'Twas a cold, rainy night, but Atlanta locals were packed inside Variety Playhouse hiding from the dreary weather and waiting to see Chicago indie heroes Twin Peaks. Even some non-locals were in the building; my friends from Tampa band Charles Irwin had driven up to join the party, and at one point I found myself speaking to a college student from Rhode Island who'd skipped an exam and made the 16-hour pilgrimage. I'd never had the pleasure of seeing Twin Peaks play, but it quickly became apparent that there's a reason some folks will come from so far for them.





No big, elaborate introduction was anywhere to be found. These gentlemen took the simple, classic, tried-and-true approach of walking on, picking up the instruments, and starting to play. The moment they did, the standing floor was immediately in motion as they began on a strong note with fan favorites like "Making Breakfast" and "My Boys". Over the course of the set, four of the five members tossed lead vocal duty back and forth between one another like a football.





At times, the rowdiness of the crowd might have been a lot to handle; a roadie for the band began to catch crowd surfers when they landed on the stage, and walk them off the side.



Jack Dolan joked, "When you see somebody go off that way, I promise they're not taking them to the dungeon. They're just bringing them back out there."





Clay Frankel added, "Nah, they're going to the dungeon! You'll never see them again!"





Following the brief banter, they launched into Down In Heaven opener "Walk to the One You Love", and I found myself thrown into quite the pit. I didn't mind. This was already shaping up to be among the most fun shows I'd ever attended. P erhaps the height of the evening's fun came with "Dance Through It" , a cut from the band's newest record Lookout Low , during which the floor opened up into a wide circle, and folks quite literally danced through it .





Of course, I was also more than stoked to hear "Wanted You" and "Butterfly", the two tracks which really got me into this band to start with, and were played back-to-back. How perfect is that? The night ended on the note of the rambunctious "Oh Mama" , complemented by a loud-and-proud audience singalong.





Before taking the stage, Twin Peaks ceded the spotlight to two opening acts, Lala Lala and OHMME, both of which are also from Chicago. Each brought their own distinctive style and presence to the stage, with the former even inviting out Twin Peaks members for some duets.



















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