On a warm fall evening, College St. Music Hall in New Haven, CT, opened its doors to Cavetown enthusiasts clad in frog hats for their second show of their 2024 tour.

Frankie Cosmos opened up the show with their signature indie rock hits, like “Abigail” and “Fool.” Lead singer Greta Kline shared a story of being nicknamed Gretty growing up, and her teacher thought it was in reference to Hockey Hall of Fame player Wayne Gretzky, and started calling her Wayne, which inspired the song by the same name.

Every song had a nickname or a story behind it, and in regard to “One Year Stand,” Kline described it as an “old chestnut” of a song. Her vocals shine through the venue as the bassline thumbs. 

Kline told the story of getting broken up with on Facetime after a five-year relationship but assures the audience she is okay now. The ballad reverberates the pain of losing a loved one throughout the captive audience’s ears. Frankie Cosmos closes out the set with the hit song “Fool,” hyping up the crowd to sing along to the chorus as they anticipate the arrival of Cavetown. 

The crowd exploded in cheers as the stage lit up with glowing mushrooms facing the audience, and a large blow-up tree stump lead singer of Cavetown Robbie Skinner hops onto as he opens the show with “Juliet.” The band was decked-out in matching overalls.

Skinner encouraged a call and response with their second song, “I Want to Meet Ur Dog,” and the audience echoed “I don’t wanna meet your mom, I just wanna meet your dog” to the band to fill in the harmonies.

The crowd was incredibly united and interactive. The awkward silence in between each song was filled with chants of “Yippie!” from the crowd. Skinner indulged in the crowd and echoed it back as well. Fans of Cavetown dressed in green gear and cat hat knit beanies, and routinely waved to get Skinner’s attention (which he always reciprocated).

Cavetown played a trifecta of “softie songs” as described by Skinner, where he encouraged the audience to take a nap. Skinner played an omnichord for songs “juno” and “the back of the moon.” Greta Kline of Frankie Cosmos joined Cavetown on stage to sing their duet of “Magic 8 Ball,” belting from the top of the tree stump on stage.

“This song has done more for little me than I could ever imagine,” Skinner said as he described their last song of the night, song “Home.” Of course, they couldn’t leave us hanging without closing out the show with an encore of “Devil Town,” where the whole crowd screamed every word. 

The show closed with spirit fingers being waved at the stage, and shouts of “We love you!” echoed throughout the music hall. This show was the equivalent of a warm hug from a community of music (and frog) lovers.