Indie-rock quartet Vinyl Theatre will be making a stop in Gainesville on Saturday as part of its national Alter the Sound tour.
The Milwaukee-based band will be performing at High Dive, located at 210 SW Second Ave. Doors open at 9 p.m., and the show begins at 9:30. Tickets are available for $12 at the door or $10 in advance on ticketfly.com.
With it being the band’s first time performing in Gainesville, Pat Lavery, owner of Glory Days Presents, said he is excited to see a big indie band come to town. He added that he loves the band’s most popular single, “Breaking Up My Bones,” which fans will most likely hear at the show.
Showgoers can expect alternative rock with electronic elements, but their music also draws influence from pop. Their fun sound flaunts catchy beats and plenty of synths.
“We want everyone who comes to the show to have a good time, but also we want to show kind of our passion for how we play,” said drummer Nick Cesarz. “It is about having a good time; it’s just about what we really love to do.”
The band’s lineup consists of vocalist and guitarist Keegan Calmes, keyboardist Chris Senner, drummer Cesarz and bassist Josh Pothier.
From athletes to musicians, Calmes and Senner met at a high school cross country meet. Senner’s friends dared him to challenge Calmes, who was known as an extremely talented runner, to a race. After Senner lost, the two discovered they were both musicians and would later begin writing music together, laying the foundation for Vinyl Theatre, Cesarz said.
The story behind their name? They chose Vinyl Theatre because of what they feel the words mean.
“We like the idea of a theatric performance, as, you know like, to kind of show passion in our performances, you know, jump around, really get into it,” Cesarz said. “And the vinyl aspect is almost kind of like a bigger appreciation for your favorite bands.”
With most of today’s music being digital, you don’t have the connection you did when you bought a CD or a tape, Cesarz said. With vinyl making a comeback, that close connection to your favorite bands is being restored.
The band is currently signed to Fueled by Ramen, a major record label founded by two UF students in 1996.
“We also always love to have Fueled by Ramen acts at High Dive, since the label started in Gainesville,” Lavery said.
Cesarz said headlining this tour grants them the opportunity to do what they love, while allowing them to play longer sets for their fans.
“It’s really nice because since last September we’ve been an opening act, so we’ve been playing 25 minutes a night,” Cesarz said. “So now it’s nice to give our fans, you know, a little bit longer set time and get to hear a lot more songs.”
One last thing to expect from the band’s show: Come prepared to be a part of it.
“Expect a really fun, upbeat show. Prepare to go wild, pretty much,” Cesarz said. “There are a lot of moments in the show where we interact with the crowd and ask them to kind of do a couple things, so it’s very interactive.”
[A version of this story ran on page 9 on 7/9/15]
