On a quiet street in Cudahy, a suburb of Milwaukee, sits an inconspicuous corner arcade bar. Walk up the steps through the front door, wind past the bar, pass a dozen refurbished arcade games, and head over to the small stage. There you’ll find the friendliest crowd awaiting a band hailing from Washington, DC called Sub-Radio, on the Past Lives tour with opener Moontown. 

Both bands are in the city playing a proper venue show for the first time, and the intimate crowd couldn’t be more excited. A person with handmade beaded friendship bracelets up and down their arms carries two things - a bag filled with even more friendship bracelets and a brush filled with glitter. As the crowd waits for the show to begin, the person distributes the friendship bracelets and asks each person if they’d like to be “consentually glitter bombed.” Many say yes, so they brush glitter on the hair, clothes, and faces of those who oblige. This is the most welcoming place to be on March 3, 2024.

Moontower, an indie pop trio from LA takes the stage. Lead vocalist Jacob Berger asks the crowd how many of them know who the group is to just a few hollers in response. Opening for a crowd where many don’t know you or your music can be a tough task, but Moontower was up for the challenge. From the get go, they came out strong, energetic and charismatic, striking the perfect balance of working the crowd, dancing on stage, and playing good music. A few songs into the set, the trio covered “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer which hooked the crowd into singing and dancing along. From there on out, the energy in the room grew as the song transitioned to the groups own “Who Knew,” which ended with a fun and funky guitar solo from guitarist Devan Welsh. The highlight of the show, however, was when the house lights were turned off and the phone lights came out during “Bury Me.” Berger gave a heartfelt monologue about the impact of this community on their lives and stressed the importance of reaching out to these people, these friends, when struggling because “these are the people that will be there for you.” While Moontower’s albums are solid indie-pop music, they’re best when listened to live. 

By now, the crowd had filled the small venue, and it was getting warm and sticky inside. The Friends theme song began to play, and Sub-Radio burst out on stage and played their newly released cover of “Ceilings” by Lizzy McAlpine to kick things off. Lead vocalist Adam Bradley, donning a sequin jacket, danced, jumped, and spun his way through the first few songs, working up quite a sweat. “First five rows,” he shouted, “youre in the sweat splash zone!” The crowd did not care. The group had the crowd in the palm of their hand, directing them when to crouch down, when to jump, and when to clap, and the crowd happily and enthusiastically obliged. The floor, at times, felt as if it were warping from the jumping, in danger of, quite literally, bringing down the house of this corner bar. 

Midway through the show, the group performed new, unreleased songs “Sleep on the Beach,” “Dimension,” and “I’m in Love.” A favorite moment of the night was when Bradley introduced “King of My Heart” by saying, “I’m a bisexual man, and I say that because…welcome to the gay part of the show.” He then explained that the next song “Cool” was about being who you are, coming out and being brave, and finding your own family and friends.

Before closing out the night, Bradley addressed the crowd one more time, noting that this part of the set is typically where an encore would be, but “encores are a waste of our time and your time, so we’re not going to do that.” Instead, they would play their “final” song and encourage the crowd to chant “one more song” afterwards to make it feel like a proper encore for a full concert experience, but they’d never leave the stage. So that’s what they did. They played “Flashback,” the crowd chanted “one more song,” and the group finished the show with popular hits “Caroline” and “1990something.” 

While you may know Sub-Radio from their social media, live streams, or remakes of popular songs like “Stacy’s Dad” that go semi-viral, it’s worth putting down the screens and seeing them live. Every song of the show could be described as pop candy. They group is a hit of endorphins straight to the brain.