I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: November 2, 2024] Touché Amoré

I saw Touché Amoré open for Deafheaven last year and I knew I wanted to see them again as a headliner.

I was happy to see them at Union Transfer and I was happy that my son wanted to go with me.  But a four-band night was a lot to ask.  And having too much food for dinner and being way overdressed for a concert (it was cold out, but warm inside) meant that he didn’t enjoy the show as much as I hoped he would.  And his unhappiness always mars a show for me.

And yet, Touché Amoré was amazing.  My son admitted that even though he didn’t feel great, he was really impressed by them.

The band has a big, clean sound and singer Jeremy Bolm screaming the lyrics.  The best thing about his screaming is that it is intense like old school punk, but it is completely clear. so the powerful lyrics really show through.

Like last time, for every last line of a verse or chorus he put the mic out for the audience to sing the last word or phrase. And they did.

I love the sound of the band–not too complicated–but every song has something interesting going on in it.  Drummer Elliot Babin is a maniac behind the kit.  And I loved that you could hear both guitarists Clayton Stevens and Nick Steinhardt very clearly. And bassist Tyler Kirby would punctuate songs with excellent thumping bass.

Some of their songs are really short.  Art Official is about 90 seconds, and Nine is 45 seconds!

The song that I was most impressed with last time was Reminders.  This time, they brought out Soft Blue Shimmer to sing with them, which was really cool and somehow made the catchy song even catchier.  A little later, they brought out Soul Glo for Honest Sleep which made a wild and crazy song even moreso.

As the show moved along the songs did get longer, with some pushing over the 3 minute mark.

Later on I realized that they played almost entirely different songs for this show than for the previous one.  Out of 22 songs at this show, only 6 were played at the previous show.  I think there were a lot of deep cuts for the fans at this show. They didn’t even play  that many new songs.  But the crowd loved all of it.

Toward the end of the set Jeremy Bolm came down to the barrier and sang to/in the audience, which is always cool.

I enjoyed their set so much, it was a totally great show, even with my son not feeling his best by the end.

§ Spiral in a Straight Line (2024)
♥ Lament (2020)
¼ Stage Four (2016)
∇ Is Survived By (2013)
≅ Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me (2011)
♣ To the Beat of a Dead Horse (2009)

For ease of searching I include: Touche Amore