Caroline Chang
Khruangbin, the Texas-rooted trio consisting of bassist Laura Lee Ochoa, guitarist Mark Speer, and drummer Donald “DJ” Johnson, closed out their intimate fall run last night with a sold-out show at The Fonda Theatre. The show served as the second of two Los Angeles dates that marked both the finale of their “Universe Smiles Upon You II” tour and the end of a staggering 150+ show stretch.
This tour celebrates the 10-year anniversary of Khruangbin’s debut album The Universe Smiles Upon You, now reimagined, re-sequenced, and re-recorded as II in the same simple Texas barn where the original took shape. That sense of looking back while moving forward hung gently over the entire performance.
Because tickets for the run were limited to their fan club “The Khru,” the room felt unusually intimate, less like a crowd, more like a reunion. People swayed with eyes closed, rested heads on friends’ shoulders during slow grooves, and burst into soft, joyful dancing when the disco ball came alive during their lively hit “People Everywhere (Still Alive).” It was calm but full of joy, like somewhat of a graduation, a chapter closing surrounded by the people that knew them best.
Khruangbin at the Fonda, November 25, 2025. (Caroline Chang/LA Weekly)
Laura Lee glided around stage wearing a shimmering headpiece and the band’s own tour tee, a casual yet whimsical pairing that fit the show’s tone perfectly. The three of them stretched out songs, wandered through extended grooves, and seemed completely at ease, almost like they were savoring the last pages of a long chapter.
Toward the end, Mark paused to thank the crew by name and Laura Lee reflected on how much life has happened within this marathon of a tour. She shared that she has essentially raised her daughter on the road this year, and that closing things out on a Tuesday held a special significance for the band — a quiet nod to the early days when she, Mark, and DJ would gather for weekly Tuesday dinners long before Khruangbin officially took shape.
Speer ended the show with the words “take us home” just as the curtain dropped. Even though the trio is proudly Texas-bred, inside the cozy, disco-lit Fonda last night, the entire room felt warm and familiar, like the embrace of arriving home once again.
And as Khruangbin stepped offstage for the last time this year, the band and hundreds of their adoring fans smiled back.