Hail The Sun at The Waiting Room!

Story and Photos: Spencer Fleming

It was a post-hardcore affair on Wednesday night (4.29.26) at the Waiting Room when Hail The Sun hit the stage bringing along power-pop rockers Foxy Shazam, Lady Radiator, and newcomers Resilia.

First up was Resilia from Florida. They had that crunchy pop-emo sound and got the crowd moving early. They are dropping their first full-length album today (5.1)! Give them a listen on all streaming platforms!

Next up was Lady Radiator. I had never heard this band before but I really dug their set. They drew a lot of influence from legends like At the Drive-In and Mars Volta. A lot of emotional swings in their lyrics and jangly guitars. The crowd was really into them. A few of the girls in the front row got a setlist and they were level 10 screaming in excitement. Lady Radiator's lead singer asked if anyone had driven far to come to the show and several people whooped. This must have been a sleeper for me, but now that I know the band I'll definitely give their discography a deep dive.

Speaking of sleeper acts, did y'all know Foxy Shazam puts on one of the greatest live shows you would ever hope to see? I was not expecting that at all. I had heard a couple Foxy songs over the years, but our paths had never crossed. If you ever get the chance to see this band live make every effort. They're straight up classic rock and roll with the energy of a 1,000 suns. Before the set someone likened them to Queen. I did notice a guy in the front row with a Cheap Trick shirt so I figured the classic rock reference checked out.

As soon as they hit the stage they were all over the place. It was an auditory and visual feast! My camera was going from left to right and up and down trying to capture all the movement. Lead singer Eric Nally was shaking his booty all over the place and doing high jumps off the drum kit. Pianist Sky White threw his keyboard into the crowd for almost a full song! Just absolutely wild stuff. The Queen reference was pretty spot on as Eric's powerful, soaring voice reminded me of Freddie Mercury. The pure showmanship of this band is unmatched. It's not often that you see a supporting band get a chant for "one more song", but that's exactly what the crowd did as soon as Foxy stepped off stage. I'll be following Foxy on all socials and waiting patiently for a headline date anywhere near Omaha.

Last up was the headliner Hail The Sun from Chico, California! I actually just found Hail The Sun a couple months ago, but as soon as I heard some of their songs I knew they were a band I wanted to see live. I did a quick Google and boom 4.29 at the Waiting Room! How cool is that?

It's crazy how many times I hear "There's no good new music out there". You gotta keep your eyes and ears open! I get that people can get stuck on the bands they grew up with, and change can be difficult, but it's so much fun seeing new younger bands. Hail The Sun got started in 2009 so they are still young pups compared to a lot of the stuff I follow (311, Deftones, AFI, etc.) I was listening to Coheed & Cambria and Hail The Sun popped up as a "If you like this, you'll like this" item. Oh algorithm, you know me so well. While I do have a lot of concerns for AI and the road we're on with technology it's cool to get recommendations that actually fit your taste. Silver linings?

After getting the reccomendation from the alogorithm I went down the Hail The Sun rabbit hole listening through their whole discography. I have to say, their newest album Cut.Turn.Fade.Back is my favorite. The opening track "The Drooling Class" is so dang catchy! I'll find myself humming the chorus everywhere I go. As the band took the stage they kicked into said song and tore the roof off the Waiting Room! While shooting photos there's nothing better than hearing the crowd behind me singing along. Everyone in the place had this song on lock!

Hail The Sun covered a lot of ground in their discography throughout the set but they focused a lot on the new album, which was a huge plus for me. Songs like "Live Forever", "Consumed With You", and "Relapse Is A Love Affair" are absolute bangers! Hail The Sun had a banner near the door with a QR code that let the crowd vote on a song to put into the setlist. After the first three songs lead singer Donovan announced that the crowd voted for the song "60-Minute Session Blocks". The crowd erupted with excitement for the softer pop-driven bop.

Hail The Sun has so much range, swinging from screamy post-hardcore, to power-pop, to emo. The crowd was on their toes all night, never knowing what was coming next. At one point the band's drummer Allen walked off stage and some electronic drums kicked in. I thought "oh they must have this next song programmed so Allen can take a break". Nope! Donovan got behind the kit to play drums and sing! Such a cool thing to witness.

Hail The Sun is still on tour for another couple weeks before some bigger festival appearances later this summer like Louder Than Life and Aftershock. Give their new album a spin and let us know what you think in the comments.

Thanks so much for reading and we'll see you at the next one!