Cornerstone (Berkeley, CA)
09/18/24
This fall, Friday Pilots Club, a 5-piece band from Chicago, is touring their long-awaited debut album, Nowhere, across North America. Stopping for a night at Cornerstone in Berkeley, Friday Pilots Club brought their “Nowhere” tour to the intimate venue packed with their listeners. Having cultivated a reputation for electric live performances and a European leg of the tour already under their belt, the band was set to deliver and that they did.
The first part of the setlist was dominated by tracks from Nowhere, an album full of gritty rock with both the band’s signature as well as new sounds throughout. Opening the show with the album’s hard-hitting title track, the band immediately got the crowd’s blood pumping. Caleb Hinton’s vocals were searing, full of passion and depth, bassist Drew Polovick kept the groove locked in, guitarists James Kourafas and Sean Burke’s rhythm and melody work were sharp, and drummer Eric Doar provided the driving heartbeat of each song. Together, they created a wall of sound that felt both immersive and intense. Clearly having fun on stage, the band was jumping around, playing off of each other, and interacting with fans in the front. The crowd fed off of the band’s energy, and it was clear that the band was feeding right back off of the crowd’s enthusiasm. With ten of the album’s songs making it onto the setlist, and the other half of the setlist filled with fan favorites from the last six years of their discography, the crowd never lost momentum.
Playing through songs like “Vampire Disco,” the first single from Nowhere, the slower but powerful 2018 single, “Would You Mind,” and “End Of It,” their bass-driven 2017 single and earliest song available on streaming platforms – the crowd sang along to every word and never stopped moving. In two of the night’s most explosive moments, Hinton jumped into the crowd, joining the mosh and igniting the crowd even further – once during “IDWBS” and the second time at the end of the show during the final song of the night, “Gold And Bones.” It was a perfect balance of chaos and connection. After playing 20 songs, the stage went dark for a minute, only for Friday Pilots Club to return to the stage and rip through two encore songs to close out the show.
By the end of the night, it was clear why Friday Pilots Club has quickly gained their dedicated listeners. Their music, much like their live performance, is bold and unapologetic, filled with heart and grit. With Nowhere, Friday Pilots Club has crafted an album that translates beautifully to the stage. As their tour continues, they’re sure to leave a trail of newly converted fans behind them
