Bleachers captivated thousands of fans at the Hollywood Palladium on October 15th, and here is the full gallery.
Photo Gallery: I Don't Know How But They Found Me at The Roxy 11/03/2021
A full gallery from I Don’t Know How But They Found Me’s electric sold-out show at The Roxy in Los Angeles.
Show Review + Gallery: Palaye Royale at The Wiltern 10/01/2021
After a dreadfully long period of no concerts and an overall lack of in-person connection, Canadian rock band Palaye Royale has returned with their largest headliner to date.
Photo Gallery: The Maine + Twin XL
Photos by : Brynn Edwards
TWIN XL
The Maine
Grab tickets here!
Show Review + Photo Gallery: Simple Plan + State Champs
Photos + Words: Haley Pagenkopf
On Tuesday, November 12th, Simple Plan and State Champs with special guests We The Kings and Northbound made their way to the Truman in Kansas City, Missouri to put on one heck of a good show. The Florida originated Northbound started off the night on a high note. Between the crowd interactions and the non-stop dancing, the band used their opening slot incredibly well. I’d say they got a pretty large following of new fans that night, myself included!
Up next was We The Kings which consists of Travis Clark, Charles Trippy, Danny Duncan, Hunter Thomsen, and Coley O’Toole. A few highlights from their set were when O’Toole took a moment to serenade the crowd with a little cover of ‘My Heart Will Go On’ as well as ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. Another special moment of their set was when they performed their hit ‘Check Yes Juliet’ purely because I don’t think there was a single person at the show who didn't know the words and wasn't screaming along.
Now it was time for State Champs. The New York band is made up of members Derek Discanio,Tyler Szalkowski, Ryan Graham, Tony Diaz, and Evan Ambrosio. Their setlist consisted of songs both old and new with most coming from the newest album they’ve released which was ‘Living Proof’ in June of 2018. State Champs are a favorite of mine and are always a joy to watch perform. You can always expect to have a good time when they're on stage.
Headlining the show was Simple Plan. The band comes from Montreal, Quebec and contains Pierre Bouvier, David Desrosiers, Chuck Comeau, Jeff Stinco and Sébastien Lefebvre. This show probably felt nostalgic for a lot of people with songs such as ‘Welcome To My Life’, ‘Addicted’, ‘Perfect’ and ‘I’m Just a Kid’ being performed. Another moment that brought on a lot of fond childhood memories was when the band performed ‘What’s New, Scooby-Doo?’. Towards the end of their set they brought out Derek of State Champs and Travis of We The Kings to perform ‘Where I Belong’ which is the song the bands created together and released before they embark.
The 20 date tour started in Richmond, Virginia on October 29th and ended on November 24th in San Francisco, California. While this tour is over now, be sure to stay up to date with all of the bands via their social media’s. All four of them put on a great live show and you should definitely try to attend the next time you see that they’ll be in your city.
Simple Plan: Everywhere - @simpleplan
State Champs: IG/FB - @StateChampsNY, Twit - @State_Champs
We The Kings: Everywhere - @WeTheKings
Northbound: Everywhere - @NorthboundFL
Show Review + Photo Gallery
Photos and words by: Haley Pagenkopf
On November 10th, 2019 Bishop Briggs brought her Champion Headline Tour to The Truman in Kansas City, Missouri with special guests Miya Folick and Jax Anderson. The show was opened by Jax Anderson who brought a lot of fun, energy and great vocals. One thing every opener needs to possess is the ability to get the crowd excited and ready for the rest of the evening and Jax did that incredibly.
Up next was Miya Folick. When Miya stepped on to the stage, she almost immediately had the crowd captivated by her angelic voice and kept them captivated throughout her entire set.
Bishop Briggs then took to the stage, opening her set with the song that both her newest album and tour happen to be named after which is ‘Champion’. She’s someone who is absolutely radiant when she takes to the stage and she's armed with not only a powerful voice and a smile that can illuminate any room or venue, she also possesses a stage presence and energy that is very unique to her. It’s rare to see an artist run laps on stage while singing and not miss a note or even sound remotely out of breath. Her set list included songs from her newly released album ‘Champion’ as well as her debut album ‘Church of Scars’. In the middle of her set she talked about how she was once wondering what it would be like to be apart of Twenty-One Pilots, Panic! at The Disco, or My Chemical Romance. So for this tour she dedicated a few minutes of the show to live out that dream by covering ‘Stressed Out’, ‘I Write Sins Not Tragedies’ and ‘Welcome to the Black Parade.’
