(Photo courtesy of Heavenly Recordings)When I entered the Crescent Ballroom on Sept. 29, I had no idea what I was in for. I certainly knew that I would see Fever the Ghost, Wampire and Temples, the last of which had shown up in my suggestion box on Spotify without a second glance. Other than that coincidence, I felt no emotional investment prior to the show. By the time I left, however, I was in love.
To my surprise, the bands all developed their styles from ‘60s influences, beginning as Fever the Ghost’s intense psychedelia to Temples’s soft melodies. I left feeling as though I had stood in a meadow rather than the venue’s crowded underage section.
Fever the Ghost kicked off the night with the most eccentric of sets, complete with a hooded lead singer a la metallic "Assasin’s Creed" and a sound that can only be described as “Grateful Dead if it had access to the Internet and modern video games.”
The band, however, describes its sound as “vaporwave psychedelic and death glitch,” keyboardist Börnabin "Bobby" Victor said.
“Our lead singer, Casper, is a genius,” he said. “The rest of us help to arrange it, but the music is really his brainchild.”
A short 10 minutes later, Eric Phipps and Rocky Tinder introduced their band, Wampire, and the crowd of teens and middle-aged adults with man-buns immediately roared.
The Portland-based duo began the set with an impressive maraca/drum beat pairing followed by a mix of harmonic keyboards and vocals so lovely that I couldn’t tell whether the strong vanilla scent taking over was from the girl dancing next to me or the band’s nostalgic melodies.
From this performance, the band paused only to crack jokes.
“I usually reserve my Monday nights for crying and masturbating,” singer/guitarist Rocky Tinder said during the middle of the set. “But there is still time for that.”
Even when the music strayed from their ‘60s-inspired psych-pop to a more rockabilly ‘80s sound, the band remained entertaining, though it seemed that I was the only one dancing other than the guy in the front who had clearly established himself as Wampire’s biggest fan.
For the headlining Temples, however, dancing was never in short supply.
Within seconds of the band's entrance to the stage, the room suddenly filled with a crowd that began to cheer for what would be one of the most impressive bands I have ever seen live.
Despite the members’ obvious affinity for ‘60s culture (bassist Thomas Warmsley sported pinstripe bell-bottoms with loafers) and their Kettering, England homeland, the band surpasses any stereotypical Beatles expectations. Not only have they embodied such a nostalgic era, but they created their own brand of entertainment to match.
The band’s instrumentals were so clear that I would have insisted it played a studio recording if the live performance had not provided the visual evidence to prove otherwise. Heck, even its self-proclaimed B-side song was so catchy that I wish it had replaced Jason Derulo’s “Talk Dirty to Me” at my senior prom.
Similarly, it seemed as though every male-oriented audience member wished that the band’s harmonic lead singer, James Bagshaw, had been their prom date, and understandably so. Who could deny a chic man who rocks the curly-bob and sunken-cheek look better than Cher?
However, talent and aesthetic aside, I do have one criticism; these guys should be far more well-known. I am shocked that I have gone a whole two years since their creation without hearing their most-popular track, “Shelter Song.”
I guess I’ll just spend the next week dancing to Temples in my room to make up for lost time. And so should everyone else.
Reach the reporter at aplante@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @aimeenplante
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