Hot Gig Alert (10/05): Concrete Castles @ SONIA in Cambridge, MA
Pennsylvania based band Concrete Castles took their name from one of the first songs they ever wrote together, a wildly cathartic anthem called “Thrill!” As frontwoman Audra Miller reveals, the song was inspired by the pure joy that she and her bandmates Matt Yost and Sam Gilman have found in chasing their dreams with no backup plan, a sentiment that’s fully reflected in the track’s radiant energy and triumphant gang vocals.
Like all of the songs on Concrete Castles’ full-length debut, “Thrill!” draws its power from an explosive convergence of elements: Miller’s heartfelt lyrics and magnetic vocal performance, Gilman’s visceral drumming, Yost’s gracefully inventive guitar work. the trio possess a profound instinct for the intricacies of song construction, thanks in part to the many years they’ve spent playing in First To Eleven (an Erie-based cover band whose YouTube channel boasts over a million subscribers).
In looking forward to a post-pandemic world, Concrete Castles are particularly excited about performing their original material to a live audience for the very first time. “I think live we’ll really be able to crank up the energy and open the songs up in a whole new way,” says Yost. And in the meantime, the band remains focused on following their intuition to the next onslaught of songs. “We’re basically always working—and if we’re not, then we’re sleeping,” says Yost. “Our idea of having fun is just stumbling into things and finding what sounds cool to us, and then seeing what we can build from that.”
Purchase/stream Concrete Castles’ new album Wish I Missed U HERE.
Concrete Castles perform at SONIA (472-480 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA) on Tuesday, October 5th at 8pm.
Photo Credit: Rowan Daly
