Story and Photos: Haley Mullenix
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Now back to the story.....
Tuesday night (10/18) I had the opportunity to catch one of this year's most anticipated tours on the rock scene, Turnstile! As I stood outside the SOLD OUT Uptown Theater the temperature was low and I couldn’t wait to hug the warmth beyond the doors. Luckily the bands tonight would be sure to get the room heated and hearts pumping. Dubbed the "Love Connection" tour, Turnstile was bringing support acts Snail Mail and JPEGMafia.
I had never been to a Turnstile show before so I was admittedly a bit nervous. Having seen videos of their shows, I knew it was going to be wild!
Snail Mail took the stage first and slowly eased the crowd into what was in store for the rest of the night. Snail Mail is the solo project of Lindsey Jordan, a singer-songwriter from Maryland. With their mellow dance beats, this indie rock soloist and her backing band eased my nerves and serenaded the crowd with high notes and a quirky demeanor.
Next up was JPEGMafia. I noticed before the show started that there were many people sporting his merch. It was no surprise then when the crowd chanted, “Peggy, Peggy!” as the lights dimmed for his set.
JPEGMafia is Barrington Hendricks, a singer, rapper, producer, and veteran. His music checks off a few different genres but if I had to describe his entire set in one word it would be INSANE.
The way he controls the stage is phenomenal. You can tell he takes every word he says to heart by how much passion he injects into his performances. Running back and forth across the stage, he grabbed things from the crowd to autograph and looked out with what I saw as appreciation. As I mentioned above, the set ticked many boxes. At one point the crowd was moshing, then the next second they were jamming to a “Call Me Maybe” cover! It was honestly incredible the energy he brought out and was definitely one of the best openers I have seen in a long time.
Finally the time long anticipated had finally come. Before Turnstile even came on, the crowd was jumping and opening the pit to none other than Whitney Houston's “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)”. Turnstile currently consists of Brendan Yates on vocals, Franz Lyons on bass/vocals, Daniel Fang on drums, and Pat Mccrory and Greg Cerwonka both on guitar. As the band took the stage I had to be careful of crowd surfers making their way to the front. Dodging Converses to the head, I felt like I was in an obstacle course!
It was all in good fun though and the band joined in on the antics. Running circles around each other, headbanging and jumping around, it was like watching a game of PONG. As the third song started the crowd surfing spiked and the photo pit was getting a little hectic so we were ushered out.
I decided to head up to the balcony to watch the rest of the set. Seeing the crowd move from above was honestly impressive and a bit mesmerizing! Even up on the balcony people were still losing their minds jumping around and having a great time. At one point Yates made his way up to an adjacent balcony to sing and look out over the crowd as well.
There was a real sense of community among the fans. After the show I heard a passing conversation about how considerate and mindful everyone was of each other and thought that was really great!
Being at a Turnstile show felt exactly like what concert experiences are all about, the community, letting yourself be free to dance and crowd surf with strangers. It was really amazing to see and in the end I had no reason to be nervous at all. I'm so thankful for this opportunity and can not wait to see what these great bands do next!
Turnstile is currently on “The Turnstile Love Connection Tour” for their newest album GLOW ON with Snail Mail, JPEGMafia and special guests for select shows. If you're lucky enough to snag tickets for this tour you're definitely in for a treat. With Turnstile going on tour with Blink 182 next year you may never get the opportunity to see them on these smaller stages again. If Turnstile is even remotely close to your city. make the trip. You won't regret it. You can find the tour dates below and galleries for all the bands.
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10/21 – Louisville, KY @ Old Forester’s Paristown Hall 10/22 – Columbus, OH @ KEMBA Live! 10/23 – Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom * 10/25 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore * 10/27 – Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom 10/28 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex 10/30 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater 10/31 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield 12/07 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren * 12/08 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl * 12/11 – San Antonio, TX @ The Aztec Theatre * 12/12 – Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center * 12/16 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE * 12/17 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom * 12/19 – Boston, MA @ Roadrunner * * = No JPEGMAFIA ^ = No Snail Mail
Turnstile
JPEG Mafia
Snail Mail
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