Beach Fossils took the stage at District Music Hall in Norwalk, CT on April 27th for the last show of its North American tour, accompanied by the wonderful Nation of Language.
I entered the venue and began exploring to find the best angles to see the performers. A staff member saw me fiddling with my camera and escorted me to the best place in the house to see the lights reflect onto the musicians, right next to the stage door.
The stage burst with energy as the opening band, Nation of Language, entered the stage. Lead singer Ian Richard Devaney commanded the stage with his presence, his erratic dance moves captivating the audience. His voice dripped of passion for the lyrics, and his expression through his movement made me want to spin around and dance, despite not knowing the words.
Devaney whipped the cord of his microphone around every piece of the stage so he could move freely, making me think of how John Mulaney does the same during his standup shows. Devaney’s partner, Aiden Noell, was a force with the synthesizer on stage as she soft-headbanged to the synth pop ballads. Alex MacKay was laser focused on the bass, its strings vibrating across the venue all the way up to the balcony theater seats.
As Beach Fossils ran onto the stage, the crowd roared with excitement (which is saying a lot considering the crowd was majority 30-year-olds and up). The band opened with the 2023 track “Don’t Fade Away” from their album “Bunny,” whose logo was displayed on a massive curtain behind the band.
Lead singer Dustin Payseur leans with such emotion into the microphone, as if to transfer the kiss to the microphone directly onto the audiences’ forehead. Tommy Davidson, guitar player, continually hyped up the crowd by starting chants of “Hell yeah!” and “We love you!” to their tour manager.
Beach Fossils makes the audience sway into each other as they play tracks like “Sugar” and “Social Jetlag.” Thousands of eyes are glued to the stage in awe of the chords that transform into a unique message for every person listening.
Payseur thanks the crowd for an incredible last show, and the band quickly leaves the stage. None of the crowd are newbies, and a chant immediately begins. “One more song! One more song!” The musicians run back on stage, and to my surprise, do an encore of three songs, “Down the Line,” “Crashed Out,” and “Daydream.”
During their final song, each member takes a chance to bring their guitar to center stage and rock out at the very edge of the stage to get as close to the audience as they can. Nation of Language returns to the stage with some crew members, and they bring a chair on stage and hoist Davidson onto it while he attempts to continue playing.
It is a moment of pure infectious joy and laughter as everyone on stage celebrates while Beach Fossils tries to maintain the song through their excitement. Beach Fossils takes a final bow, and exchanges hugs with each other and the members of Nation Language, as they describe how this tour has brought them so close together, that they have become best friends.
This was a show that expressed how passion for music can be so powerful, and doing it with the people you love makes it so much more authentic.