The 33 date tour included 24 dates across North America which all kicked off in Toronto, Ontario on October 11th and wrapped in Detroit, Michigan on November 17th. Starting on December 7th the tour will pick back up in Glasgow, United Kingdom and conclude in Paris, France on December 17th. Opening up for the 9 dates on the European leg of the tour will be Yoke Lore. Bishop Briggs is a must see for anyone who is a fan of live music. If you missed out on this tour, be sure to keep an eye on her socials so you can catch her whenever she happens to be back in your city!
Show Review + Photo Gallery: Scotty Sire
On Friday, October 11th Scotty Sire brought his ‘What’s Going On Tour’ to The Granada in Lawrence, Kansas with guests Chris Bloom, Bruce Wiegner, Todd Smith, and SonReal.
Scotty Sire is probably most known for his online presence on platforms like Vine where he got his start and now YouTube where he posts vlog style videos that often feature various members of his friend group, often referred to as the ‘Vlog Squad’ by their fans. Todd Smith, who is currently playing piano for Scott on this tour, is also a part of this group.
A unique aspect of Scott's show that I particularly enjoyed was the fact that those who were featured during this tour also doubled as his backing band. As previously mentioned, Todd Smith was on keys while Chris Bloom was on guitar and Bruce Wiegner was on bass. Also part of the band was Patrick Jarrett Jr. on drums. I liked that those listed as featured artists for the show were each given a chance to shine as an individual while also getting to have fun on stage as a group.
This is a show you will definitely want to arrive early for. I was aware of all the names listed on the flyers for the show, but what was surprising is that Chris and Bruce actually took to the stage before the scheduled showtime that was listed on everything. Both Bruce Wiegner and Chris Bloom separately took the stage to perform some of their own music before SonReal, who is listed as the support for the tour, performed his set which started at the show’s originally scheduled time. Todd was then later given the opportunity to read an excerpt from his new book ‘I’ll Give You A Dollar If You Consider This Art’ during Scott’s set.
The ‘What’s Going On Tour’ consists of 29 shows that took place all across the US with one additional show taking place in Sydney, Australia. The tour will wrap on November 15th in Los Angeles, CA. You can stay up to date with Scotty Sire and what's left of this tour by checking out his social medias. He can be found on Instagram as @VanillaDingDong and Twitter/YouTube as @ImNotScottySire.
Show Review & Photo Gallery: lovelytheband and twin xl
Words & Photos By Haley Pagenkopf
On Sunday September 29th lovelytheband with support from Twin XL performed at The Blue Note in Columbia, Missouri. This wasn’t my first time seeing lovelytheband and it won’t be my last. It was however my first time seeing Twin XL and I can safely say that I don’t think it will be my last time seeing them either.
Twin XL is a trio consisting of members Cameron Walker-Wright (vocals), Stephen Gomez (bass), and John Gomez (guitar). They included the entirety of their debut EP titled ‘How To Talk To Strangers’ in their set for this show. The Los Angeles based band also performed a new track titled ‘Messy’. The upbeat and all around good-vibes of their performance got the crowd excited for the rest of the show. I was already a fan of Twin XL (‘Good’ has been in all of my favorite playlists since the song was first released in 2018) but I can safely say that I am even more of a fan after seeing them perform live.
lovelytheband is made up of Mitchy Collins (vocals), Jordan Greenwald (guitar) and Sam Price (drums). At this show they performed an eleven song set which almost entirely consisted of songs from their debut album ‘finding it hard to smile’ with one song coming from their first EP titled ‘everything I could never say…’ and one cover song. I personally always get excited when I hear those first few notes of ‘make you feel pretty’ as the band takes to the stage since it’s one of my all time favorites. Another staple of a lovelytheband show is a cover that’s included in their set. As much as I miss when it used to be ‘Pony’ by Ginuwine, their cover of the classic ‘Mr. Brightside’ by The Killers is a welcome replacement that everyone in the crowd can and did scream along with.
Some other songs included within their set were ‘maybe i’m afraid’, ‘i like the way’, ‘don’t worry, you will’ and ‘stupid mistakes’. This little show in Missouri was a special one for the lovelytheband team as it was their last with their long time tour manager who they brought out on stage for a shot before they sang ‘these are my friends’. Shortly after that they ended the show with none other than ‘broken’. ‘broken’ is always a special one to see lovelytheband perform live because everyone is singing along and the crowd is truly electric and jumping. I will say that I am a little biased purely because they have been one of my favorite bands for the past two years but I will never get tired of seeing these guys perform.
