It was a cold Fall night. I decided to wear a t-shirt and a denim jacket. I considered wearing another layer given the chilly weather, but I thought, “well I’ll be inside most of the time so I’m sure I’ll be fine.” It wasn’t until we arrived at the venue that I remembered that Gas Monkey Bar N’ Grill was an outdoor venue, and I realized I had made a mistake. However, I was not going to let that stop me from enjoying the show, and I quickly stopped feeling cold once I became engulfed in a mosh pit.
I was not familiar with French Vanilla, and I had no clue what to expect. So of course, it was a big surprise when they decided to use a saxophone instead of a guitar for a few of their songs. Their strange quirks didn’t stop there. They have a unique sound to say the least, the singer has a distinctive style that can be a little abrasive, but I found interesting, and their basslines are super prominent, especially whenever there is a lack of guitar. Overall it was a fun performance to watch, the band members seemed to really enjoy playing, they were constantly dancing throughout their set, and they made sure to interact with the crowd whenever they could.
I also did not know what to expect out of Wavves, but it was clear that a big portion of the crowd was there specifically for them. As soon as they began playing, there was a big rush to the center where people began jumping up and down nonstop. Something about Wavves’ music reminded me of a band that you would find in a movie, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. They take a lot of influence of surf rock, which wasn’t very fitting for the frigid weather, but they put on a great performance regardless. They were all very animated, and interacted with the crowd often, thanking us for toughing out the weather.
From the moment Joyce Manor took stage and opened with “Heart Tattoo,” the crowd’s energy rarely dipped. Playing songs from all through their discography, Joyce Manor played all their most popular songs. Thanks to the short length of most of them, they’re able to play a large variety of tracks from all their albums, including “Christmas Card,” “Constant Headache,” and their cover of “Video Killed The Radio Star.”
There were people crowd surfing from start to end, and Joyce Manor took short breaks after every couple tracks to talk to the audience and banter, calling themselves Modern Baseball and impersonating them. They’re very laid back and charismatic, it’s easy to see why they have such dedicated fans. Their set ended, and they came back shortly after for their encore, during which they asked the fans to pick between “5 Beer Plan” and “Leather Jacket.” “Leather Jacket” won the vote, ending the night with even more vigor than when started.
