Halocene @ Songbyrd Music House [DC] - 7/27/2022
Halocene at Songbyrd Music House in DC (Photo ©2022 Nick Piacente)
Fresh off of a negative COVID test, Halocene made their way through Songbyrd Music House in DC this past week, kicking off the beginning of their Summer 2022 HCU tour. Formed 14 years ago, Halocene cut their teeth opening for Blink 182 and Fall Out Boy among others. The group has carved out a space for themselves online, regularly live-streaming performances on Twitch, and delivering original content, covers and more via Patreon and YouTube. In a video posted to their Discord channel, lead vocalist Addie Nicole Amick credits an Uptown Funk cover as the genesis of a weekly upload ritual that grew a massive online following. Although Halocene has been posting content for years; there’s even a video of the band doing the Harlem Shake (for whoever remembers the trend). Arguably, this was great practice for what was going to become a nearly total shutdown of live music during the pandemic.
The band pressed pause on the live streams to kick off their ‘HCU’ tour, performing alongside Lauren Babic and David Michael Frank in DC. Unable to escape the relentless pandemic, a quick bout of COVID caused the first few shows to be postponed. After the necessary quarantine, the band was back at it and made pit stops in Richmond and DC before heading north to continue their tour’s east-coast leg.
Halocene’s set varied from their heavier originals like, “When Demons Come to Life” and, “Popular Monster,” to more classic covers of Queen and Bon Jovi. They put their own spin on Brittney Spears’ “Toxic,” and had a glorious entrance of special guest Lauren Babic to perform Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” David Michael Frank performed his soon-to-be released single, “Only One,” while a videographer recorded the performance as part of the song’s music video.
Two special guests, Elmo and ‘Little Bunny’, were present on stage (or crowd surfing). We found out that some band members brought their young children’s toys on tour to share the experience. David Michael Frank shared a facetime story with his infant daughter at home, and a ‘good morning’ message was sent to drummer Joe Polizzi’s baby daughter Amelia. A bittersweet reminder about the fun and excitement on tour with the start of a new chapter for many of these young parents.
Supporting Halocene tonight was Just Joe. Halocene’s new single ‘Repent’ is out now on all major streaming platforms.
