Real Friends bring Fall Tour through Carrboro NC
Last weekend, Real Friends brought their Fall In The USA Tour to the Cat's Cradle stage in Carrboro NC. The show was a pop punk dream featuring support from Eat Your Heart Out, Grayscale, and Boston Manor.
The tour comes hot on the tails of the Chicago band's most recent album Composure. The album was the first new album from Real Friends since 2016 and fans were anxiously awaiting the new music. Well they got the new music finally and this tour was the first chance (apart from the Vans Warped Tour stops earlier this year) that fans could experience the new music live.
The show started with a fairly new band on their first venture in the states. Eat Your Heart Out were more low key than the rest of the bands on the bill but had the catchiness that most likely gained them some new fans after their set. Another up-and-coming band was due up next but they ran into some technical issues after their first song and delayed things for about 5-10 minutes. Grayscale is a band that i've seen so many times over the last year, it's hard for me to still call them up-and-coming. They have the fanbase and they have the music, but they're still in the stage of their career of being one of the first opening bands on a tour. They'll get there though, they have everything you need and the fans definitely love them.
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Once Grayscale got exhausted their on-stage time filler jokes and got their tech issues fixed, the set went on and the stage diving/crowd surfers really picked up. They oddly ended their set with an acoustic song, which I am not sure was due to their shortened set time or if that was planned, but things went from chaos in the crowd to a full on sing-along to end their set.
Next up was some fellas from across the pond in Boston Manor. These guys could also be considered "up-and-coming" but they have a much heavier pop punk/rock and roll sound that I think has put them on the fast track. The energy from Grayscale's set continued into Boston Manor's set and was nearly nonstop through it all. At one point the vocalist of Boston Manor asked how many people were seeing them or hearing them for the first time and nearly the entire room raised their hands, which was shocking to me; I can't go 30 minutes on a pop punk Spotify playlist without hearing them.
But after their set the room sort of cleared and I was worried that Boston Manor had been the main act for a lot of people. But just about five or so minutes before Real Friends hit the stage, the room quickly filled back up and it's almost like everyone that had went outside, came back in with a friend because the crowd had grown substantially. The crowd surfers and stage divers continued as the band played through new and old songs and I had to relocate myself as I was standing front and center, in the middle of the crazy crowd.
There are still plenty of dates through the Northeast and Midwest on this tour. If you're in the path of the remaining dates, be sure to get out to this show!
11/14 — Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
11/15 — Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes
11/16 — New York City, NY @ Irving Plaza
11/17 — Boston, MA @ Royale
11/18 — Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom
11/20 — Toronto, ON @ Opera House
11/21 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theatre
11/23 — Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
11/24 — Detroit, MI @ Saint Andrews Hall
11/25 — Chicago, IL @ House Of Blues
