Concert - Stages and Stereos Acoustic Show

If you follow this blog then you should already know about Stages and Stereos. This fall is shaping up to be a great season for them with their latest single, “Small Town Favorites” dropping a few weeks ago. In case you couldn’t guess, I already love it. They also got picked up as the opener on the Glamour Kills tour with some other names you might know: Mayday Parade, Cartel, and Man Overboard.

The new EP of the same name, Small Town Favorites, drops on September 24, aka this Tuesday! I’ll be out of town when it drops, but I’m looking forward to downloading it the moment I get back. If the first tune was any indicator of what the rest of the album might be, it’s going to be great.

Stages recently came through town to play an intimate acoustic set while supporting Brooks from Mayday Parade’s side project Truth and Consequences. Despite it being an acoustic show, the full band was there, including surprise guest Alex Reed from Go Radio supporting on vocals and keys. Rumor has it he’ll also be touring with the guys this fall on the Glamour Kills Tour, filling in the spot left by former band member Austin’s departure, but for now we know he’s supporting the album release show on Saturday (9/21) in Tallahassee.

The venue they played, Swayze’s, is the north end of town’s version of The Seven. A bit of a trek and an odd place stuck in a strip mall, it’s not a bad venue though with decent acoustics and there’s not a bad spot in the place. It’s also all ages, specifically geared towards the local youth (like The Seven).

The re-vamping of old songs was something else entirely. Going acoustic is nothing new to the Stages guys. We’ve heard what they can do on their acoustic EP, but this particular set took it to a different level. The intimacy of the venue and tone of the show made it feel as if you were loitering around a living room at a house party, listening to your friends jam a little instead of standing in front of a stage. We got a nice surprise when they played a stripped down and jazzy version of “1990”, one of the other songs off the Small Town Favorites EP. Getting the acoustic sample just made me all the more eager to hear the studio version.

I’m pumped to see them again in a month when they roll through town again supporting Mayday Parade (remember, Glamor Kills), but there’s also that bittersweet feeling that this might be the last small venue, intimate show we get from them, so I’m cherishing it. Until then, I’ll be spending my time memorizing the new EP so I can sing along without missing a beat.

Posted in: concerts, music, stages and stereos