PAPA returned home to give a raucous homecoming show in Los Angeles at The Echo last weekend. Singer, drummer, and sole lyricist Darren Weiss took the stage alone — joined only by his trusty drum kit — to perform a string of favorites from his first album Tender Madness, and the newly released Dig Yourself or Dig a Hole. Costumed in a snarky stoicism, shouting out puns on the band’s name and dad jokes in between songs, he wasted no time in hammering out a setlist jam-packed with frantic rollickers like “Young Rut” and “Put Me to Work.”
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A lesser performer would’ve made the lack of physical presence by the song’s other instrumentalists feel trite — but not Weiss. In many ways that’s owed to him being the heart and soul of these songs lyrically and melodically. As both drummer and lead singer, he’s always occupied literal centerstage. Belting out the smoldering passion that spills from “If You’re My Girl, Then I’m Your Man” while also providing the buoyant backbone upon which those scintillating riffs bounce in “I Am the Lion King.”
Before Weiss started singing, it was only slightly unclear how many die-hard PAPA fans were in the building. After all, this wasn’t his headlining tour. But once he started rolling out the hits the crowd was eagerly absorbing all the fearsome nostalgia and bittersweet romance he was laying down.
The second half of his set served as a playthrough for his newest album Dig Yourself or Dig a Hole — a collection of songs years in the making that serendipitously found their to Weiss and were now ready for their live debut. As was the goal when he first started completing this record, they arrived as driving anthems of precipitous and breathless energy. From the urgently optimistic furor of “Everything Takes an Accident” to the sauntering sonics of “Babylon Reign.”
At one point he even got out from behind his drums, joking that it was a reminder he does “other shit” besides pummeling away ten feet from the edge of the stage. Handing some maracas to two people close by he jumped down into the crowd to wander around as he sang.
And even when he was finished the crowd wasn’t quite done with him yet. When Sorcha Richardson — the Irish singer/songwriter who was the night’s main act — came out to perform Weiss was back in his familiar spot on drums. Offering his steadfast attention to rhythm and appreciation for a punchy drum line to her sublime compositions.
Words & Photos: Steven Ward
