Lotus Northeast Run, Spring 2026: Dancing in the Mid-Atlantic
Three more shows and many more miles in Write Lotus
Miles track differently. When seeing a band several times in a short span, my preference is to stay on the road. Visiting friends, walking and running in other states, that fresh feeling peps me up like eating wedges of an orange. Sleeping in my own bed is the big benefit of attending more local shows and then heading home. Which was the case during the final week of Lotus’s swing through the Northeast, though my definition of “local” is elastic.
It’s 2:45 to Saratoga Springs from North Jersey. The 35-mile ride from my office into Brooklyn two days later took an unsurprising 90 minutes, and the trip to my woods afterward added an hour to the total. Barring traffic, and if I hustle, Philadelphia is a little over two hours away. Listening to albums while driving is a gift, but I do enjoy turning the tunes off and, with eyes focused on the highway and the GPS rather than shut, meditating on music and challenges and words, even work. It’s invaluable.
And the mileage notwithstanding, plenty of happy Lotus faces await at the destination.
Putnam Place | Saratoga Springs, NY | 04/15/2026
Wednesday special. School night, who cares. My type of gig, too: Small venue with the rail a foot away from the stage. Let’s swim with the anglerfish.
Set 1 featured the very new original “Fallen Sequoias” and “Move Too Fast/Rhinestone Cowboy” from Summerdance 2025’s Rodeo Rave, tracks I hadn’t yet heard live. Officially, I was treated to nine personal debuts in six shows—amazing haul, I’m grateful. “It’s All Clear To Me Now” > “Lucid Awakening” qualifies as a pun and was a delicious double, with the latter among the best songs in the last two weeks of the tour. “Destroyer” destroyed. Hugs around and off I went, pedal to the metal like Lotus in what was a super satisfying evening.
Brooklyn Bowl | Brooklyn, NY | 04/17/2026
I’m effusive in my praise of Brooklyn Bowl. Never seen a bad show there, seen all 11 Lotus shows there, and this was the peak of their Northeast run, at least of the ones I went to. Maybe my bias speaks loudly, toward the band and the venue. Perhaps a portion of the energy I felt was thanks to my buddy getting an absolute heater for his first Lotus experience. No pixie dust was needed in the hippest of the five boroughs, either.
Keyboardist/Guitarist Luke Miller and twin Jesse—on bass, modular synth, and toys ’n’ stuff—are the maestros, orchestrating from either side of the stage. Between them, guitarist Tim Palmieri and drummer/percussionist Mike Greenfield are inspiring theater. This band isn’t afraid to explore any part of their catalogue, and it’s the combination of songs and how they’re ordered on that given night that can elevate the proceedings as well as meaning. The serpentine “128” is a great blastoff, “Cold Facts” has that nice mid-set groove, and “Tar Pits” spirals and simmers. “Remedy” > “In The Bliss” is also punny and was a gripping juxtaposition early in the second stanza, while the party hit overdrive with an “Aspic” that thumped. During any encore, “Bush Pilot” sizzles in extra grease.
Union Transfer | Philadelphia, PA | 04/18/2026
Tour closer. Always a moment. And context is everything: Repeaters are natural after a handful of shows in a compressed timeframe, and I received eight of them at Union Transfer. Didn’t make a difference. The celebration was on, the vibe was on, and I found my zone in a jiffy.
Effort and passion. These four guys know how to run through the tape. A trio of long tracks began Set 2, including “Reed” and that whole flood of layers, but the fact they finished with “Urbn Xplr” and “Lure” and “Wild Card” off Rise Of The Anglerfish speaks to their confidence in fresh material. Lotus represents high risk, high reward, which I value and respect. That approach helps evolution bloom, with a fearless approach to travel anywhere. I do my best to practice them. Daily. But now, understanding that “Bellwether” would be my final notes of live Lotus until June…I just was.
Sadly, I missed some shows on the Northeast leg. Rochester on Sunday of the initial weekend was too far for a single event. Harrisburg would’ve been too tough of an up and back the day after the longish roundtrip haul of Saratoga Springs, but I watched the stream while puttering and catching up on life. Made me wish I’d not arrived at that adult decision, though. Kicked myself even more because I’ve absorbed the Lotus-XL Live magic. And, of course, “One Word” was performed in The Keystone State capital, and it wound up as the lone cut off the LP, aside from the soundscape at the end, that I didn’t hear on my trek.
Another quest is born. When it does happen, I hope the song stretches as long as the miles.
Setlists
Putnam Place | Saratoga Springs, NY | 04/15/2026
1: Inspector Norse*, Middle Road, Eats The Light, Fallen Sequoias, Oblong Shapes > Moves Too Fast/Rhinestone Cowboy^, Jump Off
2: And I Don’t, It’s All Clear To Me Now > Lucid Awakening, Turtlehead, Destroyer, Intro To A Cell
E: MacGuffin
*Todd Terje
^Glenn Campbell
Brooklyn Bowl | Brooklyn, NY | 04/17/2026
1: 128, Electric Orange, Angler, Cold Facts, Tar Pits > Greet The Mind > Umbilical Moonset > Greet The Mind
2: Cream On Chrome*, Remedy > In The Bliss > Age Of Inexperience, Shimmer And Out > Aspic > Shimmer And Out
E: Anti-Gravity (Neon Disco), Bush Pilot
*Ratatat
Union Transfer | Philadelphia, PA | 04/18/2026
1: Catacombs, Spaghetti > Travel > Intro To A Cell, Resonance Experiments > Umbilical Moonrise
2: Reed, It’s All Clear To Me Now > Bamboo Forest, Urbn Xplr > Lure*, Wild Card
E: 72 Hrs Awake, Bellwether
*with Drum Machine Techno Improv