Posts Tagged ‘AWOLNATION’
AWOLNATION Make Welcome Stop At Arts Beats & Eats
AWOLNATION made a great tour stop on Sunday September 2nd at Royal Oak Michigan’s Arts Beats & Eats festival.
A gentleman from Detroit’s radio station, Alt 106.7 introduced the band. He had even personally suggested AWOLNATION to play at the festival.
Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World” greeted the band to the stage. The roaring crowd was ready as lead vocalist Aaron Bruno paced up, scanning the audience. AWOL started off their night with the lead track from their latest album entitled “Here Come The Runts”. Before venturing into “Hollow Moon” Aaron stated, “I’m looking for the best dancer here tonight!” His quest continued throughout the evening.
“I’m still looking for the best dancer here tonight. You could be anywhere! Who are you? What’s your name? What’s your best move?”
Their track “Passion” included a seamless transition into short but epic track, “Sound Witness System”.
Before the wonderful “Kill Your Heroes”, Aaron told the crowd, “We met some of you back in 2011 on our first record, ‘Megalithic Symphony’. We’ve been gaining new family members all along the way… and what a twisted family we’ve become, wouldn’t you say?”
The band continued into a slowed down track of the hit.
“We love you more than you’ll ever know, ladies and gentleman… but I’m still looking for the best dancer here tonight! Where are you?” He encouraged the crowd to let loose and act a fool as they jammed into “Not Your Fault”.
Before beautiful song, “Table For One”, Aaron picked up some flowers and shared, “Love is in the air tonight, ladies and gentleman, boys and girls! People of all ages.” He tossed the flowers to excited fans, and talked about not having many opportunities to go to dances and slow dance growing up, so he wrote a song where “we could all slow dance together, you see. So everybody put your arm around the person next to you, and let’s try to unite and swing side to side”.
Before “Miracle Man” ended with one last breakdown, Aaron encouraged the crowd to jump! “We can all jump so high, we can touch the stars that you can’t even see yet. If you try your hardest. 1-2 1-2-3- GO!” The audience responded with jumps and arms a-waving.
The band’s passion was on full display, and their musical talents shined throughout the entire set. AWOLNATION included tracks from each of their three full length albums.
After 2015’s “Run”, AWOLNATION exited the festival stage.
The crowd started clapping, cheering and chanting. “EN-CORE, EN-CORE!” until their musical heroes reemerged for three more tracks.
To start off their encore, they ventured into “I’m On Fire”, their spectacular cover of Bruce Springsteen’s jam for the “Fifty Shades Of Grey” Soundtrack.
Next up, they got the crowd moving again with high tempto jam “Burn It Down”.
AWOL ended their set with mega hit, “Sail”. To close out the night, Aaron introduced each member of the band.
“It’s been absolute pleasure entertaining you tonight, and please understand you entertain us just as much with your sweat, your high energy, and your passion for music. I hope you made some new friends and new family memebrs tonight. I hope your ears ring ’cause we’ll be thinking about you for the next week. Would you like us to come back?”
The crowd collectively cheered.
Aaron asked, “Do you want to party with me one more time tonight? JUMP!” As “Sail”‘s last musical breakdown kicked in, everyone in the crowd danced, jumped and raged.
AWOLNATION left the stage one more time, leaving the crowd cheering and shouting in satisfaction.
They were most certainly a welcome addition to the Arts Beats & Eats festivities this year.
AWOL will be continuing their tour into California this month, and ending out at New Orleans’ Voodoo Fest this October.
Setlist:
1. Here Come the Runts
2. Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)
3. Seven Sticks of Dynamite
4. Passion / Sound Witness System
5. Not Your Fault
6. Kill Your Heroes
7. Table for One
8. Miracle Man
9. The Buffoon
10. Handyman
11. Run (with Thunderstruck intro)
Encore:
12. I’m On Fire
13. Burn It Down
14. Sail
Photos and review by: Tiffany Cuthrell
AWOLNATION Present “Here Come The Runts” In Detroit
AWOLNATION put on a magnificent show at the Fillmore in Detroit on Tuesday February 13th.
