On May 22, 2024, Our Last Night performed at The Ritz in Raleigh, North Carolina, on their "The Covers Only" tour with special guests Normandie and Broadside! I love going to these shows not knowing much about most of the bands because it makes the night more memorable! The venue instantly became packed and I'm not surprised honestly because what else does everyone have to do on a Wednesday night? That's right. Nothing. Glad to see the whole venue filled with everyone singing along all night!
Opening the night was Normandie! I believe this is Normandies first North American tour and this was my first time ever listening to them. The Swedish band, formed in 2013, consists of Philip Strand (Vocals), Hakan Almbladh, and Anton Franzon (Drums) I can't believe how talented Strand is with his vocal range and how personable he is on stage! I could honestly listen to their set every single night and still be speechless. I still don't understand why I never heard of this band until that night and I regret not getting into them sooner!
The opening song "Serotonin" has become one of my favorite songs since that night and is actually one of their top-played songs on Spotify! I did some research about the song and Strand stated when the song was released, "Why do we do it to ourselves? Whole-heartedly, we surrender to our feelings without knowing if it’ll be mutual. The hard truth is most of our relationships during our lifetime are doomed to fail – yet still we do it." The vocalist is stating that we give all our emotions to other people not even knowing if the feeling will be reciprocated back the same way. I can relate to what he is saying because we know not every relationship in our life will work out, but yet we still give it our all knowing in the back of our heads that it could fail. "Babylon" and "Flowers For The Grave" were also performed during their set!
The band also released their newest album "Dopamine" on February 9, 2024, and on the way home from the event, I actually listened to the whole album. I felt like I was on a spiritual journey as each song blended into the next!
Broadside was up next! And I think the vocalist was the most interactive musician I've seen at a show. He literally had me laughing during the break between songs saying the most ridiculous things.
Broadside was formed in 2010 in Richmond, Virginia, consisting of Ollie Baxxter (Vocals), Pat Diaz (Bass), Jeff Nichols (Drums), and Domenic Reid (Guitar). I also never listened to this band before that night, the way the vocalist presented himself and how outgoing he was, they gained a fan that night! Ollie talked about COVID and how much he misses those stimulus checks that everyone received as well as talked about "I don't know what everyone needs in the morning; its either an extra k-cup, energy drink or fortnite points, but im glad everyone made it out on a Wednesday night!" The band posted their setlist on their Instagram before the tour to give everyone a heads-up! "Heavenly," "Coffee Talk," "Stranger", "Cruel," and "Foolish Believer."
I believe Ollie stated before he started the last song; " This song is about my ex! Fuck YOU ASHLEY!" Just by him saying that; I knew the song was going to be good! That sounds like something I would say If I wrote a song about one of my exes!
Broadside released their latest album in 2023, "Hotel Bleu," with musicians featured on the songs such as Brian Butcher from The Home Team, Honey Revenge, and Magnolia Park! Once I realized Butcher had a feature in a song, I HAD to take a listen to the album because Brian Butcher is one of my favorite vocalists.
It was time for Our Last Night! If you don't know who Our Last Night is, I will judge you. Not really, but maybe a little. Everyone knows Our Last Night is known for covering mostly all pop songs, but they also did release an album of them covering Disney hits as well! Who doesn't love it when musicians cover Disney songs? Disney songs are my go-to when traveling far distances!
Being able to finally see this band live and hear them perform "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift was so exciting! Before they performed the song, they asked the crowd if there were any Taylor Swift fans and the vocalist pointed at someone in the crowd. I had no idea who it was until I saw this little girl no more than 5 years old walk onto the stage. He asked her when Taylor Swift was born so everyone in the crowd and the frontman even whispered in her ear what the answer was! It was so wholesome to see and the little girl was so excited that she was getting merch from the band for answering the question correctly! When they performed "Dark Horse," I almost went insane because that song has been one of my favorite songs for over a decade and who doesn't LOVE Katy Perry? Their set was so fun because the music they performed was music we either grew up with or knew because of how popular it was; so it almost felt like a pop-rock karaoke night!
Our Last Night formed in 2004 in Hollis, New Hampshire, and consists of Trevor Wentworth (Vocals), Matt Wentworth (Vocals/Guitar/Piano), and Tim Molloy (Drums) as well as Sean Everett (Touring Bass) The band throughout the years toured with From First To Last, Attila, Vanna, We Came As Romans, and Arsonists Gets All The Girls. They released their first album in 2008 "The Ghosts Among Us" after being signed with Epitaph Records!
This night was one of those nights where I actually became part of everyone else and sang along even if I didn't know the songs! The show was so crazy compared to the deathcore shows I've been photographing lately, so I was able to move around and enjoy the atmosphere without worrying about a mosh-pit appearing!
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