Twin XL will be all over the states as they hit the road with The Maine this fall and with Fitz and The Tantrums early next year. As for lovelytheband, make sure you stay up to date with their socials so that you can see when they will be in a city near you. They’ll be embarking on the UK and Europe leg of their ‘Finding it Hard to Smile Tour’ throughout November before returning to the US for various radio hosted holiday shows.
Show Review & Photo Gallery: Laundry Day
Photos & Words: Mika Earley
Laundry Day’s origin story runs somewhat parallel to that of the fictional Lemonade Mouth, sans truancy. Both were formed in basement school music rooms, uplifted by coming of age narratives. In between classes and extracurriculars, Trumpet Boy was born in March 2018. Another EP and full length release were added to Laundry Day’s discography within the year.
This tour began in the late summer after Homesick came out in March, almost exactly a year after Trumpet Boy. Since then there has been a steady stream of live shows, first for only a handful of friends and then international audiences as far away as London. In all of these, not a single cover has made its way onto the setlist. All the music that Laundry Day performs is its own.
In a place with a capacity of less than 200, the crowd was captivated. Beforehand, there was a line nearly reaching its doors. Some fans apparently traveled from as far as Martha’s Vineyard. With everyone inside the already close quarters became even more personal, as if if could have been one of their first shows.
Even so, Laundry Day put on the kind of performance that could sell out venues booked for musicians they previously performed in support of. While it is common to put popular songs later on the setlist, Laundry Day began with one. “Harvard” is yearning encapsulated, a multilayered portrait of both melancholy and youthful resilience.
Naming this the All My Friends tour reinforces how it is an experience to be shared. Near the halfway point, a girl in the audience was brought up on stage and given an early birthday serenade, complete with a party hat and mini cake. This is a moment people will remember, due in no small part to the jangly country rendition of Happy Birthday_ genre decided by audience vote). Each show gets a moment like this of their own.
Laundry Day is a passion project in its purest form, as reflected by lines like “I’m trying to change the world / Me and my friends got something planned” from “CHA”. These are sung with such conviction that you cannot help but believe every word. Set to perform at Austin City Limits weekend two and open for Clairo in Glasgow later this year, it looks like they will be doing exactly what they promised.
Tour Announcement: New Politics, The Plain White T's & The Mowgli's
Los Angeles, CA (August 20, 2019) – Alternative rock band, New Politics, is thrilled to announce The 3 DIMENSIONAL TOURwith Plain White T’sand The Mowgli’s. The tour will be begin November 12 in Chicago with 23 stops through November and December. See full tour dates below.
In a rare occurrence in the touring world, three dynamic bands with distinct sounds and styles are coming together to give fans a night of music. Sharing their collection of chart topping hits, like “HARLEM”, “HEY THERE DELILAH”, and “I’M GOOD”, this show promises to heat things up as the cold winter approaches.
“Louis, Soren and I are looking forward to sharing the stage with these talented bands, providing fans with the ultimate music experience,” said David Boyd, lead singer of New Politics. “We are hard at work putting together an incredible, high energy show, filled with the official live debut of songs off our new album along with the hits that everyone knows and loves.”
A BANDSINTOWN presale starts today at noon, fans can enter by following the bands on Bands In Town, followed by the public onsale this Friday, August 23rd, at 10am local time. Tickets can be found at www.newpoliticsmusic.com, www.plainwhitets.comand www.themowglis.net.
In April, New Politicsreleased the single “Comeback Kid”, to celebrate 10 years as a band. The song received rave reviews with features in Billboard/Rolling Stone/iHeart Radioand continues to be in top 40 rotation at Alternative Radio.
New Politics recently finished recording their highly anticipated fifth album, with an expected release this Fall.
Consisting of Danish-born, David Boyd [lead vocals, guitar], Søren Hansen[bass, guitar, keys, vocals], and NY native Louis Vecchio[drums] - New Politicsexploded onto the scene with their smash hit "Harlem," earning over 31 millionSpotifystreams and reaching the top 5 at Alternative Radio.
New Politicshas since released four studio albums featuring a slew of hit singles, including "Everywhere I Go", “One Of Us” and "Tonight You're Perfect," securing commercial spots for Bud Light,Microsoftand Doritos, to name a few, along with major placements on ESPN, America’s Got Talent, and featured in multiple trailers for the second-highest-grossing animated movie of all time, Frozen. The band has also performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers and CONAN.
