Out of nowhere, my sophomore year at Quinnipiac University was the most attended concert year of my life. I went from not attending concerts for years to going to 4 in only a couple of months, three of those were all last October. This concert, and another one coming up in April to make five concerts. I’ll be traveling far and wide to Buffalo, New York, to attend that one. 

Ax and the Hatchetmen, an alternative/indie band formed in 2018, came to Space Ballroom in Hamden, Connecticut, to perform as part of their “Way Too Late” tour. I hadn’t heard of this band until my manager at the ice cream shop where I work approached me and asked if I wanted to go with her. It’s a concert, so obviously, I said yes. It was a couple of months out, and that was plenty of time to familiarize myself with their music. Luckily for me, I loved everything about this band. Unluckily, it snowed the day of the concert, and my manager couldn’t make it, so instead, I brought my roommate Grace. Shout out to Grace. Also, unluckily for me, my manager was supposed to be my ride, but my dad drove my roommate and I to the venue. Shout out to Tom. 

This was my first time attending a concert at Space Ballroom, and of course, the very first thing I did was buy merch. This concert had two openers, but only two out of the three merch tables were open at the start of the concert. I stopped first at the Ax and the Hatchetmen table and spent way too much money, as I anticipated I would. I bought the tour shirt, a tote bag, and a silver axe necklace. I then pop over to the first opener’s table, Geskle. Here I spent a little less, as all I bought was a beanie. I paid in cash, and they couldn’t find enough change, so I offered for them to keep it, but the lady at the merch table insisted that I could have taken a poster if I wanted. I, not wanting any hassle, turned down the offer. That wrapped up my first trip to the merch tables.

Right when I entered the main room, I noticed only about 15 people in there. This surprised me, as almost all the concerts I have attended have resulted in packed rooms and no escape from your spot in the crowd half an hour before the opener even began. This was not the case here, and I had plenty of time to check the merch tables multiple times to see if the second opener, Easy Honey, had started selling yet. They hadn’t, and then I headed over to concessions to get a Shirley Temple. There is a first time for everything, and this was my first time drinking a Shirley Temple with ginger ale in it. it wasn’t bad or anything, and that’s what surprised me most, as I quite liked it. As I was sipping on my Shirly, the person from Geskle’s Merch table came in to find me because she finally got the $5 for my change. Within maybe 10 minutes, I had already forgotten about the situation, so I was amazed that she remembered me. It was still relatively early at night, and the room got a little fuller as the show neared.

By now, Geskle has taken the stage. Geskle is a band that I had never heard of, which isn’t super unheard of for me. There are many artists that I have never heard of, but that’s beside the point. I found a new semi-favorite artist that day. There were a ton of songs they played that I thoroughly enjoyed. Notable mentions to “Half of It,” “So She Comes,” and “New York,” which was played after the guys behind me in the crowd shouted, “Play New York!” One of my favorite moments of this performance was when Jesse, the lead singer, asked the audience if we liked his hat. Yes, Jesse, I liked your hat. There was also a cool moment when they called “Webby” onto the stage to play the harmonica, which was some superb nonconventional instrumentation I’d never seen in a concert before. This, unfortunately, was one of the last shows that Geskle was a part of on the “Way Too Late” tour because he couldn’t get his passport on time to go to Canada. How do I know this? Obviously, it’s because Jesse and Axel, the lead singer from Ax and the Hatchetmen, were casually conversing about it in between songs, with Jesse talking into the microphone and Axel yelling responses from the back of the crowd.

Easy Honey was the second opener of the night. To my surprise, the same guy who came on stage and played the harmonica, “Webby,” during Geskle’s performance, plays bass for Easy Honey. The first thing I noticed about this band is how heavy their instrumentation is. There were a ton of music breaks that reminded me of Jazzy anime fights. It is not necessarily my first pick when it comes to genres of music, but I still thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. My favorite song from their set was “Mystical.”

Now, for the one and only Ax and the Hatchetmen *audience applause yay yippee, and the crowd goes wild.* The first thing I noticed about him was his Doc Martens. I’m not sure exactly which style they were, but they were Platform Doc Martens Shoes, not boots. They started the performance with a crowd-favorite song, “Flagstaff.” Immediately, the crowd erupts with energy. As I said in the introduction, I’m a relatively new fan of Ax and the Hatchetmen, so most of my favorite songs are their most popular ones, which guaranteed that I could hear those songs live. Some of my personal favorites played were “Utah,” “Sunscreen,” and “Stay // Honestly.” 

However, some of the most energetic parts of the concert were because of the two covers they played. “Last Nite” by The Strokes was the first of the two. During this song, Axel decided that it would be a fantastic idea to take the wired microphone and try to spin it around in a circle. This, as you can imagine, did not end well, and the microphone flew entirely off-stage. Luckily, it didn’t hit anyone, or I’m sure that would have resulted in a fair amount of paperwork, everybody’s favorite. But hey, “There’s a first time for everything,” Axel says into the microphone once they fix it. “Everybody Talks” by Neon Trees was the second cover of the night. Much more energetic with a surprising amount of “floor time” (Laying on the floor) done by Axel. This nearly wrapped up the show. All the members walked off stage and the crowd started to chant, “One more song! One more song!” To nobody’s surprise, but to everybody’s excitement, they came back out for an encore, but while everyone was expecting just one more song, they hit us with a double whammy and played two more songs! These two songs were “Where tf Did I Park My Car,” where the string on Axel’s guitar snapped, and the night’s final song was “Grace.” Hey, wait a second, that’s my roommate’s name.

All in all, it was a great night and a great concert. According to Grace, my roommate, not the song, it was life changing. I made sure to make a quick escape because, if you’ll remember, there was still one merch table that wasn’t open while I was shopping earlier. I was one of the first people in line for the Easy Honey merch table, and I left with a vinyl t-shirt and a free sticker. I even got to have a brief conversation with one of the band members. I may have left with an empty wallet, but I sure did have a full heart. I had so much fun, and if Ax and the Hatchetmen ever return to Connecticut, I heavily recommend grabbing a ticket to one of their concerts.