I almost didn’t go to this show last night because I didn’t have anyone to go with and wasn’t on the list, but Jackie (Sunflower Bean’s press manager) came through with a last minute press pass and I’m so grateful because it was such a blast!

First on the bill were locals Lazy Scorsese. I hadn’t heard of them before, but I really enjoyed their music, and even ended up looking up their new EP Grigio, that was just released last Friday, before the show even ended. Their music tends to be on the slower side with a lot of these dreamy, hippie-synth vibes. Their sound is a bit dark and psychedelic, but still has airy hints that kept the atmosphere light.

The band lists  Unknown Mortal Orchestra, The Velvet Underground, Father John Misty, Brian Eno, El Vy, and Kurt Vonnegut as a few of their influences. They had a really chill stage presence that fit well with their sound and the crowd seemed to enjoy them. You can find Lazy Scorsese’s new EP on Bandcamp!

Second up was Sunflower Bean’s touring opener, The Lemon Twigs. Apparently I’ve been living under a rock because I hadn’t heard of them either. Well, once they started playing I recognized quite a few of their songs but had just never put a name to them.

The D’Addario brothers, who recently released their first album Do Hollywood with fellow band members Danny Ayala and Megan Zeankowski, are excitingly theatrical to say the least. They played a pretty even mix of songs off Do Hollywood and new ones off an EP they say they hope to record in December. I’ve never been into their style of this 60’s/70’s, power-pop/rock with touches of The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Todd Rundgren, and maybe a little bit of Mac Demarco and Father John Misty, but I really loved their set!

Their songs fluctuate from swoon-worthy ballad’s like “How Lucky Am I?”, which served as the transition in the middle of their set in which Michael and Brian switched instruments, to much more upbeat tunes like their single “These Words” which was an obvious crowd favorite. Their set was filled with smiles and high kicks and beautiful harmonies and bell bottoms. The band announced the end of their set by introducing a new tune called “Queen of my School” and were met with complains from the crowd that it would be their last song. I’ve never experienced that type of love from the audience for an opener before, and it was amazing, I highly recommend seeing them.

Shortly after, the Brooklyn-born band, Sunflower Bean, took the stage! This was a band that I knew and have been loving lately. With this mix of sound influence that’s somewhere between Chastity Belt, Cherry Glazer, Bully, and a little Beach Fossils, they had the crowd moving from the get.

“Come On” off their latest album, Human Ceremony, found itself met with a crowd of headbangers as well as some coordinated jumping on stage. I was standing next to a boy that was videoing near the entire show on his phone and never stopped smiling; this was the overall vibe the entirety of their set throughout the crowd, eager teens and lots of smiles. “Wall Watcher” was much heavier in person than on the album, and I really appreciated that.

Now I’m not one to write about a band’s clothing because it’s not relevant to their music or talent, but I just want to point out the diy, skeleton-print pants Nick was wearing and the glitter boots Julia had on because I want both of those things for myself. I was really about their aesthetic last night.

They did play on new song before Julia dedicated their most popular, “Easy,” to the crowd, and it was definitely the favorite of the night; lots of people singing along. The three of them are much less theatrical on stage compared to The Lemon Twigs, but that’s not a bad thing at all. They gave off this effortlessly cool energy that fit so well with their music. Sunflower Bean closed the show with a riotous, high energy version of “Space Exploration Disaster”, after which Julia humbly thanked the crowd for “coming out to see [them]” and blew a kiss into the audience.

It’s funny to me that I can go from seeing Modern Baseball and The Front Bottoms open for Brand New, and the next night see a show like this one, and enjoy them just the same. I always say how much I love young people at concerts because I love how music makes them move and behave, but I also really love people’s diverse tastes in music, my own included. People tend to be timid and humble about a lot of things in their lives for fear of coming off as self-involved or arrogant , but when it comes to music interest, people are shameless. Everyone loves their own taste in music and wants to share it with other people, and I guess that’s exactly what I’m doing here. –

Below are some more photos! You can listen to The Lemon Twigs on Spotify and follow them on social media here, here, and here. Sunflower Bean is available to listen on Spotify, and on social media here, here, and here

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