Fidlar are a phenomenon reeking of teen spirit, particularly the puke after one first night of hard liquor drinking in 10th grade. Their sound is rough around the edges, but cut up and decidedly clear enough to be effective in delivering an anthemic slacker slogan within each song. On their standouts like ‘No Waves’ the crowd loses their shit to a California pop punk romp with lyrics about feeling like a crackhead and smoking heroin. The kids are relentless, their energy matches that of Fidlar’s as they bust through nearly 20 fast, short, surf rock stomps filled with reverb and la la las shouted through a hoarse smoker’s throat. The audience nearly has stars in their eyes as they scream along to “I drink cheap beer – so what – fuck you.” While they pogo and sing along to every word, most of those raging up in the front of the crowd are still five spring breaks away from being able to legally choose between Pabst and Coors. I believe get ‘em early is what they say.
Meat Market, Pangea, and recently returned from Europe destroyers-of-rock-n-roll, The Shrine, joined these raucous delinquents in support of their debut self-titled album release Friday night. Come all hallows eve, Fidlar will be blowing through North America, potentially stopping to spill some cheap beer on a town near you.
Words by David James. Photos by Olivia Jaffe.
10/31 – New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
11/01 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues
11/02 – Austin, TX @ Fun Fun Fun Fest
11/04 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
11/08 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
11/09 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
11/12 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Grand
11/14 – Columbia, MO @ Mojo’s
11/15 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
11/16 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bogarts
11/17 – Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall
11/19 – Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
11/21 – Cleveland, OH @ Cambridge Room
11/23 – Phadelphia, PA @ TLA
11/27 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
11/28 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues

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