“Comeback Kid” Is everywhere at https://ffm.to/comebackkid
THE 3 DIMENSIONAL TOUR Dates
November 12 – Chicago, IL – Metro
November 13 – St. Louis, MO – Delmar Hall
November 16 – Denver, CO – The Oriental Theater*
November 17 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
November 19 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore+
November 20 – Los Angeles, CA – The Mayan
November 21 – Pomona, CA – The Glass House
November 30 – San Diego, CA – House of Blues
December 1 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
December 3 – Dallas, TX – Gas Monkey Bar & Grill
December 4 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall
December 6 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade (Heaven)
December 7 – Nashville, TN – The Cowan
December 8 – Louisville, KY – Mercury Ballroom+
December 10 – Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live!
December 11 – Philadelphia, PA – TLA
December 13 – Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw
December 14 – Asbury Park, NJ – Stone Pony
December 15 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
December 17 – Millvale, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre
December 18 – Detroit, MI – St. Andrews Hall
December 20 – Sioux City, IA – Anthem At Hard Rock Casino
*No New Politics
+ No The Mowgli
LINKS:
https://www.newpoliticsmusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/newpolitics
https://twitter.com/NewPolitics
https://www.instagram.com/newpoliticsmusic/
CONTACT:
Facci PR
Sarah Facciolo – sarah@faccipr.com
610-764-8334
“New Politics Returns With Defiant New Song ‘Comeback Kid’”– Rolling Stone
“New Politics Unveils Motivational Lyric Video for 'Comeback Kid'” – Billboard
“New Politics Are Back With Resilient Anthem 'Comeback Kid'”– iHeart Radio
Show Review + Photo Gallery: Lawrence, Marc. E Bassy & Jon Bellion
Photos & Words By: Haley Pagenkopf
On Thursday, July 25th, Jon Bellion brought the Glory Sound Prep Tour to The Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Missouri with special guests Marc E. Bassy and Lawrence. Starting the night off was the eight-piece band Lawrence, lead by siblings Clyde and Gracie Lawrence. Their set included lots of brass, giving it the crowd a new aged jazz sound. Lawrence is a band that sounds amazingly talented in the recorded versions of their songs, but the recordings don’t give their talent as much justice as their live performance does. They performed songs ‘Shot’ and ‘Do You Wanna Do Nothing with Me?’ from their 2017 album ‘Breakfast’ as well as ‘Make a Move’ and ‘More’ from their 2018 album titled ‘Living Room’. Also performed by the band was their recently released single ‘Casualty’.
After Lawrence performed, up next was Marc E. Bassy. Marc is an artist that I am more familiar with. His song ‘Plot Twist’ is a favorite of mine that can be found in a lot of my go-to playlists. I was excited about him opening up his ten song set with it. Also from the 2017 album ‘Gossip Columns’ he performed ‘You & Me’ which is one of many songs Marc and G-Eazy have collaborated on. He then brought a few songs from his 2018 EP titled ‘Postmodern Depression’ to the stage including the songs ‘Simma’ which originally featured Guapdad 4000 as well as ‘Supply’, and ‘Love Her Too’ another song that includes a feature from G-Eazy. Additionally ‘Dirty Water’ and ‘Morning’ were also played from his 2016 EP titled ‘Groovy People’ along with ‘Some Kind of Drug’ by G-Eazy which features Bassy. Marc didn’t stop there either, he went onto perform his 2019 singles ‘Save Me’ and ‘Die Hard’. Marc E. Bassy is an all around talented artist in more ways than one, between his voice, his stage presence and his ability to engage with the crowd, Bassy was a pleasure to watch and I will be seeing him in the future for sure.
Both Marc and Lawrence got the sold out crowd hyped up and moving, but that was nothing compared to the energy and excitement that the venue was filled with when Jon Bellion made his appearance on stage that night, walking out to the song ‘JT’ from his newest album ‘Glory Sound Prep’ in which the tour was named after. With the tour being named after the album, it’s no surprise that it’s songs were what his set mainly consisted of. Included on the setlist from the 2018 album were songs ‘Let’s Begin’, ‘Couples Retreat’, ‘The Internet’, ‘Adult Swim’, ‘Blu’, ‘Conversations with my Wife’, ‘Stupid Deep’ and ‘Cautionary Tales’ which he ended his set with before returning for two encores.
Jon Bellion’s 2016 album ‘The Human Condition’ was the album from him that had caught my attention and even to this day I would still say is one of my favorite albums of all time. Hearing ‘Overwhelming’, ‘All Time Low’ and ‘Guillotine’ was definitely a highlight of the night for me since this was my first time getting to see Jon Bellion live. Also from ‘The Human Condition’ was one of his two encore songs ‘Woke The F*ck Up’. The last song performed before the show officially came to a close was ‘Good Things Fall Apart’ which is a song by ILLENIUM that Jon features on.