The band is touring to spotlight their brand new album, “Here Come The Runts”, which was released on February 2nd.
Beginning the night was the tremendous band, IRONTOM. Comprised of some AWOLNATION members, IRONTOM brought high energy, rock, and catchy songs that made a memorable impression.
Lead singer Harry Hayes was an exceptional showman, ever dancing and gesturing, while smiling a warm smile.
The LA gents are touring in support of their latest album, “Partners”, which made its debut last summer. They made sure to include tracks from the new release, and encouraged the crowd to sing along, especially during “No matter what”.
The title track, “Partners”, was certainly an indelible highlight.
The band exclaimed, “Detroit! We’ll be at the merch booth, we’d love to meet you!”
True to their word, the band stuck around to meet and greet fans abound. They even had a few free pins to give out.
They closed out their night with “Be Bold Like Elijah”, inspiring the crowd to put their hands up.
They made a tremendous pairing to both bands that were yet to come.
Next up, Nothing But Thieves charged through their set.
“We are Nothing But Thieves from London, England!”
Early on, lead singer and guitarist Conor Mason apologized to the audience, making it known he had the “worst cold ever”, but with the absolute power of his voice, it was impossible to tell.
The band filled up the stage with both prescence and sound – sonically in the same vein as greats like Royal Blood and Queens Of The Stone Age, yet with a rocking, unapologetic vibe all their own.
Nothing But Thieves also invited fans to come say hi at the merch booth, “If you loved our shit”. The crowd was full of loyal fans, dancing and singing along throughout the set.
The band also encouraged fans to make some noise for their predecessors, IRONTOM.
Though their set was short, their impact was most assuredly strong.
AWOLNATION’s set started just before 10 PM. Under dim lights, the mood was set with a south of the border intro. The stage was furnished with all the makings of an AWOL living room, complete with area rugs, snake plants, cacti, and a wooden backdrop.
Casting a sharp shadow, lead singer Aaron Bruno stepped to the mic with a wide-brimmed hat and a serape that read simply, “The Runts” across the back. Soon into the set, Aaron shed the serape, and hung his hat on a nearby cactus.
The band hit hard with high energy from the start with the lead track off of their incredible new album, “Here Come The Runts”. Guitarist Zach Irons shredded and jumped about, each member of the band an absolute rockstar.
Next up, AWOL jammed out “Hollow Moon”, a track from their last record, “Run”. The audience was sufficiently amped, dancing and singing along to every word.
Back to back, the band kicked out more jams from their latest album with singles “Seven Sticks Of Dynamite”, and radio giant, “Passion”. They made sure to include a seamless transition into short track, “Sound Witness System”, sans its introductory rap.
Next, the band began a somewhat stripped down version of a magnificent song off of their first record, “Kill Your Heroes”. Before the song they exclaimed, “Detroit, we love you more than you could possibly know!”
During “Guilty Filthy Soul”, AWOL got everyone clapping along, and encouraged the audience to put their cell phones high in the air.
Before “Table For One” from their latest album, Aaron Bruno expressed a heartfelt introduction.
“This song is about falling so deeply in love with one of your friends that it just breaks your heart… just like it is going to break my heart to leave you guys tonight. This song is called ‘Table For One'”.
Aaron picked up a bouquet of flowers in one hand, and placed a rose between his teeth. He handed the bouquet to a fan in the front row, and tossed the rose into the crowd. A lovely gesture, on the eve of Valentine’s Day.
During “Miracle Man”, Aaron jumped into the pit and reached out his hands into the crowd, being warmly embraced by anyone within arm’s reach.
He expressed, “I feel like this dance floor is about to fucking lose it! That Detroit Rock Energy! We’re so excited!” The crowd went wild to end the song, jumping and dancing throughout the theater. After the song concluded, he asked, “Is everyone ok?” A resounding cheer answered without an actual word.
