awakebutstillinbed are in the midst of their full US headlining tour in support of their excellent, long-awaited sophomore album chaos takes the wheel and i am a passenger, and that tour landed in Brooklyn last night (11/5) for a sold-out show at Alphaville with tourmates Stay Inside and Like Roses, as well as local support from Sharkswimmer and Wifey.
Like Roses are from the Bay Area like awakebutstillinbed, and there were clearly a lot of people in the room who got there early specifically for them. They had a sector of the crowd push-pitting and singing along, especially to the band’s two new songs, “Easy” and “Splenetic,” which were easily the two biggest highlights of their set. They’re both catchy, high-energy songs that toe the line between pop punk and post-hardcore, and Like Roses really knew how to bring them to life. It seems like they’ve been rising fast lately, and they’ve got the songs and the presence to back it up.
For Brooklyn’s Stay Inside, this was a hometown show, and it was also one of their first shows since they announced their new album, Ferried Away. They kept jokingly referring to it on stage (and Instagram) as the “Stay Inside chaos set,” and the 25-ish minutes that they spent up there lived up to the name. They had friends join them throughout the set–including Matt Hull from Really From on trumpet for the whole set, Shelley Washington from Good Looking Friends on baritone sax for one song, Justin Buschardt from Sharkswimmer on guest screams for one song–and they played all three singles from Ferried Away plus highlights from 2020’s Viewing and last year’s Blight EP. Some technical difficulties threatened the set, but nothing could stop Stay Inside from being truly mesmerizing.
Stay Inside was the perfect segue into awakebutstillinbed, who were also mesmerizing. Whether it’s just Shannon Taylor playing guitar and softly singing, or the whole band thrashing around on stage as Shannon lets out ferocious shrieks, awakebutstillinbed are always a force. You could tell–especially in the quieter parts–that they had a lot of people singing along, but they also had a lot of people just standing there in awe. At the risk of sounding too hyperbolic, it’s hard to be in this band’s presence and not be blown away.
The tour continues at Mr. Roboto Project in Pittsburgh tonight (11/6). More pictures by Amanda Hatfield and the tour poster with all remaining dates below…
awakebutstillinbed pic.twitter.com/00bkDrcBxK
— Andrew Sacher (@andrewdsacher) November 6, 2023
stay inside pic.twitter.com/8Zkny7f6gM
— Andrew Sacher (@andrewdsacher) November 6, 2023
