Did I only just see Bad Suns less than a year ago? Yes, but who cares! I feel like it’s been ages since they really toured near me proper, so I’ll take them as many times as they want to swing by!
This time I headed a little further south at a slightly larger venue, but it’s still the kind of place I would see them at in the past. Actually, Columbus is where my live journey with them all began back in 2014. It was when “Cardiac Arrest” first came out, and I was positively obsessed with the song, and eventually, the album that it belonged to. Not long after I found out that they were playing in some small bar in the middle of winter and my friend was a true friend and went with me. Getting home was an adventure, but the show was maybe one of the smallest I’d ever been to. Even in the front row they’d ask after a song or two for us all to take a few steps closer to them. Crazy. I also have some amazing digital camera photos to commemorate the event. A time.
So now, in a venue that probably swallows up Ace of Cups tenfold, is where I got to see them for maybe the dozenth time? It’s been so many that I’ve truly lost count. I will say, I was impressed with the spot I was able to snag for getting there only five minutes before the opening act was set to begin. Usually I’m there well within the hour the doors open. I had an unobstructed view, but because it was off to the side, there was a wall of speakers blocking me from seeing much of anything that Miles was doing all night. And when they first started, I looked at the pep of the bassist, and said “no way that is Gavin.” From a styling and stature standpoint, they were actually pretty similar, but Christo revealed later that Gavin has been given the opportunity to apprentice with Criss Angel. That’s a real story and not some late April Fools prank. Life is weird sometimes.
Blessedly, only one dumb song from Mystic Truth made the set, but the rest was a nice healthy mix of the hits from all of their other records. I am always delighted to hear “Heartbreaker,” and “Salt” will get anyone’s feet moving. Classics like “Transpose” and “We Move Like the Ocean” weaved their way in early. And while I’m not the biggest fan of the other Disappear Here tracks that made the setlist, there is no denying they are the favorites of the wider audience. It was kind of crazy to me to see how many people only kind of exclusively knew songs from last year’s release, Accelerator. I’m am familiar with the singles, but the rest of that album was just average to me. So I was maybe the least passionate about those songs, though “Communicating” is a bop. They played three really strong sinlges from Apocolypse Whenever, but man, what I wouldn’t give to hear “Nightclub (Waiting for You)” and “Electric Circus” – they are such earworms!
All in all, the energy was so, so good for this show. I do think Christo knows he’s talented, but based on how much effort he was putting into the performances and crowd interactions, I can tell he doesn’t take a single moment for granted. I’m not sure if any of them still pop out after shows like they did back in the early days, but I hope one show in the future I can catch them and tell them I’ve been a listener since the beginning. When they played a tiny bar in the middle of winter in Columbus, Ohio.