ALO came up from Isla Vista friends Zach Gill, Dan Lebowitz, and Steve Adams, now with a trusted rotating drummer, blending jam-pop, funk, and sunlit folk.
Nineteen years of valentine jams
The D'Amour run is a long-standing winter tradition, now in its nineteenth lap, with love-themed wit more than syrup.
Warm grooves, light mischief
Expect a set that pairs deep cuts with singalongs like
Girl I Wanna Lay You Down,
Maria, and
Shapeshifter, plus a curveball cover that blooms out of a jam. The room usually mixes longtime locals, touring heads, and curious newcomers drawn by
Madeline Hawthorne, with space for dancers and nod-along listeners. Heart accents show up, but it is mostly soft tees and sneakers, and a lot of focus during quiet keyboard intros. Trivia to watch for: the band started as the Magnum Family Orchestra at UC Santa Barbara, and Zach often grabs a melodica or ukulele for texture. Another small note is that
Girl I Wanna Lay You Down began as a porch idea with
Jack Johnson before turning into a nightly chorus. Consider these song picks and staging touches informed guesses rather than a locked script for your night.
The ALO Scene: Hearts, Humor, and Harmony
Costumes meet comfort
Expect red and pink touches, heart pins, and the odd costume wing, but most fans dress for movement and comfort rather than pageantry.
Traditions that travel
A gentle group sway often appears in
Maria, and a full-room singalong hits on
Girl I Wanna Lay You Down, sometimes with the band dropping to let voices carry. Merch highlights include screen-printed D'Amour posters, soft tees, and a hoodie design that returns each year with small tweaks. You will notice small community rituals, like trading setlist guesses at break or passing extra heart stickers to neighbors near the rail. Opener
Madeline Hawthorne adds a roots-forward crowd that blends cleanly with
ALO's groove lovers once the jams open up. The culture here is low-ego and music-first, with friendly chatter between songs and real attention during quiet intros.
How ALO Builds the Night, Note by Note
Pocket first, fireworks second
On stage,
ALO center Zach Gill's warm voice and keys while Dan Lebowitz toggles between clean chime, tasteful fuzz, and occasional lap steel swells.
Little details, big payoffs
Steve Adams keeps a round bass tone that nudges the groove forward, and their drummer favors crisp ghost notes and bright ride patterns that lift the choruses. Arrangements start tight and then relax into open sections where keys and guitar trade short phrases before the rhythm section ramps the energy again. A favorite live trick is dropping a chorus into half-time to widen the pocket, then snapping back for a punchy final tag. Zach will sometimes loop melodica or toy piano for a playful top line, while Dan switches to baritone or slide for a syrupy low growl. Lights tend to stay warm and rosy for this run, but mixes are clear, with vocals seated upfront and drums breathing. Lesser-known habit: they sometimes reharmonize bridges in older tunes like
Maria, making the return to the main key feel extra satisfying.
Why ALO Fans Also Flock Here
Neighboring bands, shared pulse
If you ride with
ALO, you will likely feel at home with
Jack Johnson, since both favor breezy melodies and a coastal acoustic pulse even when the grooves get thick.
Groove-first, chorus-friendly
Fans of
The String Cheese Incident often click with
ALO because both acts stretch songs into danceable spaces while keeping choruses bright and friendly.
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong share the bounce and humor, trading shreddy peaks for elastic funk that invites nonstop movement. Solo tinkerers gravitate to
Keller Williams, whose looping play and on-the-spot improvising mirror
ALO's playful risk-taking. If you like forward motion more than guitar heroics, this cluster leans on rhythm, harmony, and catchy hooks that last past the encore. For the acoustic side, the link back to
Jack Johnson also threads through
Madeline Hawthorne's earthy opener, tying roots, pop, and jam in a friendly knot.
