The Peach Pit concert featuring Dayglow was an ideally chill way to spend a Saturday night. The concert, which took place at Cornell’s Bailey Hall, brought together a motley amalgamation of indie music lovers, fashion-forward undergrads and people who went because, “idk my friend is going so might as well.” Despite the varying degrees of musical appreciation, the attendees were unified by the positive vibes radiating off both bands’ members whose music lit up the night with catchy melodies, iconic hair flips and crowd surfs.
The concert opened with Dayglow, a young band whose first studio album, Fuzzybrain, was released in 2019. The group, headed by lead singer Sloan Struble, took the stage and played an enjoyable selection off their newest release as well as some classic covers like Vampire Weekend’s “A-Punk” and Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” Struble’s theme of friendship carried through the group’s set; watching him play with his three tour-mates on stage while having what looked to be the time of his life, conveyed a similar air of lightheartedness onto the audience. At one point, Struble told the audience to take a minute before the next song to go meet a stranger standing in your vicinity, a tactic reminiscent of Harry Styles’ similar actions during his 2020 tour. This encouragement to be social genuinely cut through the awkwardness of the not-knowing-what-to-do-with-your-hands sentiment running throughout the crowd as well as the physical compaction that came from the mass of students rushing to the front of Bailey Hall, contorting around the auditorium seats that would certainly impale you if you were to jump too enthusiastically to the music.
Dayglow’s music was vibrant and refreshing, upbeat at times and sincere at others. Songs like “Fair Game” and “Can I Call You Tonight?” had the house jumping, arms a-flailing to the indie, bubble gum pop melodies. Others like “Fuzzybrain,” which addressed Struble’s bouts with mental health, and “Dear Friend,” a ballad in dedication to the melancholy felt when missing a friend, subdued the now swaying audience in a necessary and thoughtful way. Dayglow seamlessly navigated these highs and lows with great skill. The group on stage delivered a wholesome and sincerely enjoyable performance that prepared the audience for Peach Pit.
Given the intimacy of the venue and the last-minute feeling of it all, Peach Pit felt like a close friend’s really good college band you got to go see. The band set up their own equipment and sang without the accompaniment of a backdrop emblazoned with the band’s insignia, a practice which is pretty standard for a band on tour. All this made the four band members more likeable in their accessibility and their seemingly down-to-earth nature. The band played new music off their 2017 album, Being So Normal, and older selections off of their iconic 2016 EP, Sweet FA, amongst others.
Peach Pit is the type of band whose music is always, and without fail, good. With each new release, I have never once found myself disappointed. This hard-hitting consistency came through at the concert Saturday night. Each song that was played may not have been their most known or most popular, but it got everyone in the audience off their feet and dancing around. Songs like “Alrighty Aphrodite,” “Seventeen” and “Drop the Guillotine” imbued the house with a high energy joy, while “Tommy’s Party” and “Peach Pit” mellowed out the venue. The band’s lead singer, Neil Smith, was charismatic and classy as he manned the stage, flipping his curly locks around his head with great passion and performing his group’s music with absolute skill. The lead guitarist, Christopher Vanderkooy, played with similar acuity while managing to fearlessly jump into the crowd and surf it, all without missing a beat. The band, on its encore, played Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode,” a song which showcased each member’s musical talent while also demonstrating the band’s range; Peach Pit can not only play chill indie rock, but also hard and fast rock and roll.
Peach Pit, a band with so much character and originality, was inspiring at their concert in Bailey Hall Saturday night. The band, in accompaniment with Dayglow, put on a delightful show with amazing music that broke up the grey monotony that is February in Ithaca.
Madeline Rutowski is a senior in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She can be reached at [email protected].