Hailing from Syracuse, New York, Ra Ra Riot were happy to be starting the tour in support of their latest album Need Your Light only two hours from home in Albany and relished the capacity crowd on hand. With a blistering light show that filled the venue with various colors, they tore through a 19-song set that had them leaning towards the new music, but making sure to cover their whole catalog. Wes Miles’s voice soared all evening and leans towards a new wave sound, which mixed perfectly with the pop oriented rock that the band plays. The crowd was hanging on every word and note the band played and when Wes told some stories about starting the band in 2006, you could hear a pin drop in the venue. The band will be touring hard throughout the year and most of the venues are intimate, so if you’re a fan of the band don’t miss out on them now.
Opening the evening was trashy garage rock duo PWR BTTM. Coming on stage the crowd was unsure of what was going on because both Ben and Liv came on stage in various forms of drag. During their set they told jokes and stories, switched instruments, and got some of the crowd dancing up a storm. These two have a lot of potential and are pulling opening duties throughout the entire tour. Get their early and make sure to see these guys.
The middle act was Sun Club and their brand of wacky psychedelic rock. With lots of weird noises and echo effects happening from their instruments and voices, they took the crowd 180 degrees in the opposite direction of PWR BTTM. With a nonstop flurry of songs, the energy in the room was kept at a high through the short set. The songs they played, though hectic, are very danceable and much of the crowd was bopping along with them. These guy would definitely be great late night at a festival when everyone is in full on party mode. They are with the tour up to South by South West.