the band without Stever, the hole was filled with just as much fierceness and accuracy from their temporary player.
Closing out the set (of course, before the anticipated encore), L.S. Dunes jumped straight into their very first two releases. The intro led by Frank Iero, begins with a guitar riff that almost emulates a windchime swelling before it becomes “Permanent Rebellion”. Accompanied by a distorted, gritty bass riff from Tim Payne standing stage left. Tucker Rule is simply one of the nastiest drummers around, proven in the versatility of their “final” track, 2022, while rolling snares and slamming toms throughout the chorus, he expertly leaves the verses open and light to let the crowd revel in the devastating lyricism of the song.
The anticipation period of the encore lasted a (small) whole minute before the band bounded back to the stage with the same excitement as the crowd. Before their final song of the night, “Forgiveness”, Green tragically thanked the crowd with, “We’re so glad you’re here tonight because we don't know the next time we’ll be able to tour as this band.” While the room was already filled with soul in its own right, this final song felt spiritual to end the night with hopeful 6-stringed arpeggios reverberating from the speakers, followed by one final scream from Green and a satisfying, but abrupt end. Forgiveness is a fitting end to the night as the crowd shuffled out with the final lyrics ringing in their heads,
“A light like this tonight”
The Toronto L.S. Dunes show hit a very special sweet spot for long-time rock fans, curating a lively show in an intimate 400-capacity room. The venue's walls were lined with fans adorned with fingerless gloves and tour tees, and pure desperation to feel the infectious rhythm and emotional lyrics from the band.
To call L.S. Dunes a rock supergroup would subvert the ethos of the band. The concept of this project being known as a “supergroup” negates the unique versatility and ferocity of the band as a whole. While each member is a part of separate (and equally massive) bands, Dunes is clearly not just a “side project” waiting for what comes next for their other respective bands.
Somehow, a band full of creatives, having written thousands of other tracks both together and separately, creates masterpieces that sound unique solely to L.S. Dunes and L.S. Dunes alone
