Thee Sinseers Love Love and They Want You to Love It Too

When I rode the bus to this show, I accidentally sat on a slice of pickle. Like the ones I get extra of on my Chick-fil-a sandwich. So as you can imagine, I walked into this show in kind of a weird mood; I wanted to not be wearing pickle flavored culottes. I bring this up because when the show started, I immediately forgot about the incident. In fact, the music made me think of several things other than the pickle. It brought up memories and emotions that I wouldn't have ever thought to experience watching live music. These memories were incredibly clear, and visualizing them felt like I was wearing those spooky 360 immersive goggles. In the distant past, when attending slower more soulful live music shows, I tended to find my attention drifting. This was a different experience entirely. When that first note hit, it was an instant mental teleportation back to a time years ago when I was in the desert. It was like a soundtrack to a montage that played in my brain. And the song fit seamlessly into that memory like a long lost puzzle piece.

I began noticing that each song they played seemed to create its own memory. I kept wondering how they were able to make songs feel so familiar so quickly. A lot of that came from the intentional use of the brass section. The saxophones, trumpet, and trombone blended seamlessly - adding movement and energy without overpowering the rest of the arrangement. Every entrance of the horns seemed to shift the energy in the room. Female vocalist Adriana Flores added another layer to the band’s sound, balancing softer, more sensitive vocals with moments of real power. Her voice worked well against the instrumentation, giving a point contrast without taking away from their overall warmth. Joey Quiñones was an enticing figure on stage, particularly through his personality and lyrical delivery. Knowing that he personally wrote the songs made the performance feel more direct, and he maintained a smile from the beginning of the set to the end. There was an obvious enjoyment in watching him perform music that he knew had such an effect on the people listening to it. Throughout the show, I paid close attention to the crowd. It was clear that people had their own connections to the songs, whether through a particular lyric, melody, or memory. You could see it in the way people sang along and reacted to certain first notes played of their favorite songs. The music already had a life outside of the stage, but the show gave everyone a chance to bring those connections into a physical form.

In the middle of the show, the band picked up their instruments and joined the crowd. Not many artists do this, especially with the safety, accessibility, and technical logistics that come with taking an entire band off the stage. Impressively, Thee Sinseers made it work without the music losing any of its quality. Seeing them perform from within the crowd instead of above it changed the dynamic of the room and made the show feel much more interactive. Many people, of course, whipped out their phones to get pictures and videos, and it became slightly chaotic where I was standing as everyone tried to get the best shot (including myself). But it showed just how unusual the moment was. The audience was no longer simply watching the band from a distance but, they were suddenly standing with them, trying to capture a special treat during the performance that could only happen from within the crowd.

It was fitting that the band brought a newly married couple onto the stage to dance to one of their love songs as well. It was a pretty literal example of what these songs mean to people, with a couple celebrating their marriage while dancing to a song about love in front of a room full of people who were singing along. It certainly felt like a celebration.

Now, I bet you forgot about the pickle incident too. The whole night was a memorable one, and it reminded me why going into a show without knowing exactly what to expect can be worth it. You might not walk in listening to the genre or knowing every song, but there is a good chance you will leave with at least one new addition to your playlist and a better idea of why everyone there was singing along.