![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/lazrluvr.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIn recent years, tribute bands have become a growing sector on the live music landscape. Some focus specifically on the music and visuals of one act, while others seek to re-create the vibe of a particular time. It\u2019s the latter approach that forms the foundational concept of Asheville-based LazrLuvr, a seven-piece group featuring well-known local and regional musicians.<\/p>\n
Vocalist Raphael Morales developed the LazrLuvr concept with drummer Sam Frame. \u201cFrom inception, the idea was to make a massive supergroup that brought people from the community together in the wake of the isolation and separation we all felt during COVID,\u201d Morales explains. \u201cWe wanted to create a unique ensemble piece that brought something to the table for everyone, performing iconic songs that people couldn\u2019t find in a live setting anywhere else in our region.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
LazrLuvr combines visuals inspired by modern-day synthwave artists and applies it to a nostalgia-filled set list that surveys the \u201980s pop landscape. The five core musicians \u2014 Morales and Frame plus guitarist Eric Congdon, keyboardist Brad Curtioff and bassist Walker Astin \u2014 had never been in a room together before starting the group, Morales says. But once they ran through four representative songs by classic artists of the era \u2014 Alan Parsons Project, Van Halen, Bon Jovi and Loverboy \u2014 Morales says that \u201cevery light bulb we had turned on.\u201d The success of \u201980s throwback series \u201cStranger Things\u201d influenced the group\u2019s setlist as well.<\/p>\n
The original concept focused on fashion. \u201cInitially, it was going to be more Lycra than band,\u201d Morales admits with a laugh. \u201cBut once we realized the scope of talent, we knew it would be so much more than that.\u201d Morales says that LazrLuvr strives to avoid being genre-specific. \u201cI wanted to be more decade-oriented,\u201d he explains. That meant adding two vocalists, Fancy Marie and Hope Griffin. \u201cNow we\u2019re beyond fortunate to have a powerhouse vocal block,\u201d he says. At present, Morales says that the group\u2019s repertoire features \u201cabout six hours of music.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morales notes that a key to LazLuvr\u2019s appeal is the \u201ccollaborative selflessness\u201d of the group members, most of whom have worked fronting other bands. \u201cLazrLuvr is a wild ride without a lot of room for ego,\u201d he says. \u201cWe all share that space equally.\u201d And visuals \u2014 props and costumes \u2014 remain central to the LazrLuvr aesthetic, as Morales and fellow members pour hours into their onstage get-up.<\/p>\n
LazrLuvr is already booking well into next year, and Morales says that the group\u2019s collective goal is to \u201cstay fresh, adapt to demand and bring as much joy to the world as possible.\u201d The costume-mandatory Masquerade Ball is technically sold out, but Morales emphasizes that 35 tickets have been held back for sale at the door. The event includes a Victorian-style dinner, bar and desserts. \u201cAnd our set is going to be absolutely ridiculous<\/em>,\u201d Morales promises.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In recent years, tribute bands have become a growing sector on the live music landscape. Some focus specifically on the music and visuals of one act, while others seek to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24052,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,44,51],"tags":[4980],"class_list":["post-24072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-live-shows","category-pop","tag-lazrluvr","cat-41-id","cat-44-id","cat-51-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24072"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24073,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24072\/revisions\/24073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}