I’d been waiting for this show to happen for quite a few weeks now and did it live up to expectations? Yes, it absolutely did. Although I thought Krol definitely needed a bigger stage for his energy alone, it’s exciting to be up close and personal with an artist you love and he did an amazing job to put on the best show he could. But let’s get into it.
The first opener was Earthquake Party! who I missed sadly, but after listening to some of their music it has a very similar vibe to Krol’s. Definitely worth a quick listen!
The second opener was SAVAK; a four piece indie punk band from Brooklyn, New York. Their first song came out really strong and got me really excited for the rest of the set but all the other songs didn’t live up to that first tune. It seemed like either it was a new song with a new sound they’re going towards or an old song they peaked on. I’d say half their set had some early Devo influence and the other half was a bit more NOFX sounding. Their image wasn’t terribly put together but they had some good energy between them and a solid sound to go with it. After SAVAK’s set,
everyone slowly started to gather round the stage while Mike set up some of his gadgets including a mic delay, a strobe light, and what looked like just a beat up SM57. After setting up they left the stage for about 20 minutes. When they came back, every member, except the bass player, was wearing matching outfits complete with dress pants, dress shoes, and pale pink and white striped button ups. They all had bloody make up on and Mike with a black eye just like the album cover to his latest album Power Chords. The minute they stepped on stage feedback erupted from their amps to start the show. I had fashioned some earplugs out of toilet paper and I was glad I’d done so cause they cranked it! Mike even jokingly asked “anyone def yet?”
They played the first six songs off the new LP in order to start it off and then dipped into the rest of their discography. Throughout the show, Krol would turn his strobe light on and off when there was a vocal break which was something I really appreciated about his performance. He and the rest of the band made you feel like you were part of a music video and made it feel bigger than the small stage they were actually on (no offense to Great Scott, it’s an awesome venue). They played a total of 18 songs, including an encore, in just over an hour and that hour went fast. It left everyone wanting more and people flooded the merch table to meet him.
Krol really seems to care about his fans and giving them a great experience. If an artist can give that good a performance then there isn’t any excuse for someone playing at The Royale or The Sinclair to do worse.
Picture Credits: Kelsey Wallace