Getting Felt by The Band Feel
Show Review ★ C.L. Wages ★ @soundslikecl ★ 4 Minutes
What’s up people, it’s C.L. back with another show review. Today’s subject is: The Band Feel on their Into The Sun tour. Now despite being based in Texas, I attended the show in Providence, Rhode Island, on December 6th. Shocking, right? It seems like I never write reviews for shows in Texas… Oh well! Let's get started.
A little background for you folks before we go too deep. The Band Feel is a newer band out of St. Louis, Missouri. They have two EPs out along with a few singles. Despite their smaller discography, these guys truly know how to put on a show that bounces between grooving, rocking out, and melodic pieces that cut straight to the heart. They’ve only been touring for a little over a year but you wouldn’t know going to one of their shows. The Band Feel has been growing fast and steady since they started, and they aren’t slowing down any time soon. Now that that’s out of the way, on to the review!
The Band Feel via Cameron Ahlvers
The show was at Alchemy Providence, a small venue on the outskirts of downtown Providence. This show was a little… Different. I’m not sure how I really feel about the way the venue ran things, it wasn’t negative by any means, it was just a little strange. Starting off, doors were at 5:00pm, with the show starting at 5:30. Now, if you go to shows at all, you might think to yourself “That’s really early.” Yeah. With only 30 minutes to get into the venue before the show started, it did feel a little rushed and discombobulated. Not only was the show early, there was another event that same night that followed the show meaning the band had to get up and get out fairly quickly following their set. Other than that, this venue was pretty cool. It was your standard “dive-themed” venue with a bar and a small stage.
For this show, there were two openers, which made the early start time feel a little less awkward. The first opener was called Canyon Lights and they played a seven song set that lasted about 30 minutes. These guys killed it, everyone was thoroughly enjoying their set, and they did a wonderful job of warming up the crowd for The Band Feel. The next opener was The Thing With Feathers, which I’m sure by now if you’ve read Love Street before, you’re familiar with. They put on another 40-ish minute set and really got the crowd hyped up for The Band Feel. Now their sound tends to lean more Indie rather than blues, but it made for a good sandwich of bands, Indie topped with two slices of heavy blues bread. I don’t really know what I’m saying but I like the analogy. We all know I’m a huge fan of The Feathers, but this is about The Band Feel, so I won’t bore y’all with too many details. Both the openers put on a great show and warmed up the crowd nicely. Speaking of the crowd, the age leaned a bit older, which was interesting. I think The Band Feel was very strategic in having The Thing With Feathers open for them, as it brought in a younger crowd.
Now for the main headliner. I already gave y’all the rundown of their background, now for their show. Their setlist was made up of 11 songs, most of which were off their two previously released EP’s with a couple of jam session style pieces. Now, if you thought their openers were high energy, these guys got even higher, so to speak (as said by guitarist Tyler Armstrong himself, he’s cool, he doesn’t smoke). Starting off with introductions, we have Mr. Garrett Barcus on the lead vocals, talk about a powerhouse, I mean wow! That's not to say that the rest of these guys aren’t up to par, we have Tyler Armstrong on the guitar, Kadin Rae on bass, and last but not least TJ Steinwart on the drums.
I think this band is a conglomerate of insane talent, honestly. It’s no surprise how quickly they’ve grown and started touring with the captivating vocals of Barcus, the way Armstrong makes the guitar sing in combination with the grooving rhythm section. It’s like the perfect mix for a successful blues rock band, at least in my professionally unprofessional opinion. Anyways! They opened the show with their song titled Icarus, which is a high energy song, very much the vibe of The Band Feel, and the perfect introduction to a The Band Feel show. It stays upbeat for about 30 straight minutes, and then slowed down a touch with slower jams and their song Fly Birdy, Fly.
Even though the tempo slowed down, they still delivered the same amount of energy and passion into their performance. That’s something I have to give major props to them for, not once did their energy waiver, and in fact it even picked back up for the final songs, two of which were a surprise due to extra time at the end of their set. Going into the more technical sense of their set, their sound was mixed very well, even in the front of the crowd you can hear the vocals and each instrument clearly. I have been to other shows where the instruments are mixed very well but you can’t always hear the vocals. I am happy to report that this was not an issue during their set, good thing too, or else we would have missed out on Garrett’s amazing voice.
Following their set, things were a bit rushed due to the next event that was scheduled, but folks were still able to hang out and chat with the band before they packed up and left completely, but that’s on the venue. The Band Feel and their openers as a whole were genuinely kind and easy to talk to, which is much appreciated by a journalist like me.
Finishing notes: If you haven't checked out The Band Feel yet, do it, and if you can make it out to a show (they only have a couple left on this tour), DO IT! If you want a truly good time rock and roll show, The Band Feel is guaranteed to deliver.
