WPIR Pratt Radio

The New Regime dropped his new album (yes, his… His band at this performance was all for show), Heart Mind Body & Soul on Friday, March 6. The title track was dropped early, so when Ilan started to sing it, there was one guy who was clearly there for The New Regime and knew all the words. He didn’t know though that Ilan would stop the show to talk to him and teach the rest of us the chorus so we could sing with him too. 

There was no teaching necessary for the Silversun Pickups. They’ve been a band for nearly as long as I’ve been alive, and their fan base has been loyal that whole twenty-years. Even in the face of a pandemic, this audience had no concerns over contact with strangers and were enjoying the concert experience to the fullest; at least 6 people tried crowd surfing over the course of the evening.

I’d love to say that the Silversun Pickups are like a fine wine or cheese and that they get better with age, but that implies that at some point, they were mediocre—which to my experience is not true. When I last saw them, lead guitarist and vocalist Brian Aubert had a cast on his arm (which he chucked off during the encore) and he was astounding with a broken hand. Seeing him with a fully able body was a different experience from what I imagined; his movements were very fluid and gestural, using his whole body in the performance. Bassist Nikki Monninger was as darling as ever, the star of the show in red, strappy, short heels covered in crystals which matched her twin red Gibson Thunderbirds. She was like the Dorothy of alt-rock: with a click of her heels and a strum of her bass, the audience was convinced there was no place like the show.

Judges: Emily Yacina (L), GiGi Nieson (C), and Chris Vitale (R)

Whomst? and Two Thumbs Down.

Host/MC Zach Sanchez.

Two Thumbs Down (Austin Ryder).

Whomst? (Cole Raser and Josh Mahoski)

Fasting. 

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Eric Nizgretsky, guitarist and front person, shimmed his way through the set, making the show all the more fun. His stage presence was lively and infectious, and the crowd fed off the high energy of his performance. Throughout the set, Eric would converse with the crowd, but would quickly jump back into insane riffs and breakdowns that kept the audience on their toes.

You could tell the band had a strong relationship. Whenever a song was played, there was always a friendly smile on everyone’s face. There was always laughter interspersed. You could tell that they all grew up together, there was a genuine sense of camaraderie. Finishing out the set with a song that will soon be featured in their debut LP, a small pit of people began to break out to their colossal sounds. Stay tuned and watch out for their new album "Something Better", out February 7th, 2020.

At the release show, you saw people crying while mouthing the lyrics because that’s what Pom Pom Squad’s talent can evoke. From Berrin’s body dangling over the crowd to her heavy growl, for me, I felt catharsis every single time. So much so, it was difficult to swallow my own tears during their set. 

At the end of the set, everyone screamed for not just one but TWO encore songs, moving Berrin to tears. “These are no longer mine. These are for you,” Berrin said in reference to her tears. For their final song, people opened up the pit and started to slam one another’s bodies into each other. I almost destroyed my camera wanting to go in but I thought I was safer than sorry to not. 

A fun yet emotional set, Pom Pom Squad is definitely on the rise to nothing short of wonderful success. 

After a brief intermission, The Regrettes took the stage for a soundcheck. Stoked as I was for The Regrettes, I was really confused for the first song and a half of their performance. What I had envisioned the night to be and what was unfolding before me in the petite venue were so far from being the same page that they might as well have been different books. I was unprepared for the amount of jumping, hair thrashing, and moshing that was coming from the audience and the band. Their new album, How Do You Love?™, released only hours before they took the stage, didn’t exactly strike me as punk—granted, I think of punk as outlandish, testosterone-fueled, anarchy by people like Iggy Pop, the New York Dolls, and The Clash—so I was rattled when a small group of individuals started to through themselves at each other.

Lydia Night, The Regrettes frontwoman, was visibly pleased with the hard-core dancing, but paused their performance to tell us we weren’t going hard enough and to prove her wrong in thinking that New York is stuffy—especially on the night of their big, album launch.

The audience seemed to be struggling to match the boundless energy of the band; there was not a song in which they weren’t moving across the stage, springing up and down, or flashing each other the biggest smiles. What Hot Flash Heat Wave had lacked in stage presence The Regrettes had taken and Night used to command the audience. She had us get down and bounce and build to explosive chorus dance parties; she had us part the sea and collide together into a mess of bodies thrashing around to the music.

With the bursts of energy came bursts of emotions. After performing “Fog,” Night started to tear and was comforted by bandmates Genessa Gariano (guitar), Brooke Dickson (bass), and Drew Thomsen (drums). She sniffled a bit and said, “I knew tears were going to come tonight, but I thought they’d be after the show was over.”