The Dream Syndicate Find Themselves at the Troubadour

But the bands are bigger and better than any one scene, any moment in time. On Saturday, they were at the historic Troubadour (after a New York City show a few days earlier) to celebrate the imminent release of the How Did We Find Ourselves Here? documentary and accompanying soundtrack.

“What makes the soundtrack Live Through the Past, Darkly interesting is that it’s a career spanning collection of previously unreleased live (or radio) recordings that features nearly every Dream Syndicate line-up spanning the band’s entire career; it features Steve Wynn, Dennis Duck, Mark Walton, Jason Victor and Kendra Smith, Karl Precoda, Paul Cutler, Tom Zvoncheck and Vicki Peterson,” reads a press release.

It was appropriate, then, that Vicki Peterson opened the Troubadour show alongside her husband John Cowsill. Peterson, of course, is best known as a member of the Bangles, while Cowsill was in family band the Cowsills. For two decades, he’s been the drummer in the Mike Love-led Beach Boys too.

It’s wonderful to see Peterson and Cowsill on stage together; not only is their affection for each other beautifully evident, but their harmonies are gorgeous. To be fair, the Cowsills, the Beach Boys and the Bangles are all known for their harmonies so it only makes sense.

They opened with the Cowsills band song “You In My Mind,” and played a couple of songs by John’s late brothers — Barry’s “Come to Me” and Billy’s “Vagabond.” We got a few songs by Billy Cowsill’s band the Blue Shadows, and one from the Action Skulls, the band this duo are in with actor and musician Bill Mumy. A treat!

As for the Dream Syndicate, the L.A. band put in a career-spanning performance that was dynamic, compelling and stunning.

They opened with a relative newie– “Where I’ll stand” from 2022’s Ultraviolet Battle Hymns and True Confessions. They then went straight into a cover of Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “See That My Grave is Kept Clean.” Not the “big hit” entrance that some might have expected then, but both songs are so good, performed so well, that it proved to be a masterstroke.

Of course, the crowd faves came soon enough. Our highlight of the night was the perfect “Forest for the Trees” from 1986’s Out of the Grey. But “Halloween” and “Tell Me When It’s Over” from the Days of Wine and Roses debut were nearly as good.

Peterson and Cowsill returned to the stage to help the band with recent song “Damian” (see photo above), and the encores included covers of the Blue Oyster Cult’s “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper” and George Clinton/Funkadelic’s “Maggot Brain.”

This was a triumphant show from a band that, at this point, has nothing to prove but they’re proving stuff anyway.

The Dream Syndicate Find Themselves at the Troubadour: Visit thedreamsyndicate.com for more info.

Editor’s note: The disclaimer below refers to advertising posts and does not apply to this or any other editorial stories. LA Weekly editorial does not and will not sell content.