Hanging Out with Drugdealer this Halloween at The Chapel

Following the release of their most recent album, Hiding in Plain Sight (2022), Drugdealer returned to San Francisco to kick off their month-long North American tour at The Chapel. Hailing from Oakland, California, you could feel Michael Collins’ love for the Bay Area in every inch of his performance.

As fans continued to file into the intimate venue from the bustling streets of a Halloween night in San Francisco, waves of psychedelic dream pop flowed over them from the first of two openers, Nico Georis. In the spirit of the night and his own music, Georis was decked out in big, bubbly rainbow framed glasses and shimmering robes, resembling a rockstar from decades past.

The venue was filling up at this point, yet one more opener was set to play before Drugdealer made their way onto the stage: Reverend Baron. It seemed like everyone was in the Halloween spirit, the crowd a sea of costumes from princesses to rockstars. Even this next opener was as he sauntered out onto the stage looking ready for Sunday mass, rosary and all. The crowd was brought back into the moment as sounds of soft rock and mellow guitar riffs filled up the converted church. Some fans of his, sprinkled throughout the crowd, surprised him by shouting out requests, such as “Fool on the Avenue.” The crowd couldn’t help but fall into a sway as even he was moved to dance around by the groovy sounds of his own music on stage.

As his set ended, you could feel the anticipation for Drugdealer growing in the crowd, with people inching closer to the stage. Fans peered up to a window overlooking the venue, speculating: “Wait! Is that them up there? I think it is!”

The excitement was everywhere. You could hear exactly when the headliners took the stage, cheers, clapping and laughter echoing through the crowd. All dressed up for the holiday, and excited to see the same in the crowd, Michael Collins immediately filled the room up with an easy kind of joy. Everyone cheered as he remarked on missing his Bay Area home; there was an immediate sense of community. Kicking off the show with “The End of Comedy,” the tone was set by the upbeat piano melodies and soft rock guitar riffs. It felt like we all just got to hang out with Drugdealer for a couple hours. They moved through fan favorites like “Honey” to newer songs like “Madison” and “Valentine”. It was the closest I had ever felt to an artist at a show. It felt like they were right there with the audience, enjoying their show and each other’s company.

Drugdealer ended their set with an encore, bringing everyone together to groove to “Suddenly”, arguably their most popular song and my personal favorite, inviting a sax player from the crowd to freestyle with them. They finished the show with “Posse Cut” off the new album. The whole night they had joked around with each other and the audience, even passing a joint around the front row. It was clear that everyone packed into The Chapel was just happy to be there, spending their Halloween singing along with their friends, loved ones and their favorite band.