While the North American part of this tour wrapped on August 11th in Baltimore, Maryland, The Glory Sound Prep Tour will be heading to Europe in late September through early October and to Australia in November. If you ever see Jon Bellion stopping in a city near you, please go and have your mind blown by all of the talent that this man and his band possesses.
Check out Jon Bellion (@jonbellion), Marc E. Bassy (@marcebassy), and Lawrence (@lawrencetheband) on their social media’s and more importantly, be sure to check out all of their music on your favorite listening platform.
Show Review. & Photo Gallery : Jon Bellion
Photos & Words By: Elena Strawn
On July 13th, Jon Bellion brought his Glory Sound Prep tour to the Masonic in San Francisco. Fans anxiously waited all day just to get a spot up close at the sold out 3,500 capacity venue. Jon kicked off the night with “JT” his second single from Glory Sound Prep which was released last October. After one of his songs, Jon stopped for a moment to talk to the crowd, which is something he says he usually never does. But because this was the “most lit crowd of the tour” he just had to. Jon had a mix of new and old songs throughout the whole set list and even brought out the newest addition to his label, Beautiful Minds Record, Lawrence (@lawrencetheband) to perform their song “The Internet” together. Jon talked about how every night on tour he challenges his band to a jam session so that he can show how collaborative making music is. Jon ended the night with his hit song with Bay Area producer and DJ Illenium called “Good Things Fall Apart”.
Show Review & Photo Gallery: Chase Atlantic & Lauren Sanderson (Lawrence, KS)
On Tuesday, July 9th the Australian band Chase Atlantic brought the North American leg of their ‘PHASES’ Tour to The Granada in Lawrence, Kansas with opening act Lauren Sanderson. Decked out in her pink eye shadow and bandana, Lauren Sanderson got the show started off right. If you were to look out into the crowd, you could see many people rocking their bandana’s along with her. Lauren’s 8 song set included ‘The Only One, ‘Differently’, ‘Electric’, and ‘Better Anyway’ from her EP titled ‘DON'T PANIC!’ as well as songs ‘Written In The Stars’ and a newer track titled ‘Hasta La Vista’. The energy she brought to the stage was infectious. Lauren Sanderson is someone I look forward to hearing more music from and seeing perform again in the future!
Chase Atlantic consists of Mitchel Cave (lead vocals), Clinton Cave (lead guitar/saxophone), Cristian Anthony (rhythm guitar/vocals), Jesse Boyle (drums) and Pat Wilde (guitar/bass). I’m no stranger to one of their shows. Over the past year and a half I have seen them open for Lights, play Warped Tour and now witnessed a show on two of their headlining tours! I just can’t stop coming back for more.
The ‘PHASES’ Tour is in support of the trio’s newest album by the same name that was released on June 28th, 2019. Songs such as ‘ANGELS’, ‘HER’, ‘STUCKINMYBRAIN’, ‘HEAVEN AND BACK’ and ‘LOVE IS (NOT) EASY’ from the sophomore album were brought to the stage. In addition they put popular favorites ‘Swim’, ‘The Walls’, ‘Drugs & Money’, ‘Uncomfortable’, and the show closer ‘Okay’ from their self-titled debut album which was released in 2017 on the set list for this tour. Also performed were tracks ‘LUST’, ‘LIKE A ROCKSTAR’ and ‘WHAT U CALL THAT’ from the ‘DON’T TRY THIS’ EP released earlier this year.
Even in a ridiculously hot venue it didn’t seem to stop anyone from having a good time. Everyone in both the band and crowd went hard until the end. If there’s two things that are always guaranteed at a Chase Atlantic concert: it’s a good time and an amazing performance.
While the North American leg of their tour wraps soon on July 25th in Maryland, they will be heading to Australia for 6 just announced dates this November. In the meantime, be sure to check out the newest album ‘PHASES’ from Chase Atlantic and more on your preferred music listening platform.
Show Review & Photo Gallery: blackbear
Photos & Words By: Haley Pagenkopf
On Monday, June 17th, blackbear (Matthew Musto) brought his ‘Dead 2 The World’ Tour to the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Missouri. The 26-date North American leg of the tour kicked off in Vancouver on May 16th and wrapped in Las Vegas on June 23rd. Bear isn’t quite finished with taking this show on the road just yet. The 25-date European leg begins on September 23rd in Oslo, Norway and will end in Manchester, UK on October 30th.
