WILMINGTON — Lukas Nelson remembers a pair of weekends that informed his idea of the kind of concert experience that works well for his band, Promise of the Real.
They were playing the Coachella festival near Los Angeles and serving, as they frequently do, as the backing band for rock legend Neil Young. Young’s set was the singular one that refrained from using video screens for hundreds of thousands of concertgoers.
READ MORE: In Photos: Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real at Greenfield Lake Amphitheater
“He said, ‘I don’t want that huge screen up there,'” Nelson recalled in a recent phone interview. “So we put a big burlap bag over the screen.”
They were touring in support of Young’s 2015 release, “Monsanto Years” — a stinging look at genetically modified foods. So using the feed bag to cover the monitors was an appropriate fit.
“We were throwing seeds out to the audience,” Nelson remembered, alongside his band members Logan Metz (keyboard), Anthony LoGerfo (drums), Tato Melgar (percussion) and Corey McCormick (bass). “And you know what, I’ve got to say we were one of the best sets on that show both weekends. I could tell that people were listening and focusing on the music.”
While Nelson noted the visual production for his current tour has been elevated where it makes sense, he has to be careful with the budget. More to the point, he wants to avoid putting together a show where the visual effects overshadow the music.
“I don’t know what we could do up there other than a few little things that we will do as time goes by, a couple of little things that we’ll develop,” Nelson said. “And the lighting is crucial. Other than that, there’s really not much, it’s not a Tiesto show.”
Nelson wasn’t making fun of the EDM scene and its reliance on visual effects to help carry shows. There’s a place for that type of experience.
But don’t expect a 21st-century version of a Pink Floyd show at a Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real concert. They want to achieve a different connection to their fans, something Wilmington concertgoers are familiar with due to the band’s previous stops in town.
For more than a decade, LNPOTF have performed shows aplenty, such as at smaller venues like the now-defunct Mars, to hosting a post-Hurricane Florence fundraiser at Greenfield Lake Amphitheater in 2019, after the superstorm devastated Wilmington.
In recent years, the band has included additional shows during its sojourn — such as 2022’s Earth Day farmers market. Nelson and the Real popped up to perform three songs Saturday ahead of their night show at the amphitheater.
Though the farmers market show won’t happen this weekend, Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real are scheduled for two sold-out concerts in Wilmington.
“Really, the point of the shows is to make people dance and have fun and get lost in it,” Nelson said. “I think we can do that — we’ve got enough bounce and rhythm, and then also to be able to get quiet and play a song where you can hear a pin drop in the same place that before was yelling and screaming. And the dynamics of what we do come from the music itself, I think that people resonate with that.”
A warm, organic spirit
Nelson and Promise of the Real are growing into the kind of band where the songs provide a rich listening experience both in concert or at home.
Formed in 2008 after Nelson — son of country legend Willie Nelson — attended Loyola Marymount University, the group had a very busy dozen years leading into the pandemic. Things began with a self-released concert EP, “Live Beginnings,” followed by a studio EP, “Brando’s Paradise Sessions,” in 2009.
By 2010, when the band released its first full-length album, “Promise of the Real,” things were ramping up on the touring front. The group maintained a schedule of more than 200 shows each year for much of the decade.
Along the way, a second album, “Wasted,” arrived in 2012. Nelson made an important contact in 60’s folk and rock singer Young. The two befriended at 2010’s Farm Aid, the 40-year music event and fundraiser Young founded with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp. Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real were on the bill.
Young and Nelson’s friendship grew into a working relationship in 2015 when the Real played on Young’s “The Monsanto Years” and became the Canadian musician’s backing band for the next four years. They were featured on Young’s 2016 live album, “Earth,” featuring the “Monsanto” tour.
The group resumed their collaboration on Young’s 2017 studio release, “The Visitor,” and contributed to the soundtrack to “Paradox,” a film featuring Young’s wife, Daryl Hannah. Lukas Nelson and his brother, Micah, also appeared in the film.
A third Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real a self-titled effort arrived in 2017. Around this time, Lukas was brought on to co-produce and write music for the remake of the movie “A Star Is Born,” featuring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real appeared in the film as Cooper’s backing band.
These projects — along with Lukas and Micah collaborating with their father on the 2017 album “Willie Nelson and the Boys (Willie’s Stash, Vol. 2)” — significantly elevated the profile of Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real.
At the same time, the group continued to develop musically. With the 2019 album “Turn Off The News (Build A Garden)” and 2021’s “A Few Stars Apart,” the group has staked out more of its own sound, particularly with Nelson’s songwriting taking a noticeable step up.
The next step in their journey comes July 14 — the release date for “Sticks and Stones.”
Whereas the first couple of albums favored a harder-hitting, riffy and rootsy guitar-rock sound, the latest records have settled more expansive country-and-soul, though they still rock, as heard on “A Few Stars Apart” tracks “Perennial Bloom (Back To You)” and “Wildest Dreams.”
Other songs, especially on the latest album, remain more relaxed, but boast rich melodies, heartfelt lyrics and sympathetic backing from Nelson. The entire album has a warm, organic spirit, a possible product of the songs being recorded live in the studio to analog tape. Nelson used producer Dave Cobb (Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell).
The songs on “A Few Stars Apart” were written during the pandemic as Nelson adjusted to the shock of being shut out from touring.
“I was really sort of scared for awhile to relax,” he said, referring to the grueling tour schedule he and the band had become accustomed to. “So to stop, I was afraid. I was afraid of what would happen. … And I figured probably the most (useful) thing to do would be to write songs at that point, to be productive. Otherwise, I could see myself spinning my wheels considerably. I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to channel my frustrations or my fears or my energies, whatever restlessness I knew I was going to have. I knew things would come up. I wanted to make sure I was in the habit of writing to channel that instead of letting it bottle up inside.”
“A Few Stars Apart” has its moments that relate to the pandemic; “We’ll Be Alright” is the obvious example. But much of the album centers on romance and finds light within darker moments.
“I started to realize I can have a balance,” he said. “I can sit and enjoy my time off and I won’t need to be on the road. I’m not running anymore from anything. I can deal with myself. I went through the fire and came out on the other side. I think I faced my demons. Then I realized I could also really appreciate being on the road at the same time.”
Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real play Greenfield Lake Amphitheater on Friday, April 7, and Saturday, April 8; both shows are sold out.
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