Brooklyn, NY // October 19th, 2016: Joyce Manor packed the house last night at Music Hall of Williamsburg, along with The Hotelier and Crying. Sold out shows, wildly passionate fans and fun, fast paced tunes are what to expect from the Torrance, California natives. Tuesday evening was no exception.
The night started off with a bang when locals Crying hit the stage at 8pm. The trio is based out of Purchase, NY. Vocalist Elaiza Santos owned the stage with her impressive range and warm, complaisant presence. Many in the crowd seemed familiar with the group, humming along with Santos while she crooned songs off their debut LP Beyond the Fleeting Gales. The album was released just last Friday.
Crying performing to a full house
By the end of Crying’s set, the already crowded hall began to overflow with punk time arrivals as everyone waited in anticipation for The Hotelier to take the stage. The group walked out humbly and casually, immediately opening with”An Introduction to the Album” off their beloved LP Home, Like Noplace Is There. It was Christian Holden’s birthday and fans didn’t hesitate to shout it out in between songs. Holden’s sense of self is established while he’s on stage. He’s a gracious, passionate performer always able to find the right words in his lyrics and on the fly in between songs.
The Hotelier as a unit is an incredible sight and sound to witness. The group’s seemingly effortless set was powered by Chris Hoffman’s impeccable guitar work and Sam Frederick’s tight drum technique. With cheers from the crowd as Hoffman strummed the opening chords to “Sun” off newer LP Goodness, the group has proven that they’re here to stay and impress long after Home, Like Noplace Is There.
The Hotelier
While both of the opening acts were notably talented and on the cusp of mainstream, the focus of the night was on Joyce Manor and the recent release of LP Cody. Hundreds of fans pushed their way closer to the stage as the four-piece–consisting of frontman Barry Johnson, guitarist Chase Knobbe, bassist Matt Ebert and drummer Jeff Enzor–took the stage.
The smart pop punker’s angtsy high energy is contagious. Throughout their set fans could not contain themselves from crowd surfing, jumping on stage and grooving along to crowd favorites like opener “Heart Tattoo”, new song “Last You Heard of Me” and first encore song “Christmas Card”.
“We’re going to play three songs for our encore, because our songs are only like 30 seconds long” lead singer Barry Johnson said as they came back on for their expected return.
It’s true, Joyce Manor has been infamous over the years for consistently short songs. However, Cody is their first release with most songs over two minutes and one song (“Stairs”) clocking in at over four. With big-name producer Rob Schnapf on the new record and Fun. singer Nate Ruess credited with backing vocals, the pop punkers are certainly stepping up their game.
Highlights during the show included Johnson stopping the show to help find a fan’s glasses and someone throwing a chair down from the upper balcony into the crowd at center stage pit. Johnson handled all of the chaos with grace, unfazed by the dozen or so fans who crowd surfed their way to the stage, but stayed punk rock, giving whoever threw that chair a well-deserved “fuck you!”
Upset fans react after someone threw a folding chair into the pit during Joyce Manor’s set
All and all, the Joyce Manor gang left New York as happy as it left them. According to Johnson, he loves New York because he has so many good friends here. Reflecting back to their first show in New York five years ago, Johnson expressed the surreal feeling of making it in the pop punk world. As the group played the minute long “Orange Julius”, the first song off their 2011 self-titled debut, the crowd went nuts in commemoration.
Joyce Manor closes out their show at MHOW with a three-song encore