The ‘Dead 2 The World’ Tour is in support of blackbear’s newest studio album ‘ANONYMOUS’ which was released in full on April 26th, 2019. Of course he would bring a number of these new tracks on the road with him. His set was opened with ‘HEARTBROKEN’ before more songs from the album like ‘HATE MY GUTS’, DRUG DEALER’, ‘1 SIDED LOVE’ and ‘CHANGES’ were performed throughout the night. Bear’s set also included ‘dirty laundry’, ‘idfc’, ‘90210’ and the title track from his 2015 release titled ‘Deadroses’ in addition to ‘gucci linen’ and ‘playboy shit’ from the album ‘cybersex’ which was released in late 2017. There were also quite a few songs in his set from his early 2017 album ‘digital druglord’ (which is my personal favorite) such as ‘chateau’, ‘hell is where I dreamt of you and woke up alone’, ‘make daddy proud’, ‘i miss the old u’ and ‘wish u the best’. However, he did save the most recognizable track from this album for the very end of the show which is none other than ‘do re mi’.
I can say with complete certainty that Musto knows how to put on an incredible show. From the stage set up, visuals, and lighting production to his high energy performance and the way he interacts with the crowd.
If you haven’t given blackbear or his newest album ‘ANONYMOUS’ a listen yet, be sure to do so and catch a show whenever he’s in a city near you!
Show Review & Photo Gallery: Hozier
Words & Photos: Haley Pagenkopf
On Wednesday, June 4th Hozier brought his Wasteland, Baby! Tour to the Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland in Kansas City, Missouri with band BAILEN.
BAILEN is a sibling trio from New York City made up of fraternal twins Daniel (vocals/bass/guitar) and David (vocals/drums) along with their younger sister Julia (vocals/guitar.) They brought songs such as ‘Going On A Feeling’, ‘Something Tells Me’ and ‘Not Gonna Take Me’ from their debut album titled ‘Thrilled To Be Here’ to life on stage. While the crowd wasn’t too familiar with them to start with, judging by the words of praise I heard after their set, they certainly gained some new fans that night.
The air was buzzing with excitement when Andrew Hozier Byrne and his incredible band took to the stage. The show was opened with ‘Would That I’ from Hozier’s newest album ‘Wasteland, Baby!’ which the tour was also named after. Some additional songs in his set from the same album included ‘Dinner & Diatribes’, ‘No Plan’, ‘Nobody’, and ‘Nina Cried Power’ along with popular tracks ‘Movement’ and ‘Almost (Sweet Music)’. There were also a few songs from his self-titled album that was released in September of 2014 included in the show. Those songs were ‘To Be Alone’, ‘Cherry Wine’, ‘From Eden’, ‘Work Song’, ‘Someone New’ and my personal favorite ‘Jackie and Wilson’. There were also songs such as ‘Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene’ and ‘Moment’s Silence (Common Tongue)’ that came from EP’s that he has released. Before he came out to do three encores, the show was closed out with none other than ‘Take Me To Church’.
I wasn’t too sure what to expect from a Hozier show other than an incredible performance.. I certainly got that and much more. One of my favorite experiences from the sold out show was the crowd. You could very easily tell that every single ticket holder truly wanted to be there and was enjoying themselves and the music. A specific moment that comes to mind was during his first of three encore songs which was ‘Cherry Wine’. Hozier stepped away from the mic to give the audience a chance to sing the first pre-chorus and chorus. Not only did everyone sound insanely beautiful, but each word and lyric was loud and easily heard. I had chills and am unable to think of anything except that experience each time the song comes on.
This leg of Wasteland, Baby! Tour may have come to an end, but Hozier will be on the road in the US again this fall. Before that, he has a string of festival dates as well as a Europe tour lined up. If you have the chance to see Hozier live, I can’t recommend it enough. Be sure to check out Hozier and BAILEN if you haven’t already. You can find their music on all streaming platforms and purchase physical copies from each of their websites.
Show Review & Photo Gallery: Foxing & Now,Now and Daddy Issues (Austin, Texas)
Photos & Review By: Chapin Patel
Daddy Issues opened up the stage on Wednesday night in Austin! They had an amazing & wonderful energy. I really enjoyed watching the Nashville trio play some of my favorite songs such as In Your Head & Locked Out ! I really enjoy seeing talented musicians live and these women were no exception! Check them out on their tour with Foxing & Now, Now.
Check out their music here!
