A lot was going on in downtown Milwaukee on Saturday, April 6th. The Brewers were taking on the Marlins, Andrea Bocelli was playing at Fiserv Forum, Cinderella was being shown at The Marcus, and then right in the middle of all of that, a “dream pop” band was playing at an old ballroom. Beach Fossils somehow found a spot and parked their bus at the Turner Hall Ballroom along with their friends Nation of Language. Having traveled all the way from New York, and with many stops in between, they were set to have themselves a great night in Cream City. If you were paying attention, it became apparent that the members of the band took advantage of the great game going on down the way at American Family Field. Their bassist, Jack Doyle Smith, came out sporting the brand new Bucks/Brewer jersey patrons were given upon entry to the ball game that day. Displaying their Wisconsin pride for all of us to see, you could tell they were all thrilled to be in the great city of Milwaukee.
Nation of Language started out the show with their modern blend of definitive synth and nostalgic vocals. A project started by vocalist Ian Devaney has gained a lot of success over the last 4 years. Him and his partner Aidan Noell along with bassist Alex MacKay opened up the night with an exciting and heart pounding set. It was a pleasure to get to catch such a great band before the highly anticipated headliner started.
The Beach Fossils performance was filled with self-proclaimed “bangers” for the entire duration. I'm confident anybody in the crowd would agree with guitarist Tommy Davidson on that sentiment. From film-worthy moments with the lights off to mosh pits in the front row, Beach Fossils used songs from their whole discography to win over the hearts of their loyal fans at Turner Hall that night. This venue gave lead singer/songwriter Dustin Payseur a perfect backdrop. These guys love coming to this city. They even saved a bat-shaped beer glass from the Brewer game to chug out of during the encore. Tommy treated the whole crowd as he tilted back that beer filled bat and took down Milwaukee’s Best.
It may not have been long since their last show here, but one thing for sure is that we all can’t wait until the next one. Beach Fossils has been on the tour of their newest album Bunny since last year. Make sure you listen to it front to back as it’s filled with both melancholy lyrics with lo-fi beats and exciting indie pop bangers. And of course, make sure you check out Beach Fossils and Nation of Language the next time they’re in your city.
