It's been an exhaustive year for the Lovell sisters, Megan and Rebecca, to say the very least.
The musical siblings, best known collectively as Larkin Poe, have been on the road almost non-stop in support of their fourth studio album, 2018's 'Venom & Faith'. It's led them to performances all over the world, ranging from sweaty clubs to ornate theatres right up to arena supports and international festivals – including Bluesfest.They simultaneously perform to diehards that know all of their songs to passers-by who couldn't pick them out of a police line – sometimes within the same gig. Truthfully, that suits the Lovells just fine. After all, it allows them to adapt and keep things interesting as a live act.
“Doing all of these different kinds of shows has really given us a sense of growth,” Rebecca says, the younger of the two sisters.
“Especially in the last year, I feel it's been especially important to us. We've learned a lot about things you wouldn't expect to think about when you're just focusing on playing music. Movement is a big one, for instance – when you're up on the stage of an arena, you really have to push to use as much of that huge space as you can. There's a sense that you're doing something really theatrical.”
Megan agrees. “You're basically playing a caricature of yourself up there,” she adds. “Once you let that cat out of the bag, you're taking it with you everywhere that you play. We played this club show in Tokyo, and the stage was about the size of a postage stamp. Even then, we were still up there strutting our stuff!”
Both sisters laugh at the memory. “We love it,” Rebecca says. “It's ridiculous, but you really start to see the fun in it.”
The world tour in support of 'Venom & Faith' has been quite literal – Larkin Poe have taken the album across North America, through a good chunk of Asia and even into Europe and Scandinavia. Have instruments? Will travel.
The Lovells are incredibly grateful for all of the attention they've received on this tour, and are particularly enthusiastic about some of the more unexpected places they've performed in. “On this tour, we got to play Budapest for the first time,” Megan says.
“We had no idea what to expect, and we had this turnout of really young and really enthusiastic kids. They'd made their own t-shirts to wear to the show. . . some of them had even brought along banners! The whole thing just kinda came out of absolutely nowhere. They ended up selling the place out.”
Rebecca enthusiastically chips in with her favourite part of the show: “There were these two teenage boys,” she says, “and one's shirt said 'TEAM REBECCA' and the other's said 'TEAM MEGAN'. It was very cute – although they were very young, so just a little awkward.”
The touring life has led to many wonderful chance encounters for the two – from teenage fanboys in Budapest right up to living legends like Mavis Staples, who the sisters met just days before speaking to scenestr.
The Lovells light up at the very mention of her name. “She is exactly what you'd hope she'd be like and more,” Rebecca says. “She is 80 years old, and she is sharp as a tack.”
Megan laughs, adding: “Not only can she remember all the names of her entire extended family and stories from 40 years ago, she can still get up there and sing her arse off. She's an absolute hero!”
Larkin Poe play 2020 Bluesfest (Byron Bay), which runs 9-14 April. They also play The Factory Theatre (Sydney) 15 April and The Corner Hotel (Melbourne) 16 April.
Larkin Poe 2021 Tour Dates
Wed 7 Apr - The Factory Theatre (Sydney)Thu 8 Apr - The Corner Hotel (Melbourne)