Minnesota duo, Now, Now consists of vocalist KC Dalanger & drummer Brad Hale. The genre of music the pair create can be described as 90’s inspired emo-pop dream. On Wednesday night, fans chanted the bands name over and over and erupted into cheers when the duo made their way on stage. Kc climbed up onto the platform infront of the stage and interacted with the crowd. She smiled and held some of their hands while singing favorites off of Saved. Now, Now had the crowd singing and dancing to their dreamy music. Overall, I really enjoyed the music and the band’s effort to interact with the crowd. I look forward to the next time I get to see them perform.
Foxing can be described as a symphony of vulnerability. The lyrics are passionate and almost feel like a Freudian slip of sorts. Vocalist, Conor Murphy cries out for help in the song “Nearer My God” and you can’t help but resonate with his pain and his emotions. The songs are driven by brooding drums with intricate synth lines that find a common ground of just enough chaos to balance out the calm.
Foxing have made strides to prove that they are more than their last albums painted them. They prove time and time again that they are changing and have many facets sonically. Foxing is a healthy house plant with many different leaves and flowers that have bloomed and will continue to bloom in shapes and sizes this world has not yet seen.
You can grab tickets to catch Now, Now & Foxing with Daddy Issues on their upcoming tour dates below:
Festival Review & Photo Gallery: So What?! Music Festival (Houston)
Review & Photos By: Chapin Patel
So What Music Festival has always been a treat for the alternative music scene in Texas. While the fest usually takes place in Dallas in a baseball field, I would say that Houston’s own White Oak Music Hall was tHe perfect venue to host this festival. There was plenty on lawn seating, food and refreshments. I feel like you were in charge of what kind of day you wanted to have. If you wanted to spend your day moshing till you were completely sapped of energy you could or if you wanted to take the scenic route and just relax on the grass and watch the bands you could do that.
I have a large amount of respect for founder, Mike Ziemer for always accommodating for his patron/fans. He knows how to make every year beat the last. The headliners are always ones to stay for and the openers get you to show up early to the festival and you’re more than pleasantly surprised and even glad you showed up early.
Day 1 of So What Music Festival really captures the essence of So What Music Festival and what it started out as. Lots of underrated talent that deserves your attention, Headliners that are a delight and great sunny weather.
Beartooth have played So What Music Festival in the past and they put on a hell of a show. Demanding circle pits, not playing a single note till “I see a circle pit” , people separating on two sides and charging at each other. Pure chaos. Tonight was special because they are now headlining Day 1 of this festival. Vocalist, Caleb Shomo always brings the heat. The throat shredding screams then jumping into soaring melodies constantly teetering on chaotic and in balance.
Australian Kings , Parkway Drive hit the fog covered stage with mystery. Opening their set with a brooding track “Wishing Wells” opening with a soft spoken intro until “Nothing's gonna stop me till I'm done” hits and the track flips your expectations upside down and you are attacked with an onslaught of crushing guitar and double base patterns. I wouldn’t have expected anything less from such a seasoned band from Australia. I can’t stress to you enough that you need to see Parkway Drive at least once in your lifetime.
Varials is a band that stood out the most to me in terms of bringing that aggressive sound. Travis (Vocals) constantly demanding you to “wake up!” really got the crowd going. I’d say an overall immersive performance with such tenacity.
On Day 2 we had UnityTX destroy main stage with their “ROC MUSIC”. Emitting a vibe that you couldn’t help but love even if you’ve never heard of this band. This group is a staple for the Dallas scene. With the intense drop tuned guitar riffs, pummeling bass lines and politically charged lyrics made for an amazing performance that left you feeling as if justice was served.
Vein: This band needs no introduction. Errorzone their first full length released through Cold Casket Activities reaches critical acclaim for critics and fans. Their music makes you feel like you’re trapped in a computer and constantly feeling like life is “glitching out” with all of the chaos that ensues in the crowd. Vocalist, Anthony screams in the song Rebirth Protocol,“This is all that you were programmed to be afraid of” I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed in most senses from their earth shattering performance.
Thank you So What Music Festival for a fantastic weekend. Your hardworking crew made everything go by so smoothly and I hope other festivals take motes from you all. Well done and we will see you again soon.
Show Review & Photo Gallery: SWMRS
Words & Photos By: Tony Vasquez
It was a Monday night in the Deluxe Room at the Old National Centre in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, but that did not deter fans of the Oakland based SWMRS from coming out. The band lead by Cole Becker on vocals, Max Becker and Jakob Armstrong on guitar, Joe Armstrong drummer, and Seb Mueller bassist came out with a ton of energy performing the catchy tune ‘Trashbag Baby’ from their latest album “Berkeley’s On Fire.” They followed it up with ‘Hellboy’ another fast paced driven tune much to the crowds delight. The band slowed down the pace a bit with tune ‘Lose It’ from their 2016 album release “Drive North.” The band would bounce back and forth the rest of the set with material from both their albums. They closed the night with ‘April in Houston.’ Be sure to catch the band as they tour the rest of April out west and play a gig on May 3rdat The Belasco Theater in Los Angeles, CA before heading out of the country to play some dates in Germany, the UK, and Russia this summer before returning to the US to perform at the X Games in Minneapolis, MN in August.
