It's prom night in Pomona. Teens scrolled through Downtown for their big night of dancing and debauchery as I made my way to The Glass House doors to relive a little bit of my own adolescence. Tonight, the Carousel Tour with Tim Kasher, Laura Jane Grace, and Anthony Green, is rolling through for a weekend of fun. Unfortunately, I missed the lo-fi stylings of the show-opener, Oceanator. I get in just as Tim Kasher is finishing up "Truly Freaking Out" from 2013's Adult Film. Kasher offers a bit of everything from his repertoire, sprinkling in a bit of Cursive tracks, his other side-project, The Good Life, and of course tracks from his solo career.
What made the show great was each of the three solo artists would all chime in from time to time to fill in on each other's songs, while joining as the backbone for the three all tour are Cursive's, Megan Siebe, and Lemuria's, Alex Kerns. Anthony Green stepped out to provide some synthy elements and vocals to the Cursive classic, "The Recluse." Laura Jane Grace came out to perform with Kasher on their track, "Forever of the Living Dead" from his new album, Middling Age.
The trio continued to rotate as each artist played their set. Laura Jane Grace ripped through a set of solo songs like "The Swimming Pool Song" and "So Long, Farewell..." and had Anthony Green come out to sing with her on her track, "Lola 13" from her latest EP, At War With the Silverfish. Of course, the crowd got amped up as Grace broke out Against Me! fan favorites, like "Pints of Guinness Make You Strong" and "Sink, Florida, Sink." She had a special guest, Juliet Terrill of Funk-R&B group The Suffers, join her on bass for "Two Coffins." Between the Against Me! songs, Laura Jane broke out some new songs as well. One about a "dysphoria" hoodie appropriately titled, "Dysphoria Hoodie" and a pent-up romper called "M*A*S*H" -- in the middle of which Green jumped in on drums for a verse before Kerns hopped back in to finish it out. Grace finished her set off blasting through "Black Me Out" with the added oomph of Tim Kasher.
I've seen Circa Survive a number of times over the years but have only seen Anthony Green do a solo set once before... right outside the doors of the same venue I was in now over a decade ago. His ability to make his performance feel intimate, whether it's outside to a dozen people or inside to hundreds, is unmatched. He spent the night expressing a lot of love and appreciation for the fans and being able to play music again after the rough past couple of years he'd spent canceling shows. He played through a number of newer tracks like "Keep Your Mouth Shut" from Would You Still Be In Love and "Don't Dance" from his upcoming new album, Boom. Done. He also pleased long-time fans with Avalon tracks, "Drug Dealer" and the bombastic, "Dear Child" which featured Kasher and Grace rotating through vocal duties with Green. At the encore, the trio along with Siebe and Kerns came back out to do a cover of The Lemonheads' "My Drug Buddy." Everyone on the tour seemed to be having a great time and it spread a lot of positivity. It's one of the better shows I've seen this year thus far, and I recommend checking out the Carousel Tour if it hasn't hit your town yet. There's just over a week left heading up the West Coast before ending in Denver.
