Photos by Caitlyn Williams

The Backfires’ This Is Not An Exit (This Is A Tour) landed the tour’s last leg on an unusually rainy night in San Diego. However, the Voodoo Room was not amiss with energy, as the tour brought along the buzz and dynamism of three new acts.

First up came Beach Chapel, which was a bit of a surprise to me and Caitlyn (shoutout to her for taking such amazing pictures), as we were expecting only one supporting act to perform. Hailing from San Diego’s beachy neighbor, Oceanside, they brought tons of energy and, surprisingly, humor, to their set. Snapping into action, they launched into their songs “Cardiff” (inspired by other SD neighbor Cardiff-By-The-Sea) and “Failure,” which got the pit swaying and singing along to the fun guitar riffs and drum breaks. While the lead vocalist Adam Lamah’s guitar strap broke, he took it well and continued to bound around the stage and demonstrate his extremely powerful belt-style vocalization. 

Their set continued into the migraine-inspired track “Lights.” (Not to complain about the audience, but the large group of late 50-something-year-old men in the middle of the floor clutching beers and deciding that this was social hour definitely made me feel like getting a migraine). After a joke about a fellow member not knowing that the “h” in “Thom York” was silent, they continued into a passionate cover of “High and Dry” by Radiohead. Beach Chapel’s set ended with “Honey,” and with some cheers, dancing, a 30-second span of Adam taking off a cymbal from the drum kit and pretending to chuck it into the audience, the audience was left in a humorous mood and ready to take on the next opener, mercury.

While I often stay objective in my reviews, I do have to make a bit of an exception this time, as to me, mercury was the unexpected gem of the night. Going into this show, my expectations were not low, exactly, but neutral, as I had not really given much of each of the bands a prior listen (y’know, to stay objective). 

However, the moment I saw mercury walk out on stage with a double bass, I knew I was in for something special. And special it was, as mercury started off their performance with an acoustic version of their track “Born In Early May”. Usually packed full of growly and distorted electric guitars, this version was intentionally left more bare, stripping back the cloak of anger and letting the melancholic hope seep in. The rest of mercury’s set was acoustic, and while some might consider these versions simpler than their studio-recorded counterparts, I argue that the intention was to let the vocals and the lyrics breathe, which main singer Maddie Kerr stunningly executed. Maddie’s vocals were breathy yet flowingly melancholic, which Justin Blanner and Chris Peranich on the guitar and Baily Johnstone on the bass accompanied beautifully as they continued on into plunky yet pain-stakingly piercing track “Crick”, and newly-released “The Fly.”

Maddie took a moment to speak with the audience about how special it was to tour with The Backfires and to have the chance to perform mercury’s songs acoustically, mentioning that by doing so, it’s a way for them to bring the tracks back to where they came from and honor them. As a lead in to their next track, Maddie shares that they were notified of a lyrical mishap on Spotify, as even though they submitted the lyrics for their songs themselves, instead of “crack my back, shouldn’t that solve all my problems,” the first lines of track “Faster” were swapped out for “crack my butt throw it back and solve all of my problems,” which received a wave of laughs and applause as they continued into the track. “Faster” was a showcase of the Nashville-based band’s lilting harmonies, as each voice settled between the other’s in a way that the shoe-gazey studio recordings could never beat. 

There seemed to be a Radiohead-centric theme for the night, as mercury expressed that while they usually do a cover of Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses,” they decided to change it up after practicing in the green room. I don’t think I have ever experienced such pure joy and excitement until that moment, as mercury decided to give the Voodoo Room an absolutely stunning rendition of “Weird Fishes.” Those who know me well know that I hold that song close to my heart, and mercury made it their own, giving it a slightly bluegrassier finish paired with vocals that were somehow more pensive and mournful than the original. mercury was nothing but down-to-earth and bare with their cover, and sprinkling in the slight murmur of the crowd, made the moment just that much more special. 

However, there is a difference between a whisper and ignorance, as it was baffling to me how a majority of the crowd was able to full-on talk over such an incredibly talented and meaningful set. I have noted this a couple times already in reviews (see Horizon Day 2 here) and in my own daily conversations with fellow concert-goers, but there seems to be an increasing lack of respect during live shows. As a reviewer, believe me, I understand that some music is simply not up to people’s speed, however, live performers should still receive the basic decency of attention, especially as you, dear audience, have paid for the ticket. I have had multiple similar experiences at venues specifically in San Diego with various performers, and I am not surprised if some of them choose to not come back. 

Other than that, the last two tracks that mercury performed were nothing less than stellar, as “Special” lived up to its name, and after thanking The Backfires and everyone who came early, they closed out their set with a thematically wistful yet sparkling rendition of “I Don’t Know You Like I Used To”. 

As one who pays attention to the tracks that live within pre-show playlists, my curiosity for The Backfires piqued when “Favorite” by Fontaines D.C. crackled its way through the overhead speakers of the Voodoo Room. Sometimes artists like to queue up specific songs before their shows for shits-n-gigs (I once heard “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus), however, this pick felt purposeful, as it was aligned with the alt-rock genre that I had surmised what The Backfires represented. 

That curiosity rose as The Backfires climbed onto the stage, sporting various styles and moods. Lead singer Alex Gomez rocked (no pun intended) a mod cut that echoed Oasis’ Gallagher brothers, and as they dove into the track “Matador”, it was evident that they took inspiration from the Britpop legends. However, alternative rock lives at their core, as The Backfires were immediately able to snap attention from a not-so-easily impressed crowd. Playing all of the songs from their debut album, tracks “Brighter Lights,” “Figure It Out,” “Joyride,” and “Turn Off The Lights” had both dedicated fans and casual listeners up and moving, jumping up and down to “just kiss me from my feet up to my neck but first just turn off the lights”. 

While The Backfires emulated the drawn out vocals of Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner (name twins funnily enough) and the twangy instrumentals of the Strokes, if I were to make on critique, it would be that the stylized vocal compromised comprehension, as it was difficult to catch what exactly the lyrics were a good portion of the time. Fortunately, the aloofness that unfortunately comes side-by-side with alternative musicians was nowhere to be found. Bearing jokes and smiles, Alex Gomez swapped quips, remarks, and accents with lead guitarist Harry Ruprecht, as newcomers quickly realized that half of the band hailed from overseas. Aptly mentioning his London homesickness, Harry and Alex apologize for bringing the rain and gloom to San Diego, and talk about their excitement for visiting SD, as the only time they had been was last year October, at UCSD’s The Loft! After shouting out audio engineer Diego (UCSD alum, friend of KSDT, bassist of Still Mardel, the list goes on), The Backfires continued the high energy, with standout tracks “I Know You Know,” “Preoccupied,” and “Aphrodite” getting the crowd to form a mosh pit and thrash around. 

The night closed out in a flash, with The Backfires shouting out Froxtide, their openers from the first leg of the tour (who were in the audience), and taking title track “This Is Not An Exit,” and “Dressed For A Funeral” as moments to mellow out and reflect. “Blindsided” was The Backfires’ yearning for a past heartache, however, the audience didn’t let the yearning or the outside rain stop them from pouring every last ounce of energy they had left and dancing to the last guitar break.

More from The Backfires:

Instagram | YouTube | LinkTree