By Annabelle Williamson
Last weekend on September 8th, a surf rock band, The Frights, kicked off their fall tour for their new album, Hypochondriac at a sold-out show in Santa Ana at the Observatory. Popular bands such as Hot Flash Heat Wave and Hunny the Band opened the concert, The Frights took the stage with an excited crowd. While they opened up with some of their old music from their 2016 album, You’re Going to Hate This, they slowly transitioned into their new music, which got some fans questioning if they were changing their style.
Lead singer and guitarist, Mikey Carnevale, created a great dynamic with the crowd, talking and interacting with them in between sets. Although the band got controversial feedback on their new album for the tour, since fans were used to upbeat electric guitar-focused music, the slow, sad, and acoustic Hypochondriac was scarcely played as the band only featured a few of their most popular songs.
The venue, the Observatory, and the Constellation Room is a bar/venue and it has a capacity of around 1,000 people, which is not fit for a sold-out show. The crowded pit area forced many people to the ground and out of the pit as people filed in. Although the standing area around the pit offered great views to the stage if you were in the front, but did not give the fans the full experience of being close to the stage, the mosh pit or the crowd surfing.
With security guards standing by the exit to the pit, the stage and the entrance to the bar, it was safe to say that you were in good hands. Although if you were near the exit of the pit area, you would be constantly shoved by security as they were forcing room for new people to enter. Overall The Frights played fantastically and their genre of music ranged from serenading the crowd from their popular doo-wop song, Makeout Point, to kicking off the show with a rock song, Kids. With their tour just starting, you can still find tickets to a show.
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