The Carousel Tour- featuring Anthony Green, Laura Jane Grace and Tim Kasher- brought a very excited room full of older millennials together on Friday for a night of camaraderie and garage band vibes.
The three prolific singers are all great friends and the strength of their collective friendship was the focal point of the evening. Kasher, the lead singer of Cursive, kicked things off with a set that featured music from his solo catalog, along with a few fan-favorite Cursive tracks to placate the diehard fans in the room. Both Grace and Green made guest appearances during his set, jamming on various instruments and providing stellar backing vocals for what was only the tip of the iceberg for what was coming up.
Laura Jane Grace, frontwoman of punk band Against Me, took the stage to massive cheers from the tight knit crowd. She waxed poetic (and more than a little profane) about divorce, dysphoria and despair but always found a way to make the audience laugh with her between songs. With such an informal vibe to the show, fans shouted requests, declarations of love and everything in between so the gig felt more like a conversation. Grace introduced us to her “Dysphoria Hoodie” and played plenty of Against Me songs. As with Kasher’s set, Grace was joined by her tourmates and there were smiles all around as they got to jam to each other’s songs.
Rounding out the triple headliner was Circa Survive frontman Anthony Green, who has quite a discography of both solo material and songs created with his various projects over the years. Armed with only a guitar and the help of Cursive multi-instrumentalist Megan Siebe, Green played a set that immediately had the room singing along. He was later joined by both Kasher and Grace to round out his band and the real joy was watching everyone onstage truly having the best time just being together.
With the homey atmosphere of Crescent Ballroom providing the perfect backdrop, The Carousel Tour was just an extended jam session (that even included a fan at one point during Green’s set). In an age where musicians are both more immediately accessible and yet still held at arm’s length, this show blurred the line between band and fans in a way that made everyone feel like old friends at a backyard show. Personally, we can’t wait to feel that way again.
Check out all the photos from the show!
Story and photos by Olivia Khiel