This past August, I was working for a venue that Almost Monday passed through on their tour with The Driver Era, and I was able to catch a glimpse of their set. Even though I only got to hear half a song, I knew the band had a lot in store. I immediately followed their socials, hoping to see a post about an upcoming tour in my feed. When the band announced they were headlining a Nashville show, I immediately marked it on my calendar and anxiously awaited the date.
The show was at 3rd and Lindsley, a venue I had never had the chance to visit until this. The space is hard to describe — it feels like a dive bar, coffee shop and classic general admission venue all in one — but the vibes were immaculate. Fans had the option to sit down at a variety of tables or dance along to the songs at the barricade and be up close and personal with the two bands.
The show began with opener Chasing Tonya, a local band comprised of four Belmont students: Luke Davis, Aaron Tudon, Ryan Parrilli and James Gerrard. They sang their original songs, such as “Motormouth, “American Man” and “Morgan,” which they dedicated to a girl in the crowd who happened to be named Morgan. My favorite song the band performed was a stripped-down version of “Percy Warner,” an ode to Nashville’s Percy Warner Park.
As Almost Monday band members ran onto the stage, the crowd screamed with excitement. The trio, comprised of singer Dawson Daugherty, bassist Luke Fabry and guitarist Cole Clisby, was joined by Rafael Vidal on drums. The hour-long set began with their most recent release, “only wanna dance,” and continued with hits such as “parking lot view,” “come on come on” and “don’t say you’re ordinary.”
The show was even more special than anticipated because it was Daugherty’s birthday. Many fans in the front row already knew of his birthday before the show began and sported brightly colored birthday party hats. Additionally, various fans handed Dawson gifts throughout the show; one fan even gave him a giant card signed by many people in the crowd. In addition to the fans making it a memorable birthday for Daugherty, the tour manager ran out on stage midway through the show with a makeshift cake — a doughnut with a lit match stuck in it.
Daugherty noted that it was the band’s first time playing in Nashville and that the trio was ecstatic that people came to see them perform. Although the show had some technical difficulties, the band proved their professionalism as they handled the hurdles effortlessly.
In addition to their original hits, the band also performed a cover of “What I Like About You” by The Romantics midway through the set. Instantly, everyone in the room was up and dancing. They followed this cover with more originals to keep the energy going, including a new song, “life goes by.” The trio ended the show with the immaculate summer vibes of their songs “sun keeps on shining,” “sunburn” and “cough drops.”
Despite the drowning amounts of homework I had completed earlier in the day, Almost Monday certainly made me forget about the Sunday scaries during their show. I can’t wait to see them again next time they’re in Nashville.
