As the summer came to a close I decided to go to one final concert. This time I would be seeing Slaughter Beach, Dog. Slaughter Beach, Dog is the new band Jake Ewald created after the band Modern Baseball took an indefinite hiatus. It would be my first time seeing them, and I couldn’t wait!

I was actually lucky enough to interview Slaughter Beach, Dog before the show. One question I wanted to know the answer to was where the title of their latest album came from.

“I kinda just heard it and I wrote it down and it stuck with me and it just felt like a good vibe.” Jake Ewald (vocals, guitar) said. “It made me feel good so I wrote it down.”

The members also expressed how much time and effort they put into making their albums.

“I do feel like this is, especially right now where we are this is like the first band I’ve been in where it feels like the 100% focus is simply on music” said Nick Harris (guitar).

Now on to the actual show. The band Cave People opened up the show. But they didn’t open it by just starting off with a song. Instead, Russell Edling (guitar) read a poem written by Spenser, a member of the band that passed away unexpectedly in July. I thought that it was really nice to still read that in memory of him even though the tour is almost over. 

Cave People played a really nice set. It was nice how they got the audience engaged. During a break between songs Dave Tomaine (vocals, guitar) asked if anyone had any questions. Voices from the crowd came up asking where the band was from (Pennsylvania) and if they could help someone with their homework (Tomaine politely declined). They are definitely a band you should check out if you haven’t yet. Their newest release “Salt” is out now.

Next Slaughter Beach, Dog came on. They started their set with “One Down,” the opening track of their newest album “Safe And Also No Fear.” That got the crowd to sing along, as most of their songs did. It was so refreshing to be in a room full of people not afraid to sing the lyrics back, no matter what they sounded like.  My favorite part was during the song “Sleepwalking.” Most of the crowd said “Wake Up!,” a line from the song, in unison. The crowd really started dancing during the song “Your Cat.” The greatest thing about it was, while the crowd was having fun, all of the band members looked so happy. Their happiness radiated all around the room. The saddest part of the night was when the lights came on. I didn’t want to go home yet. I have been to a lot of shows, and I have felt that same sadness when the lights go on. But this time, it was different. I really didn’t want to admit it was over. That’s a pretty powerful thing to be able to do. But even though we had to go, we all left with smiles on our faces. “Safe And Also No Fear” is out now via Lame-o Records. 

And if Cave People or Slaughter Beach, Dog are reading this, I just want to say I hope you find yourself back in Connecticut soon/on your next tour, we’d love to have you again. I know I’ll be there.