West Coast welcomes back Rogue Wave at Teragram Ballroom

Last Friday night, Rogue Wave and Floating Action performed at Los Angeles’s Teragram Ballroom.

Floating Action, hailing from North Carolina, displayed their lo-fi indie folk-rock style through their two guitarists whose fuzzy instrumental lines combined with reverberating vocals to create a dreamy, tranquil atmosphere that complimented the intimacy of the venue. A couple songs the band performed included “Don’t You Wanna Be Ready” from their newest album Hold Your Fire (2016) and “No Surprise There” from an earlier album, Body Questions (2014).

Rogue Wave opened up their set with the energetic, pounding drum-playing of long-time member Patrick Spurgeon and the grungy, high-powered guitar playing of lead vocalist Zach Rogue. The first few tracks the band played were all off of their most recent album, Delusions of Grand Fur (2016), which reflected their set for the night overall, with the majority being new tracks. During their third song, “Look At Me,” the band engaged in a rumbling, collaborative instrumental break that maintained an admirable amount of energy within both the musicians and the crowd. Later songs included the singles “College” from their album Nightingale Floors (2013) and “Eyes” from 2006.

The band also threw it way back with songs from their very first couple of albums that they warned were “very old songs,” including “Salesman at the Day of the Parade” from Descended Like Vultures (2005) and an old-time favorite, “Nourishment Nation,” from Out of the Shadow (2004). Of course, Rogue Wave couldn’t play a concert without playing their hit “Lake Michigan” from Asleep at Heaven’s Gate (2007). And they did so with a surprising amount of vigor and excitement rather than the disdain some bands show toward their own most popular singles. Towards the end of their performance, Rogue Wave thanked the audience for being a great crowd, considering that “the first 10 times [they] played in LA was horrible.”

For their encore, the band played “Publish My Love,” “Like I Needed,” and “California.” Before “California,” they expressed their enthusiasm for being back on the West Coast as Bay Area natives. And what better way to express that than to say “screw California,” as Rogue put it jokingly? It was evident from the audience’s reaction the whole night that California welcomed them back with open arms, and hoped they would come back to LA again some time in the near future.

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Article by Vivian Chen
Photos by Jessica Chen