This past Wednesday evening, May 25, Bowery Ballroom in Lower Manhattan could've been mistaken for a club in Chicago with the trio of Windy City native acts it played host to. 20-somethings in brightly colored floral button down shirts (appropriate for the 80+ degree weather) and Levi's flooded the dancefloor to rock out to the tunes of garage-rock band Twin Peaks latest release, "Down in Heaven."
Two openers warmed up the stage for the guys. The first of which was Jimmy Whispers, former frontman of the band Light Pollution (back then he was Jim Cicero). He came to the stage dressed in baggy khaki pants and power gloves only to reveal a cotton floral dress underneath which he later stripped down to. He crooned along to the tunes from his latest release, "Summer in Pain," as the tracks blasted from his iPhone connected to the speakers via an auxiliary cable. The style was appropriate since the album was actually recorded entirely on Whispers' iPhone using the memo application.
Next up was quartet NE-HI, who held a quieter demeanor but also captivated a larger audience. They were recently signed to the same label as Twin Peaks, Grand Jury, and played tunes from their self-titled 2014 release as well as the singles they've released over the past two years. Effortlessly cool, the guys spoke little but elicited a more engaged reaction from the dancing crowd.
Just a few minutes after their scheduled 10:15 p.m. set, Twin Peaks then took to the stage, kicking off their set with the single "Butterfly" off their new album. Instantly, the crowd started to dance and mosh directly in front of the stage. The guys smiled at this response, happy to see everyone grooving right away.
A few songs in, various members of the crowd began lighting up joints and passing them around. When the clouds of smoke arose so that the band could see, vocalist and guitarist Cadien Lake laughed and commented that many of the songs they were performing that evening had been written while the band was high themselves. To add to the rowdy, basement show vibe where Twin Peaks started, the guys passed a bottle of vodka around, chugging back as much as they could, while numerous fans crowd surfed over a sea of slightly buzzed listeners.
The set list for the show included numerous tracks from "Down in Heaven," including the lead single "Walk to the One You Love" as well as "Getting Better," plus more new tracks where the most recent addition to the band, vocalist and keyboardist Colin Croom showed his strength. Other songs included the band's hits "Making Breakfast," "Flavor," and "I Found A New Way" off 2014's "Wild Onion," all of which found the crowd singing along loudly, from the sweaty, intoxicated kids in the front to the older millennials carrying laptop bags and sporting oxford shirts smiling and tapping their toes in the back.
After the encore, it was announced that it was happy hour time in the downstairs lounge of the club, where many flocked following the last applause and the lights coming up. For any critics who have been questioning whether or not the dudes in Twin Peaks have grown up, the show rendered these concerns irrelevant. These guys are the same goofballs they were with their first release, and they will always be there to help you find that side of yourself, too.
PHOTOS BY KEENAN KUSH
