REVIEW: Remember Sports, Joey Nebulous, Lost Dog @ ONCE Ballroom 4/8

By Reed Romanko

On April 8th, the ONCE Ballroom hosted Remember Sports, Joey Nebulous, and Lost Dog, each band bringing their own unique sound to the venue for a varied yet cohesive concert experience.

It’d been six months since I’d been to the ONCE Ballroom, and the difference in vibe was slight, but noticeable; I was one of five with “X”s drawn on my backhand, signs read “NO STAGE DIVING OR CROWDSURFING,” and the venue itself felt cleaner, mellower. The laid-backness lent itself to the artists there that night.

The vibe was very relaxed, so when Lost Dog started setting up, people continued with their conversations. Once they were ready to roll, lead singer Katya Malison played a single chord, which emanated from the speakers for what felt like minutes. A musical call to arms, the crowd worked their way onto the dance floor. Lost Dog opened with “The Routine,” which should be recorded soon. Once Lost Dog had the audience’s attention, they kept it. They followed with “Sally,” a single of theirs about bulimia.

Despite the visceral lyrics about puking down a shower drain, the band kept it light and breezy. Guitarist Emma Panullo and drummer Alix Kaplan raised their eyebrows and winked at each other, with some unheard cheeky banter said between them; they were having just as much fun as the audience.  Lost Dog then played “DFT,” a song off their soon-to-be released album Don’t Feel That. Malison noted that their next song, a cover of “No Aloha” by The Breeders, often draws comparison to the original artist, and the connection is definitely understandable. They closed the set with “Ronnie Got,” one of their most popular songs off of their first album, Precious Stuff.

Joey Nebulous’s attire helped greatly in the tonal transition from Lost Dog. Bassist Wilson Brehmer was adorned in Reindeer Antlers and a t-shirt reading “Happy Christmas.”  Keyboardist Margaret McCarthy and Drummer Logan Novak had a face full of stars and glitter. Lead Singer Joseph Farago was not only rocking glitter and stars, but also a sweet rainbow masquerade mask. Farago and friends started off the set with “Every Guy” and set the happy, easygoing mood.

McCarthy had bits before she entered on the keyboard, so she danced, bopped, and jammed when she free. Farago’s falsetto is truly astounding, and would leave most tenor choir boys quaking. When he sang these quirky yet relatable lyrics octaves above his natural register, he gestured with his hands in this charmingly choreographed way, as if he noted every time he had a free hand and chose to have fun with it. Novak and Brehmer didn’t get to dance like the keyboardists, but they were still clearly grooving along to the music.

Between their songs, Joey Nebulous kept it casual by talking about whatever. Farago gave a variety of comments, ranging from requesting Instagram followers @joeynebulous to quoting sayings of Novak, like “If I have a son, I’m gonna dress him like Oliver Twist.” I think knowing McCarthy said “This tour is about self-growth,” and quoting Cher’s tweet, “Ok, just sent 100 desks,” gives a great understanding of the vibe. Their time on stage flashed by, and this being their last leg of the tour, they thanked Remember Sports for bringing them along and hoped for the chance to tour with them again.

After much anticipation, Remember Sports finally took the stage around nine thirty. The quartet huddled around drummer Connor Perry’s drum set. Everyone got a high five to get hyped up, then they started off the set with “Tiny Planets,” the first song off their first album Sunchokes. The crowd exploded in applause, hoots, and hollers when the song ended, but Remember Sports without delay jumped straight into “Saturday” off of All of Something. Lead singer Carmen Perry would belt out the chorus, “Saturday,” and the audience screamed it with her. She gently said thanks into the mic, and again Remember Sports was off the races.

Their guitar strokes sounded unfamiliar, and the music sounded unlike anything Remember Sports had put out before. They were playing a brand new song, “Pinky Ring,” off their next album. While this new strumming of strings and thumping of drums threw me for a loop initially, once I grew accustomed to it, it seemed perfectly Remember Sports. Musically, there was gravity and weightiness to “Pinky Ring” which I had not found in previous songs of theirs. Once the audience was acclimated to the new sound, Remember Sports jumped into Slow Buzz, playing songs upbeat bangers like “1 Bad Man” and “Temporary Tattoo.”

The quartet dedicated the next song “You Can Have Alone Time When You’re Dead” to former band member and soon-to-be medical resident Benji Dossetter. Bassist Catherine Dwyer noted that the drums of the song sounded like his name (spaced Ben-ji Doss-et-ter) and played the song, much to the audience’s excitement. They continued with “Nothing’s Coming Out” and “Pull Through,” two slower, hard hitting songs off of Slow Buzz, before switching it up with fast-paced, upbeat fan favorite “Calling Out.” Here Remember Sports played another brand new song, “Easy,” which permeated that heavy feeling that their other new song, “Pinky Ring,” hammered home. They fittingly closed the show with “Unwell,” the final song on Slow Buzz.