For the next week or so, I will be traveling on the road with local pop punk outfit Out of Reverie as the boys travel the West Coast and beyond, peddling their tunes to anyone who will listen.
On Saturday, we embark on an adventure every band dreams about when they first start writing songs in someone's garage, the same adventure every writer dreams about after seeing Almost Famous, though it's unlikely my story will involve any airplanes or acid trips.
The band, which has been together with various lineups for about five years now, is really hitting its stride in the songwriting department, as evidenced by the recently released Louisville Slugger EP. The three-song EP is chock full of sing-along moments and shredding guitar riffs, especially on the title track.
The EP is available for download on bandcamp and on limited edition cassette.
The band hopes this tour--which heads up the West Coast to Washington before traveling down through Idaho, Utah and Nevada--will help promote the upcoming release of the physical EP on a more up-to-date medium.
But the tour is about more than numbers and sales and money. It is really about four guys having fun doing what they love. It is about a couple of days in the summer when they can escape everyday life and jobs and focus on their passion.
Sure, the Out of Reverie will be lucky to even break even on the tour when all is said and done, but at least they know they have gotten this far. Many a band has folded long before the chance to tour arrived, so --for now-- these scrappy punks are going to jam into the back of a van and rock out to whoever will listen for the next week and a half.
And if last night is any indication, it's going to be a fun.
Out of Reverie held the tour kickoff show last night at The Fixx in Tempe with the help of an eclectic supporting cast and some late night sing-a-longs.
Following an acoustic set by Death By Routine and some thrashing tunes by progcore (does this exist?) newcomers Alaurabyrd, Phoenix Ska/Reggae/Psychobilly group Wide Eyed played some funky jams and really got the party started.
Local hardcore five-piece American Standards then set up and riled up the crowd a little more for the main event.
The strange mixture of groups on the ticket made for an interesting mix of fans and a nice sized crowd that packed into The Fixx to send Out of Reverie off in style.
The band's set started off pretty standard as they played a few old favorites and a few people moved around and sang along, but the set really took off when they began playing the new material, which began with "Louisville Slugger."
The front row of people in the crowd began to move around a bit and by the end of the song lead singer Dain Griffin could step back from the mic as the crowd sang the chorus, "Hold, Hold yourself up/ And forget about the last thing he told ya/Let go, of the bullshit/ And pretend you've found your home/ Find strength and stand on your own."
By the time the boys reached their closer "Can You Hear Me Now, Charlie Brown?" at least half of the spectators had lost their heads. Members of American Standards, rushed the mic and sang the end of the song with Griffin as guitarist Rene Teran and bassist Jake Krauss wailed away in the background.
The chorus to the song perfectly encompassed the night and the upcoming tour: "It's like heart failure/ A sound that you never knew you had/ They'll let you know how it feels/ But not til your heart gives out again/ I want to hear the sound of failure/ I want to feel it in my bones/ I want to hear it when it gives way/ We're all just fucking failures now."
For a band like Out of Reverie, it isn't about the financial success of the venture, it's about the rush of playing music.
Will Out of Reverie become the next big thing? Who knows?
And, honestly, who cares?
For the next 10 days, a couple of boys from Phoenix get to travel up and down the coast playing their brand of music for anyone who will listen and I'll be right there to let you know how it all plays out.
Check back this Sunday for a recap of how we spent Saturday, our first day on the road.