As indie-rock band Diners continues to build a presence in the downtown music scene, The Trunk Space will be helping the musicians kick off their latest tour on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The show will be the first of 16 along Arizona and the West Coast.
Though the show will feature some new songs, fans can expect a large amount of familiar favorites to celebrate in a friendly environment.
“It’s very celebratory with very high spirits,” Diners frontman Tyler Broderick said. “I think it’s a very good-hearted and good-spirited show. All the bands are really fun and extremely nice people. There’s no pretension anywhere.”
Broderick predicts the Diners tour to be a bigger and greater experience than any they have had in the past.
“Every single tour that we’ve done on the West Coast has been better and better,” Broderick said. “We see a lot of the same faces coming out, and there’s usually a bigger audience. It feels like every time that we go on tour, we’re just so welcomed every single time.”
To help celebrate the beginning of the tour, which spans from Phoenix to Seattle, New York City band Real Life Buildings will be joining the lineup.
“They just happen to be passing through, and they just happen to be one of my favorite bands, so I was really excited about that,” Broderick said.
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Diners will also be joined by Trunk Space regulars Molly & The Molluscs and Friends With Cars. The placement of the latter band — a teenage ukulele duo — in the lineup exemplifies Broderick’s desire to help younger bands aiming to expand the breadth of their music, according to the singer.
“When I started playing in shows with my high-school band, I always wanted to play the shows with older bands, just because I was tired of playing shows with other high-school bands,” Broderick said. “As somebody that’s not in high school anymore, I always try to reach out to younger people just to be encouraging.”
Most clearly indicative of Diners’ success in increasing its fan base is its upcoming full-length album, “III.” The album will be released in the winter on Asian Man Records, a California-based label that has worked with widely recognized bands, including Andrew Jackson Jihad.
“The full-length we’re working on is the best album that we have,” Broderick said. “It’s just jam-packed with our best songs, with some of our best arrangements. They’re songs that I’m most proud of.”
Even before the album comes out, fans can look forward to the release of Diners’ latest EP, “It’s All True.” While the physical 7-inch will not be available until after the tour, the band will offer pre-orders with download codes for a digital copy.
In addition to his excitement for playing with friends outside of Arizona — Broderick joked he is “excited to eat burritos with them” — the vocalist said he wants fans and fellow musicians to gain an experience.
“I would just hope that they’re really excited for us to spread the work that Phoenix is a great place and that they leave excited,” Broderick said. “I would hope that it lets other musicians realize that going on tour is really easy and that anybody can do it, so they might as well set up a tour. I would hope that young musicians feel inspired.”
Diners will be closing the tour back at the Trunk Space on Sept. 16, alongside Seattle group Pitschouse.
Contact the columnist at Emily.Liu@asu.edu