See them on tour here!
Festival Review & Photo Gallery: Swanfest 2019 (Anaheim, California)
Words & Photographs By: Chapin Patel
On March 29th, 2019 I hopped on a plane in Austin, Texas and headed to Anaheim, California to photograph the first annual Swanfest. The first annual festival consisted of amazing artists such as Wolf & Bear, Don Broco, Sianvar, We Came As Romans and of course headliner Dance Gavin Dance. I had an amazing time at this festival filled with amazing views, food and of course wonderful music.
Wolf & Bear kicked off the festival at Stage B. Everyone crowded around the stage stricken with anticipation for what kind of energy today would bring. Wolf and Bear set it off with the sun high in the sky. The band was tight in their performance and where really feeding off the energy of the crowd. Several smiles from the band and lots of finger pointing from the fans.
Royal Coda came in with their A Game as vocalist, Kurt Travis exercised his vocal range reaching falsetto territories exceeding anyone’s expectations. Guitar player: Sergio Medina was definitely feeling the positive energy that the crowd was giving off and preceded to rip major solos and intricate picking patterns all the while by resembling a stage presence similar in passion to the great Jimi Hendrix. Drummer, Joseph Arrington was laying down the rhythm section serving the song very well. Involving such colorful structure to an already polyrhythmic and heavily layered composition. His placement around the kit had you In complete loss for words. There is something to be said about this new band as a whole, very talented and at this point took the cake for one of the best sets of the day!
We Came As Romans is a band I haven’t heard in a while. The band had a recent comeback onto the scene in a big way in September of 2017. This band has a ton of heart and it’s pretty evident that they still have the fire to continue on and put on one hell of a performance. The band demands your attention now more than ever. Vocalist, Dave demands this raw energy from the crowd and the fans willing to give it their all by screaming the lyrics of the songs to creating circle pits amongst the festival goers. The stage presence was a big plus and was a great push for energy towards the end of the day.
Covet is an “adventure rock” band hailing from San Francisco and consists of Yvette Young, David Adamiak and Forrest Rice. Covet rocked stage B with their instrumental tracks and groovy vibes. David and Yvette danced to the rhythm while Forrest smiled and kept time. I really enjoyed their set. Covet creates creative music that does not need lyrics to keep the listener entertained. The talent of this band can be seen in their songs and their performances.
Sianvar keeps the progressive nature of their music turned up to dial 11. This band has the power to transport you to another world through its vulnerable self expression in the lyrics and bombastic instrumentation. Long almost episodic compositions constantly transforming into something you could’ve never imagined the song to go. Intensity at its finest, breaking walls of creativity you could’ve never thought possible and changing the ever growing landscape of what this art has to offer.
Dance Gavin Dance were the headliners for this event. Sacramento based hardcore/experimental band took the stage to fans delight and kicked off the set with a crowd favorite: Son of Robot which was included on their most recent album, Artificial Selection. The fans cheered in delight after waiting all day to see their favorite bands. Many had traveled across states and in some cases even across continents. I spoke to a group of people who had traveled to California all the way from Denmark to attend the festival. I have seen this band perform around six times and they never are a disappointment.
The group always has an amazing stage presence and interacts with the fans throughout their set, adding to the excitement. To fans surprise, DGD played Uneasy Hearts Weigh The Most which was a track from their self-titled album which was released in 2008. I saw so many shocked faces when the opening chords of the song played and I even saw some fans cry tears of joy. I was shocked as well but smiled and couldn’t help but think how much the band cares for their fans and always puts on an amazing show. In the end, DGD are a can’t miss band and always put on a show that leaves concert-goers wanting more.
In the end, Swanfest did not disappoint. The festival was incredibly organized and perfectly scheduled. I was thankful for the maps, schedules and overall fun. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to attend such a fun festival that is truly one of its own. We had an amazing time that included great interaction during sets, good weather and artists who truly care about their fans. I look forward to the next festival and will be attending every year.
Goldenvoice Presents: Just Like Heaven
Goldenvoice Presents Just Like Heaven - click to read more about it