Review: The Drums Kick Off Highly Anticipated North American Tour at LA’s Shrine Expo Hall
INDIE FAVORITES — The Drums brought a nostalgic and rowdy night to remember for LA show-goers. On only the second night of their upcoming North American tour, Jonny Pierce and his band, The Drums, brought in a tidal wave of emotions for fans at the LA Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall. Days before the show, Pierce headed to Instagram to report that this would be their biggest headline show yet, and he was not lying.
With only 30 minutes into doors opening, half of the venue was already filled with fans stacked behind one another. As opener Cold Hart pranced onstage, the crowd kept shy and quiet during the act, anxious for Pierce and his band to appear. In between switching sets, there was soft background music and synths playing, keeping everyone on their toes, waiting to finally see who they had stood in line for in the burning LA heat.
Finally, the lights dimmed and Pierce and his bandmates skipped onto the stage, the spotlight revealing them. As everyone began to chant Pierce’s name, the band played their first riff of “Are U Fucked,” and it was like a light had switched as the atmosphere shifted into utter chaos. The crowd went from standing in complete stillness to swarming the front. Drinks were spilled and thrown, people were sandwiched in, trying to capture this opening moment on their phones and digital cameras.
The rowdiness created a few commotions between several fans, with others trying to break each other apart and reminding them to enjoy the show. People were seen begging and some even crying as they rummaged their way out of the crowd when it became too much. Crowd-goers were relentlessly pushing against the barricade, nearly suffocating in between songs with how crowded it was. Pairs of friends were seen pushing through, tripping over one another to escape the hot, sweaty pit to gasp for air. This was all within the first two songs of the set, and soon everyone began to calm down a bit after the band performed “Best Friend” and “What You Were.”
It wasn't long before The Drums began to perform their fan-favorite classic from their album Portamento, “Days,” that the crowd once again swarmed to the front, creating a domino effect as they swayed back and forth on the floor, while others could see from their high view from the balcony. People were jumping from excitement and carrying one another up onto the surface to crowd surf with their Doc Martens hitting several heads. Fans sang along to “Let’s Go Surfing” in unison with Piere, who ended the song with a sentimental “If only you know how life-giving this show is for us, LA.”
Pierce seemed like a natural on stage, as if he was born to live as a performer, swaying whimsically and slipping in a few dances as he sang his heart out to every lyric. His vocals took over everyone's ears as he poured every ounce of emotion into his tenderhearted song “Down By The Water,” bringing tears to several eyes.
The band ended on a sweet note with their most streamed song, “Money,” with strobing lights and people dancing with one another. The lights went dim, and just as everyone believed the show to be over after 12 astounding songs, the band and Pierce returned onstage without hesitation and gifted the crowd with an encore of four more songs, including new singles, “Plastic Envelope,” “I Want It All,” and “Obvious,” from his newest album to be released on Oct. 13, titled Jonny.
Although the set began with madness, which is expected from an LA crowd, it calmed down within the second half of the set, and Pierce thanked fans with heartfelt gestures, as he waved goodbye and left the crowd in awe.
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