San Diego-based alternative indie trio almost monday (Dawson Daugherty, Cole Clisby, and Luke Fabry) recently brought their upbeat, infectious energy to a packed evening at New York City’s Gramercy Theatre. Prior to doors opening, almost monday hosted an intimate VIP section for fans who purchased upgrades. The VIP package included special perks, including a meet and greet, acoustic performance, and unique merchandise, such as a USB drive with unreleased music by the band. Once this section ended, fans in band merch and fish hats crowded both the pit and the seated sections, eagerly waiting for the concert to start.

The opener for the night was singer and actor Adrian Lyles, who brought the house down with great vocals and infectious high spirit. He was very well received by a crowd that cheered and danced through each of his songs. Adrian mentioned that this was his first ever tour, but his professionalism and ability to instantly connect with his crowd made absolutely no indication that he was in newer territory as an artist. One of the highlights of his set was a cover of Frank Ocean’s hit song “Pink + White,” which the audience enthusiastically sang along to. Adrian closed the set with “Somewhere To Go,” a love song that he wrote in just thirty minutes with a piano. He gracefully thanked the audience for listening to him play, and encouraged them to meet him at the merch booth before he and his band walked off stage.

When the lights dimmed a short while later, there was an instant shift in energy and fans started cheering as the band came onstage. Dawson walked out and immediately began jumping around and dancing, which was a fantastic way to open the set. The band played every song off their latest album, DIVE, including the title track and some deluxe ones that were released only a couple of weeks ago. They threw some oldies and fan favorites into the mix as well, including “sun keeps on shining” and “parking lot view.” When concluding their set, the trio thanked the audience for coming to the show and ended the night on “life goes by,” which was the perfect song to close with.

This was my first time seeing almost monday live, and I was definitely impressed. They sounded incredible and their songs translated very well from the studio to the stage, and it’s easy to understand why they have such a devoted fanbase. The band is on tour until March, and this is your sign to buy tickets for the show closest to you!