One of the things I love about running The Indy Review is watching bands I’ve heralded for years come into their own and make it in this insanely tough industry. Two of these groups (both Canadian), Rare Americans (who I first covered in 2018) and Hotel Mira (a fan since 2019) played The Roxy last Friday night to a packed house full of enthusiastic fans, and I couldn’t be happier for them. Dynamic live performers and savvy songwriters, these are artists paving their own way and earning every accolade they receive.
Opening the night was Shauna Dean Cokeland. I knew nothing about this petite young woman going into the night, but WOW. Alone on stage with an acoustic guitar, Cokeland plays a tongue-twisty brand of folk punk, with lyrics that show a literary knowledge and social consciousness that surpasses many twice her age. Through her set, she shared the experiences from her life that inspired her songs (from the abuse her trans friends have experience, to bonding with gang members after escaping a shooting). Fearlessly making political statement mid-set, quoting Huey P. Newton, she clearly has a punk spirit, even as her music moved from catchy indie pop (“Last Best Pop Stars”) to hip-hop (“Blessed Be”). Ending her set with a Mountain Goats cover made complete sense, as she shares a knack for lyrical storytelling that makes John Darnielle’s songs so evocative. With her debut album coming out on March 20th, she’s definitely an artist to keep an eye on.
Hotel Mira were next up. I’ve seen the group a couple times, but was hyped to see the Charlie Kerr-led group again, on the eve of their new album Pity Party coming out (this Friday, March 14th). Kerr is a true performer, though as the set began, he seemed to be feeling out the audience, playing the steady, centered frontman role. Thankfully this didn’t last long, as he enticed the audience into following his every move and gesture. Playing the first of the two released songs from their new album, the excellent “Making Progress”, the audience was soon shouting back “forget your heart, protect your neck”.
It wasn’t long before Kerr was gyrating on the floor, pantomiming lyrics from classics like “Fever Pitch” or the other new track “America’s Favourite Pastime” , and getting the audience gyrating to “Dancing in the Moonlight”. The rest of the band provided sturdy backing as always, harmonizing on the call-and-response backing vocals on “Jungle” and “Vampire”. Kerr entered the audience for one of the band’s darker songs, getting everyone to hold his hand for a pure communal moment. To close out the set, the band played oldie “Southern Comforting”, with it’s intense “I don’t regret if you don’t regret it” hook. By this time, any audience members who had come just for Rare Americans were new Hotel Mira converts, with everyone shouting along with fists pumping in the air.
From the moment I entered the venue, I could see that over half the audience had already purchased Rare Americans mercy. Tote bags, with posters, shirts and records were going fast. While still far better known in Canada, where they’ve earned Juno nominations and built a ground-up following, if nothing else the group has developed a cult-like fan base here in the United States. And I can understand why. Much like Twenty-One Pilots, the group aren’t just songwriters – they’re world-builders. The characters that exist in their songs have been brought to life in a continuing series of animated music videos that have garnered over 40 million views. They’ve made a half-hour musical, and have a feature on the way. While I won’t pretend to be as enmeshed with the narratives and videos as the fans there, I’ve admired their visionary creativity and songwriting for years and was excited to see how their unique sound translated to the stage.
Entering the stage first were drummer Duran Ritz and multi-instrumentalist Jan Cajka, who began a dual tribal drum sessions, building hype for frontman James Priestner to enter. All three band members donned sleeve-less blue jean jackets, and look that may have gone out in the 80’s but worked perfectly for them. On the back of Priestner’s jacket was the word “Skids”, a term used in a few of the band’s songs, along with being the title of their opening number. From here, they brought a new song “Voices in My Head”, and then went into “Milk Man”.
While the band can easily be lumped in the “alternative rock” bucket, dissecting their sound, one hears everything from pop-punk to hip-hop to classic 20’s big band and swing rhythms and drum breaks. There’s a vaudevillian essence to the band’s sound, like they would be introducing circus acts at any moment, but instead are telling tales inspired by the horrid state of the world (“Mr. Please”), addiction (“Ryan and Dave”) but also hope (“Hey Sunshine”).
Partway into the set, the band took a break to do a Q&A with the audience (which I had not seen before), with one person asking when there would be a part 4 to the “Brittle Bones Nicky” saga (they are working on it). When they returned to music, they played a song that had just been released that day (“Deadly Shade of Blue”), breaking out an acoustic guitar and encouraging the audience to get their phone flashlights into the air.
Needless to say, the audience went along with the band’s every request; jumping, waving hands, pumping fists. These were the kind of die-hard fans band’s kill for, as they’ll know they will always have people out to their shows and buying their merchandise, no matter how well their next album does. Everyone joined in with “Fuck the World” (including Shauna Dean Cokeland, who popped on stage to join the band), and got to dancing with the requested “Hullabaloo”. As it was a Friday night, the band changed the lyrics to the song “Wednesday Night” to “Friday Night”, making for a vibrant party song.
The band closed their initial set with “Cats, Dogs & Rats”, the song that first introduced me to them seven years ago, and the first song they ever released. With 20 million streams on Spotify alone, I hope I played even a tiny part in helping that song find the band an audience. Not that they need the help anymore. When the band returned to the stage, they proceeded into the beloved “Brittle Bones Nicky” trilogy, playing parts 1 – 3 back to back for an enthralling conclusion to the evening.
Even if U.S. radio never embraces these bands (though they should) and they never go super-viral on TikTok, these acts will always be all right. Because they are great. Their live shows are engrossing, the songwriting is superb, and they value their fans.
Listen to the latest Rare Americans song here, and the newest one from Hotel Mira here.
The Indy Review 
3 Comments