Pete’s Candy Store brings a dazzling lineup of artists with Ren Hart, Law of Attraction, and Katja
NEW YORK – Just across the East River, singer-songwriter Ren Hart performed an intimate show alongside duo Law of Attraction and indie act Katja at Pete’s Candy Store. The August 18 show brought together a warm community of friends, family, and music lovers in Brooklyn.
Ren Hart is the artist name of Lauren Hartung, who took the stage on Tuesday night with an acoustic set up until the last song. She opened with Priority, her first-ever released track, with heartfelt lyrics echoing through the rows of audience members. Hart played more of her unreleased tunes including Crash Dummy, Weight of Morality, and Charmed throughout the night, bringing out a remarkable amount of character from her decorated guitar and lyrical content.
One of the numbers was a cover of Lonesome by Sabrina Carpenter, whom Hart joked was an underground artist no one in the crowd would recognize. Also getting laughs in the room were the small interruptions of audio during a few songs, but Hart gracefully made light of those with some fun banter. She mentioned that it was an honor to be playing a venue that pop singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo performed at in April; Hart covered Rodrigo’s Vampire with a dynamic vocal range. For her final song Everything to You, which will be her next release, she replaced her guitar with a backing track and closed with a dramatic scene while falling onto her knees.
Up next was Law of Attraction composed of Kiara Stefandel on vocals and Lindsay Feldherr on guitar and vocals. Beginning with their released tune Nameless, the duo complemented each other’s sounds flawlessly. Feldherr’s strumming was the perfect accompaniment to the harmonies that Stefandel layered on. Some of their other tracks included several unreleased numbers such as Fleeting, Stained Glass, Glow, and Want You Back, along with a cover of Lady Gaga’s The Edge of Glory. They announced their final song Copycat would be out on August 20—just two days after the performance. Love poured out of friends and family in the audience as they cheered on Law of Attraction from the start to the end.
The final act featured work by Katja Larssen, performing under the name Katja. Joining her on stage were Adam Tilzer on guitar, Ben Thomas on drums, and Siddartha Suppiah on bass; it was quite crowded on Pete’s platform with such a setup, but it only enhanced the quality of music they produced. Katja began with the introspective nighttime, while also playing some unreleased songs such as living in a dream and tanqueray and tonic, which featured vocals dipping into a lower range. A crowd favorite was Katja’s rendition of Fade into You by Mazzy Star. Other numbers included mine, clouds in the sky, and save me. As a fitting finale, she and the band played a track produced by Tilzer: curtain call.
Cozy venues like Pete’s bring out the avid local music fans and artists in the city that never sleeps. It’s incredible to see Ren Hart, Law of Attraction, and Katja share their stories and artistry with a crowd that connected with one another just by being in the same room.
