“Not bad for a Tuesday night,” Colony House’s Caleb Chapman remarked as he looked out at the audience who had assembled in Phoenix for the 77 Tour. Indeed, there was a right-sized crowd at The Van Buren — not so many that you couldn’t dance along to some of the best indie tracks of the last decade, but plenty of fans (multiple generations, actually) who exuded plenty of energy.
It’s no surprise, then, that they gave opening act mercury such a warm welcome. Maddie Kerr’s Nashville-based project has garnered attention from Ones to Watch, Nylon, and curators of up-and-coming playlists on both Spotify and Apple Music alike for her ethereal vocals and grungy shoegaze. Each track builds into a whopping crescendo, and it’s best experienced live when the full band starts quiet, pulling listeners in, before unleashing a wall of sound.
Colony House are certainly big believers in mercury, and their enthusiasm is infectious. It feels like not too long ago, they were the ones who were on the cusp of their breakout, and now they’re paying it forward.
In reality, though, that breakout was 12 years ago, and it’s a lot of the same people who are still showing up to hear setlist staples like “Silhouettes,” “You & I,” and “Waiting for My Time to Come.” But there was so much excitement for the new music, too — opening track “77” and “Taking a Fall” got a lot of love, and we listened intently to the stories of “Hummingbird” and “You’re Right Where You’re Meant to Be.” Everyone was really, truly, just happy to be there, and there was warmth that had nothing to do with the Phoenix sun.
Sensing this, the band promised they’ll keep coming back as long as we want them to, and they cleverly left us with the lyric, “We’ll be back before you know (you knooowww) it.”
