REVIEW: SUNROOM @ ROYALE 10/3

By: Sophia Bartlett

It’s no coincidence that temperatures in Boston reached 83 degrees on October 3rd when Sunroom was in town. The SoCal surf-rock band brought fun to the Royale on their second headlining show in Boston.

The energy was high immediately upon Sunroom’s walk up to the stage. While the show wasn’t sold out, it didn’t affect the crowd’s excitement for the show. Especially in the Royale, the show was highly intimate. The crowd was a sea of X-marked hands, with girls who had already raided the merch stand and guys dressed in their California-esque best. 

It was hard to tell if the crowd was more excited for the music or the members of Sunroom. And who can blame them: the band walked out in style, with Luke, the lead singer, in a brown leather jacket and scally cap. 

This was my third time seeing Sunroom perform: I saw them as opener acts for both Louis Tomlinson and Inhaler. At both shows, I distinctly remember Sunroom’s ability to capture the audience’s attention, bringing excitement to the show that continued into the headlining sets. I was excited to see the band perform a headlining show where the crowd was filled with their fans. At the same time, the show happened the day after I got back from traveling over the weekend for a music festival, leaving me exhausted. For the first time I can remember, I thought on Tuesday, “I would rather do anything but go to another concert tonight.” I made my way to the Royale, both excited for the show but dreading how tired I would be on Wednesday.

Arriving 15 minutes before the opener’s set, I snuck my way up to the second row behind the barricade on the right side of the stage. It was apparent that everyone I was surrounded by were huge fans, singing along to each song on the setlist. But, a couple of songs into the setlist, everyone’s attention diverted to the middle of the crowd. A small mosh formed, and someone in the crowd ended up in a crowd surf, with someone else on another fan’s shoulders at the same time. I decided to move: it might have been one of the only shows I’ve been to recently where I wanted to be in the thick of the crowd by choice.

Sunroom opened the show with “Just Yesterday” and followed up with “Crashed My Bike” and the then-unreleased “At Least I Tried” (The single was released on October 5th, two days after the Boston show). The band has a natural stage presence, immediately bringing high energy to the stage and obviously having fun.

The band played a decent amount of unreleased songs: only about half of the show consisted of released songs. This didn’t bother the crowd. Even if fans didn’t know all the words to every song, it was all about having fun. And, with Sunroom songs’ catchy beats and lyrics, it wasn’t too hard to catch onto the choruses eventually. I don’t know all of Sunroom’s discography, meaning I couldn’t differentiate between released and unreleased songs. You couldn’t tell from the crowd either; everyone was dancing around, enjoying themselves. It didn’t matter that hardly anyone was actively singing along to the band’s unreleased songs. Sunroom played all of their hits, including “Fun,” “Sol Del Sun,” and “Summer’s Here,” and dispersed them throughout the setlist.

The band expressed their love for Boston a few times during the show, with Luke commenting how it was only the band’s fourth time in Boston, but it felt like the sixth or seventh time in the city. The band joked about everything they love in Boston, including the Boston Tea Party, Boston cream pies, and lobster rolls.

At one point in the show, Luke had Max show off his ability to recite the alphabet backward. He did so flawlessly, with a slight pause, and a massive cheer erupted from the crowd. 

As Sunroom told me in my interview with the band before the show, they try replicating the energy at their house shows back in San Diego by having fun on stage.  The crowd couldn’t get enough of Sunroom, erupting in chants of “One more song!” before the band fully exited the stage before their encore. I left the venue with an energy I didn’t have when I walked in. I completely forgot how tired I was and felt utterly thrilled, proving the band’s ability to ensure everyone was having a good time during the show. I would go to another Sunroom show in a heartbeat, and I’m looking forward to the next time SoCal culture makes its way back to Boston.