Show Review: Tommy & The High Pilots / The Dangerous Summer

Chain Reaction – Anaheim, CA

Lineup:

The Dangerous Summer (Headlining)

Tommy & The High Pilots

Rare Monk

Breaking Laces

Me and the City (Local addition)

 

Wednesday night was the second night of this tour, which now heads up the West Coast. It featured some talented and entertaining bands and you should definitely get a ticket and see this lineup when it comes near you.

First up was a brand new local SoCal band Me and the City. I’m glad I arrived early to get the chance to see these guys. They’ve only been together for four months, but they sound like they’ve been together for much longer. A great mix of rock, alt, and folk, Me and the City was really impressive and has a bright future. They are currently recording their debut EP, which we will be sharing with you as soon as we can get our hands on it. Stay tuned for great things from this band.

Breaking Laces were up next. Good solid rock band with a little humor and quirks. Reminiscent of the tongue-in-cheek attitude of Bowling For Soup and the quirkiness of Ludo. Very entertaining show.

 

Rare Monk featured a lot of instrumentation, variation, and an electric violin. I’m always a sucker for violin so I automatically liked these guys. Their tunes were really interesting—made me want to dive into their recorded music and let it sink in more. Again, for opening bands, this show is far above most opening acts.

 

Tommy & The High Pilots came up next. If you couldn’t tell by my review of their album or our interview with the band, I’m a big fan of these guys. They are extremely friendly, hardworking guys making some of the best music out there right now. If you haven’t picked up a copy of their newest album Only Human yet, do yourself a favor and get it, you’ll be glad you did.

 

Their live performance first and foremost sounded fantastic—crisp, loud, and perfectly on point musically. They really brought the energy and passion and left it all on the stage. Only having time to play eight songs, the band grabbed the crowd’s attention right from the start and showcased most of the fan-friendly songs one would expect from Only Human. “Devil To Pay,” “Somebody Make A Move,” “Innocent,” and “Outta My Head” all sounded fantastic. Lead singer Tommy Cantillon also got people moving, controlling the stage with fiery energy the entire set, and even hopping down into the crowd engaging people to dance along with him.

The only downside to their set was that it couldn’t go longer. Be sure to go see them when they come to a city near you. The tour ends up in Hollywood at The Roxy in September, get tickets early.

 

The Dangerous Summer headlined the show and played for about an hour. They ran through most of the old favorites (including crowd favorite “The Permanent Rain”) before getting to “Miles Apart,” from Golden Record. The song really played well live with the grit in AJ’s voice and the passion they put into it. That song was strangely mesmerizing live—the crowd temporarily ceased their enthusiastic fist-pumping and singing and simply took the song in. It was a great moment in the set. Closing the set with “Work In Progress” provided a fitting end to an energetic set and a great evening.

 

Again, nothing but good things to say about this show. Full list of dates is below—check it out when it comes to a city near you.

 

Aug 01            Cafe Du Nord – San Francisco, CA

Aug 02            El Corazon – Seattle, WA

Aug 03            Backspace Café – Portland, OR

Aug 04            The Venue – Caldwell, ID

Aug 06            The Salt Haus – Salt Lake City, UT

Aug 07            Marquis Theater – Denver, CO

Aug 08            First Ward House – Saint Joseph, MO

Aug 09            The Vaudeville Mews – Des Moines, IA

Aug 10            First Avenue- 7th St Entry – Minneapolis, MN

Aug 11             Reggies Rock Club – Chicago, IL

Aug 13            The Demo – St Louis, MO

Aug 14            The Irving Theater – Indianapolis, IN

Aug 15            Magic Stick Lounge – Detroit, MI

Aug 16            Smiling Moose – Pittsburgh, PA

Aug 17            Hard Luck Bar – Toronto, Canada

Aug 18            Katacombes – Montreal Metro Area, Canada

Aug 20           Middle East – Cambridge, MA

Aug 21            Highline Ballroom – New York, NY

Aug 22            The Barbary – Philadelphia, PA

Aug 23            Ottobar – Baltimore, MD

Aug 24            Empire – Springfield, VA

Aug 25            Greene Street Club – Greensboro, NC

Aug 27            New Brookland Tavern – West Columbia, SC

Aug 28            BACKBOOTH – Orlando, FL

Aug 29            Jack Rabbits – Jacksonville, FL

Aug 30            Orpheum – Tampa, FL

Aug 31            1982 Bar – Gainesville, FL

Sep 01             Masquerade – Atlanta, GA

Sep 03            Exit/In – Nashville, TN

Sep 04            The Conservatory – Oklahoma City, OK

Sep 05            The Prophet Bar – Dallas, TX

Sep 06            Mango’s Café – Houston, TX

Sep 07            Korova – San Antonio, TX

Sep 08            Mohawk – Austin, TX

Sep 10            Roxy Theatre – West Hollywood, CA

Sep 13            San Diego Music Thing – San Diego, CA

Sep 14            Victory Cafe At Hardy’s – Fresno, CA

*All photos taken by Jake Craney on a crappy old iPhone 3. My apologies.

The Dangerous Summer – “The Permanent Rain”

Tommy & The High Pilots – “Outta My Head”