One of the hottest new bands to hit the rock scene in the last few years is the rock trio Highly Suspect. The American rockers have rocketed to the top with the success of their second studio album “The Boy Who Died Wolf” and have been touring steadily since and have even been included in the lineups of some of the biggest rock festivals in the country. This past weekend the band made a stop in Charlotte playing to a sold out crowd at The Underground.
The crowd was amped up from the start and the second Highly Suspect hit the stage the room absolutely exploded. The band came ready to rock and got things going quickly with the Real Life cover “Send Me An Angel” before blasting into “Bath Salts.” The stage lighting was almost nonexistent with only a few colored backlights and the requisite strobes which would flash at intervals. At times it was very difficult to see the band members especially from the back of the venue. The sound however was amazing. For a three piece, Highly Suspect delivers one hell of a punch with the pounding rhythm section of brothers Richard Meyer on bass and Ryan Meyer on drums. Frontman Johnny Stevens sounded crisp and clear and his riffs were on point all night long. They kept the chit chat to a minimum and let the music do the talking. Everyone was having a good time and by the time the band got to “Lydia” the audience was at a fever pitch. There were more than a few interesting things that happened that evening as well with Johnny dedicating a song to his brother who must have been in the audience that night and an unusual drum solo from Ryan where a crew member came out to play alongside him. There was one point in the evening that nobody saw coming. A few of the crew members came running out onto the stage with huge sheet cakes and launched them out into the crowd. Most of the fans in attendance whooped and hollered but a few took offense to this action. One woman down in front seemed extremely upset at this throwing cake back up at the stage and may have suffered a minor eye injury as well. I’m not sure what to think of this. When you think of bands throwing things around and needing to be extra aware Highly Suspect definitely wasn’t at the top of my list. You know what moms always say, “It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye” so perhaps that should be some food for thought on future tours. Other than that minor incident, the show went off without a hitch. The band saved some of their biggest hits for their encore including the singles “Little One” and “My Name Is Human” which really sent the crowd into overdrive.
The evening was a huge success and it’s clear that Highly Suspect is going to be absolutely larger than life in a few years time. If you have the chance to see them out on this tour, do it. It’s a perfect opportunity to experience them in an intimate setting before they totally blow up.
Set List:
Send Me An Angel (Real Life cover)
Bath Salts
Lost
Bloodfeather
Round & Round
Vanity
Serotonia
Fuck Me Up
Lydia
Viper Strike
Winston
Claudeland/ATL
Encore:
Little One
My Name Is Human
Wolf
Look Alive, Stay Alive
Mom
We would like to thank Violet Foulk from No Big Deal PR for the credentials to review the show.
