On one of the first Monday nights of fall, Pennsylvania’s finest, The Districts, performed a raucous set at Smith’s Olde Bar in Atlanta, GA that acted as a small taste of their forthcoming new album Great American Painting that’s due next February via Fat Possum. This string of dates was particularly memorable because the last Districts tour (in support of last year’s stunning and unfortunately COVID-buried You Know I’m Not Going Anywhere) was cut in half last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic; in fact, their last Atlanta date was one of the last shows we covered before the world shut down. The band, now a trio with a touring drummer after bassist Connor Jacobus left the band last year, is just as potent now as they were then with their intensity almost proving to be too much for the tiny venue they and the nearly sold-out crowd found themselves in on a Monday night. Whether they were playing old highlights like A Flourish and a Spoil‘s “4th and Roebling”, tearing through the thunderous wails of frontman Rob Grote on “If Before I Wake”, or previewing the impressive unreleased material that’s bound to top alt-rock radio when GAP comes out next year, they were simply on fire and seemingly in a race to prove that the year away has only made them better. In addition to The Districts’ fiery set, support act girlpuppy (who happens to be from Atlanta) put on a rather impressive set that should put other up-and-coming acts on notice. Playing through songs from her debut EP Swan, Becca Harvey and her band’s sound was incredibly tight-knit considering it was their first tour ever. Be on the lookout for girlpuppy’s star to rise as she makes her way around the country in support of this EP.
Check out our photo coverage of The Districts and girlpuppy below, and find tickets to the rest of their tour dates here.
The Districts:
girlpuppy
