Earlier this summer The Drums released their fourth studio album, Abysmal Thoughts, after their three-year hiatus following Encyclopedia. On Wednesday, November 29th, fans of all ages came out to Terminal West to see The Drums’ high-energy performance.
The night kicked off with the Indiana band, Hoops. Opening up with songs from their most recent release (Tapes #1-3) the steady combination of lo-fi synths and floaty melodies let the crowd immediately fall in love with the nostalgic tunes they had to offer. Hoops sound is distinctly familiar yet unique, giving us a dream rock sound with slick guitar riffs. It is anything but monotonous. After the first few songs the band even stated “we love Atlanta, we really do – and we don’t just say that about any city”. While a majority of the audience had no idea who the band was initially, by the time they were halfway through their set everyone was humming and swaying along to the infectious harmonies of Kevin Krautner, Drew Auscherman, and Kegan Beresford. Between whimsical crowd interactions and playing Smashing Pumpkins guitar riffs throughout several songs, the lovable lo-fi band Hoops showed Terminal West Wednesday night that they are not a band to be missed out on. Someone even came up to me after their set and said “I had no idea who these guys were before I got here but I can’t wait to buy a record after the set!”.
Shortly after the Hoops set, the backdrop of the stage was revealed showing “The Drums” in big bold orange levels and the anticipation was beginning to grow. The Drums took the stage dramatically one by one until front-man Johnny Pierce went on and the audience exploded into screams and cheering. The all-around performance was incredibly high-energy from the moment Johnny Pierce stepped on stage. Playing songs from their entire discography, fans of all ages danced and sang.
Repping an Abysmal Thoughts jumpsuit with his name embroidered on the front, Johnny Pierce had non-stop energy and his dance-moves matched almost effortlessly. He swayed, spun, flailed, and acted out a multitude of his songs, even taking a moment to perform laying down. Even if you aren’t a fan of his hypnotic indie-rock tunes, this was certainly a show everyone could enjoy. The audience was incredibly respectful and all energy was solely focused on the music, even when a small mosh pit broke out towards the front of the crowd. Throughout the night Pierce spun and sang introducing a multitude of recaps before his songs like “this one is about money” and even taking a moment to say “The last time I was here was for the 1996 Olympics handing out lunches for my dad’s church, now I’m back as a grown-a** whateverest and I’m so happy to be back partying with you guys”.
Fans make personal connections with music they admire, and that was clearly shown throughout that Wednesday night. The Drums and Hoops both put on incredible shows and it was definitely a performance not to be missed. /- written by Emily Perlman
All photos by Mike Gerry, check out more from The Drums and Hoops at Terminal West below:
