Indie rock band, Citizen, stopped in Boston, Massachusetts, to perform to a sold out crowd at The Paradise Rock Club this past Sunday.
First to the stage was Milk Teeth, a punk band from the U.K. Featuring high energy frontwoman, Becky Blomfield, the band took the audience by surprise, opening up with the song “Brain Food” off their debut album, Vile Child. The album was released on Jan. 29 via Hopeless Records. Blomfield mentioned during their set that this was the band’s first U.S. tour ever and described how excited they were to be opening for such a great lineup, causing the audience to erupt in cheers and applause.
Next to the stage was Hartford, Connecticut, punk rock band, Sorority Noise. The band opened up their set with the song “Dirty Ickes” off their 2014 album Forgettable. Being a crowd favorite, fans instantly began screaming the lyrics along with the band. The continued by performing “Nolsey,” a song off their latest release, Joy, Departed which was released on June 16, 2015 via Topshelf Records. Throughout the rest of the night, they played a mixture of songs from each of those albums, such as “Blonde Hair, Black Lungs,” “Art School Wannabe,” and “Blissth.”
Toward the end of the set, frontman Cameron Boucher addressed the crowd stating that he wanted to talk about his struggle with manic depression and drug addiction throughout his first couple years of college. He stated that it took him a long time to get better, but there are ways to get help. His words caused a silence in the crowd, grabbing the attention of everybody in the room. As he concluded, the audience cheered in support. Boucher used this transition to mention that this next song was written about his struggle and recovery, and began playing “Using.”
The third band of the night was Turnover, a rock band from Virginia. The first song they played was one of their most popular songs, “Dizzy On The Comedown,” off their latest release, Peripheral Vision. Peripheral Vision is a dream pop album which was released on Run For Cover Records in 2015 and showed some significant change in the band’s sound from their 2013 pop punk album, Magnolia. The band had a mellower sound, after following two eccentric punk bands, though the crowd went crazier for them than any of the other bands that night. With the audience moshing, crowd surfing and jumping all over, the band thanked the crowd for being so supportive of their music. Sticking almost exclusively to songs from Peripheral Vision, the band surprised the crowd by playing “Humblest Pleasures,” the title track off their recently released EP. They closed their set with another widely popular song “Cutting My Fingers Off,” riling up the audience for the main act, Citizen.
When headliner Citizen finally hit the stage, the audience went nuts, pushing one another in an attempt to get closer to the stage. Citizen is a indie rock band from Michigan and Ohio, currently signed to Run For Cover Records. They opened up with multiple songs from their 2013 debut album Youth, such as “Speaking With A Ghost,” “How Does It Feel” and “Roam The Room.” The continued by playing newer songs off their latest album Everybody Is Going To Heaven. They played songs such as “Cement” and “Stain,” two of their major hits from the album. This latest album was released on June 23, 2015 via Run For Cover Records and has grabbed the attention of fans everywhere, as it boasts a heavier style than the band’s original sound. Frontman Mat Kerekes addressed the audience throughout the night to thank the crowd for coming to their first headlining U.S. tour, stating how crazy it was that so many stops on the tour, including Boston, had sold out. The band concluded the night with an encore performance of the song “Drown,” which was featured on their split with Turnover.
You can find Citizen’s music on Facebook, Spotify, Bandcamp, and more. Check out their social media to see when they will be on tour next.