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08/09 The Drums with Cold Hart
at Varsity Theater
The Drums Setlist
Tour Dates
Aug
16
Portland, OR
Wonder Ballroom
Read More
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The Drums were in town last night at the Varsity Theater. And when it came to last being in Minneapolis, the founder, lead singer and songwriter, Jonathan Pierce said: “It has been a minute.”
Cold Hart aka Jerick Quilisadio opened the evening with an energetic set.
Born and raised in Long Beach, California, he was a skateboarder who listened to various musicians ranging from Nick Cave and The Cure to rappers Speaker Knockerz and Chief Keef. A co-founder of GothBoiClique, his style is described by his record label Epitaph as: “The spirit of punk, of hip-hop, of rock n’ roll…” His lyrics and subject tend to reside in the worlds of emo and goth and a couple of the crowd favorites fit into the vein:
Let’s take this night and let’s waste it
I’m in too deep, I might cave in
Do you wanna die, baby do you wanna fly
Quilisadio dedicated his last song “Me and You” to a fellow GothBoiClique rapper, Little Peep. It was a song they recorded together and holds even more meaning for Quilisadio after Little Peep passed away from a drug overdose in 2017.
The Drums took the stage with the first song being a question: “Are you F*cked”.
There is a firm foot that resides in the realm of 80’s synth pop with this band. For most of the evening there was that jangly, pulsating interplay between the rhythm guitar and base that kept the dance beat grooving.
After a couple of band iterations, Pierce with childhood friend and drummer, Jacob Graham, started The Drums in 2010 with a self-titled debut that won praise from Clash and Pitchfork. In 2017 Graham left the band and Pierce has continued on with the musical project. He even plans to release a new album Jonny Out on October 13th.
With music infused by The Smiths, New Order and The Cure, Pierce languidly moved around the stage bathed in saturated light. There was almost a point during the song “Days” where he almost disappeared into a sea of blue. And it was at that moment I noticed the crowd swaying in unison.
The band, the singer, the lights, the audience all in sync.
Pierce did not talk between the songs, but did open up midway through to admit that in the past he did not feel comfortable being on stage. But through therapy and acceptance he says it feels good to no longer disassociate when being on stage and was quite grateful that he could be in the moment with the crowd.
And before Pierce went on to finish with a string of crowd pleasers, he sang a medley of songs, the last being “Down by the Water,” a song that took him back further in the form of a 50’s Doo-wop love ballad.
It was a pleasant surprise to see a musician not much concerned about chasing the latest fad, but instead taking what has come before and making it his own.
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The Drums at Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (09 Aug 2023) |
| dave ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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