“This song is off our first album, ‘Megalithic Symphony’. I wanna turn this into a dance party right before my eyes!” AWOLNATION started into “Not Your Fault”, and the dance party wish was granted.
Next, with just Aaron’s voice and a strumming guitar, the band started into “A Little Luck And A Couple Of Dogs”. The guitar quickly transitioned to the intro from Red Hot Chili Pepper’s “Under The Bridge”, and the crowd went nuts.
To close out their set, AWOLNATION ended with the last track off their latest record, an upbeat jam entitled “Stop That Train”. Bruno yelled, “Let’s freak out, let’s freak out!” – ever encouraging the crowd to have a great time.
After the song concluded, the band thanked the audience, and exited the stage.
Cheering, clapping, and stomping in the balcony continued until AWOLNATION graced the stage once again.
They started again with 2015’s kickass track, “Run”. With his hands on his hips, Aaron sang, “I am a human being capable of doing beautiful things”. Before the musical breakdown, he yelled, “HANDS UP! Run!” and the energy throughout the Fillmore was palpable.
“I want more sweat! I want more sweat,” Aaron yelled.
It was obvious throughout the show that each band was excited to be in this city. Before closing out the show, Aaron expressed, “When I first started writing songs many many years ago, I always wanted to say this… Everyone knows all of the punk rock and hip hop history here. I never thought I’d have the opportunity to say – THANK YOU DETROIT!”
AWOL ended their night with their absolutely massive hit, “Sail”. Before its completion, Aaron introduced the band. “Zach Irons on guitar, Danny on keys and wizards, Mike on slap bass, and of course your favorite, Isaac Carpenter on drums”.
He also continued with some wise advice… “Always remember, music is a place to turn to. When you don’t know what to do, you can turn to a song. Thank you so much! God bless!”
AWOLNATION will be continuing their “Here Come The Runts” tour throughout the US into March before heading across to Europe and the UK in April.
AWOLNATION left no doubt that the rest of their tour will be a resounding success, and made a clear statement that they are definitely one of the best bands making music presently.
Setlist:
1. Here Come The Runts
2. Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)
3. Seven Sticks Of Dynamite
4. Passion
5. Kill Your Heroes
6. Guilty Filthy Soul
7. Table For One
8. Miracle Man
9. Not Your Fault
10. The Buffoon
11. A Little Luck And A Couple Of Dogs (with the intro to “Under The Bridge”)
12. Handyman
13. Stop That Train
Encore
14. Run
15. Burn It Down
16. Sail
Words and photos by: Tiffany Cuthrell
AWOLNATION Sail Into Summerfest With Stellar Set
Powerhouse rock band, AWOLNATION came full force with an incredible showing to this year’s edition of Summerfest in Milwaukee, WI. The band started their set off strong at 10 PM on Thursday July 6th.
Lead singer, Aaron Bruno commented on the vast array of audience members that had turned up to fill the seats around the Uline Warehouse Stage. He remarked what a wonderful event Summerfest is, bringing together fans from all over to unite over the love of music.
The band made sure to engage and acknowledge the excited crowd throughout their set.
AWOL included hits such as “Kill Your Heroes” and “Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)”, and closed out the night with their massive smash, “Sail”.
AWOL debuted their sophomore album, “Run” in 2015 and have been back in the studio working on a third LP.
Tremendous singles, “Woman Woman”, “Not Your Fault” and “Sail” have still been burning up the airwaves throughout 2017.
AWOLNATION has got upcoming dates in both Iowa and Minneapolis.
Here’s hoping more tour dates and new music are soon to follow.
Setlist:
1.Run (Beautiful Things)
2.Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)
3.People
4.Not Your Fault
5.Thiskidsnotalright
6.Kill Your Heroes
7.Soul Wars
8.Woman Woman
9.Burn It Down
10.I’m On Fire
11.Sail
Words and photos by: Tiffany Cuthrell