I’ll never forget the day I was introduced to The Rocket Summer’s first album Calendar Days. I was 14 and had become obsessed with “TV Family.” My love for this song became exhaustive to everyone around me, but to this day, it is still a favorite.

If my 9th grade year had a soundtrack, it would be this song. On repeat.

“I don’t know much but I know we will be
As happy as a 1950’s TV family
Except times infinity”

I have been a fan of Bryce Avery’s music for six years. Until last night, I had never been to one of his shows. I missed him at Warped Tour every year and I have missed every Seattle date since becoming a fan because of other commitments. Tonight, I became that 14-year-old all over again. I know I say this often, but tonight’s show was incredible. It was honestly one of the best shows that I have ever been to because it was so intimate and personal – just the way Bryce had wanted it. Bryce’s set was close to an hour and a half and ended with a six-song encore. The “His Instruments, Your Voices tour was focused largely on his fans. He told us that for the entire night our voices had better be louder than his – and as the night went on, that statement became true. Bryce arrived in Seattle with his instruments – as promised – but sans full band. He played it all himself – drums, harmonica, guitar, keyboard – sometimes even looping the instruments so that they could all be played at the same time without him behind them. His set featured songs from all five of his albums and at times, he even took requests for songs to play next from his fans. It would have been very difficult for Bryce to try and play every one of his fan’s favorite songs, but he definitely tried his hardest even if it meant playing a snippet of it or a medley of two or three songs. 

I think that the best part of the show, at least for me, was hearing some of the stories that Bryce had shared behind the songs before performing them. He made sure to take his time with the set and that is something that I appreciated. A lot of the bands I have seen in the past have been rushed and don’t make the effort or time to connect with their fans in the way that Bryce did. He had a strong stage presence and made sure that we all understood how much he was like us by crowd surfing over his fans, performing in a circle in the middle of the dance floor and sharing stories with us about his job at Starbucks before becoming the artist that he is today. By the end of the night, my legs had gone numb from standing in the venue, but I was able to take away this one-of-a-kind experience that I have never had before with any show that I have ever been to.

I may have missed his show for the past six years, but I’m glad that this was the show I attended.