Dr. Rock's Music Adventures: Capital Cities with Cherub and Night Terrors of 1927 at the Newport Music Hall, November 5th, 2014

"Safe and Sound" by Capital Cities has been part of our nation's soundtrack the last 18 months. I love this song. I saw Capital Cities at the A+R Music Bar last year, heard them across the way at Sweetlife Festival 2014, and was lucky enough to see them again this time at the Newport.
VENUE: They had the balcony closed this performance. The Newport has the stage size, the room to dance, and the acoustics to let this show shine.
OPENER #1: I had not heard of Night Terrors of 1927 but enjoyed this 5-piece's performance. Good alternative band featuring Jarrod Gorbel on vocals and Blake Sennet (of Rilo Kiley) on guitars. I look forward to hearing more from the band. Interesting cover of "Talking In Your Sleep" by the Romantics (of "What I Like About You" fame).
OPENER #2: Somehow I missed seeing ahead of time that CHERUB was going to open. I have enjoyed their song "Doses and Mimosas" this year but did not realize until they came out it was them opening for Capital Cities. This two person electro-pop duo have quite the live show with Jordan and Jason playing guitar, bass, and sharing vocals. They are accompanied by recorded tracks and dance, move, and jump all over the stage. They put on a very contagious show -- very likable and you feel the groove pulling you into the performance. A cover of Calvin Harris' "Fell So Close" really got the crowd jumping. These guys seem to have a bright future ahead of them.
HEADLINER: Capital Cities was touring with a bassist, guitarist, trumpeter last time. Now Sebu and Ryan still have some recorded tracks playing along, but their sound is fuller now with a live drummer. Ryan sang and played guitar, Sebu sang and played keyboards, Spencer Ludwig continues on horns, Manny Quintero played a funky solid bass, and Channing Holmes kept the groove solid all night on drums.
The band continues to put on a great, fun show. Some funky alternative dance music does not translate well to the live stage, but Capital Cities have a lot of fun on stage and the crowd clearly enjoys their show. They played all their best songs and performed them well -- better, I would say, than last year. The time touring has sharpened this band's skills. A funky cover of "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees was fun. Overall, a terrific performance.
MERCH: All three bands had merch available. I bought the Capital Cities CD and Sebu, Ryan, and Spencer signed the cover. Jason of CHERUB signed the CD booklet after I bought their CD. Both CDs: $10.
My rating for the show: 4 out of 5 stars. Very happy I attended this show!
The photos below were taken by myself at the show with a Canon Powershot G16.