Toronto-based indie-pop band Valley performed a sold-out show at Rebel Lounge in Phoenix on March 1, 2022. (Photo by Michael Nguyen/Downtown Devil)
With vaccine cards and COVID-19 test results in hand, a line of eager concert-goers wrapped around Rebel Lounge to see a highly anticipated, sold-out show on March 1. After announcing its tour in November, Toronto indie-pop band Valley finally arrived in Phoenix.
The concert was part of its 18-show U.S. tour that kicked off in mid-February. The tour name, “I’ll Be With You,” is a lyric line from the song “Last Birthday” off of its latest EP, “The After Party.” This song was “truly the anchor of this era and tied up the emotion and the intent of this chapter of our lives as humans and being in a band,” the band said in a commentary audio clip.
Valley said though it won’t be here forever — in the context of death, the band members find comfort in that their music will live on forever and with the fans — whether it’s at the airport, after a shitty date or at the baggage claim (lyrics from the song).
After opening with American singer-songwriter and American Idol alum Catie Turner, the band played the source of the tour’s namesake, “Last Birthday.”
Overall, lead vocalist Rob Laska, guitarist Michael “Mickey” Brandolino, bassist Alex Dimauro and drummer Karah James put on a stellar show that wowed fans. Sophie Berger, a recent graduate, was among those standing in the front row throughout the concert.
“I’ve been a fan since 2016,” Berger said. “I’m really excited for ‘There’s Still a Light in the House,’ it came out during COVID and that’s all I really listened to.”
The concert brought together long-time fans and new listeners. Brandt Callahan came with his friend Josh Hamilton, who’s relatively new to the band. Hamilton said he’s looking forward to the experience and that it “feels good to be back at a concert.”
Callahan finds commonality with his sisters through Valley.
“We all grew up together but we weren’t like super close and our music tastes are different but we find common ground in this band so it’s nice.” The song “hiccup” is Callahan’s favorite song on the album.
After the concert, Taylor Carstarphen and friend Bolu Osibamiro were standing outside the venue.
“That [the concert] was really good, it’s probably one of the best concerts I’ve been to — in Phoenix anyway,” Carstarphen, an ASU student majoring in data science, said. She’s said been a fan for three years.
“I really enjoyed listening to ‘7 Stories,’” she said. “I like that song when it’s live because it’s really intimate with the crowd, and there were like no phones out, everything was listening to them sing so it was a really good moment.”
Laska explained that part of his song, the chorus specifically, was written by Mickey during high school. During the breakup ballad, only a few people sang along while many stood in awe watching them perform, waving their phone lights above them.
The concert had fans reminiscing about their first listens and favorite memories of Valley.
“The song ‘Light In The House’ (sic) is what got me into the band in the first place,” Osibamiro, an ASU student studying political science, said. “I really like the song.”
Ben Gezman came to the concert with his friends, and has been a fan for 2 years. He first saw Valley when the band was an opener for another concert in Phoenix.
“They opened for another band that I saw, and I started listening to them [Valley] after the concert,” Gezman said. “It was so great, [the concert] was small and it was the time I saw them as the main band so that was really nice.”
Gezman was looking forward to hearing the song “SOCIETY” during the concert because he says it’s “catchy.”
On the same day of its Phoenix show, the band was announced one of the winners of the “2022 Group of the Year” presented by the JUNO Awards. This award is given to Canadian artists for their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of their music.
Valley is expected to perform in 9 other cities after Phoenix in its U.S. tour, finishing with Minneapolis, Minnesota, on March 16.
Contact reporter Yoori Han at yhan99@asu.edu and photographer Michael Nguyen at mnguye54@asu.edu.
