LIVE: Coast Modern Brings Diverse Songs and Social Experiments on Their First Headline Run
Los Angeles friends Coleman Trapp and Luke Atlas, better known as Coast Modern, took over Chicago’s Bottom Lounge on Monday night as part of their first headlining tour. The two have been making waves over the years with their catchy, indie pop tunes...which have even caught the attention of the legendary Smashmouth and Kate Hudson. They’ve toured in the past with bands like The Wombats, Temper Trap, Sundara Karma, and more, but this time around they’ve stepped up their show.
To celebrate their biggest tour yet and their self-titled debut album being released this Summer, the pair incorporated some fun activities and social experiments between songs. One of the activities included having the crowd all say their name at the same time on Coleman's count of three, and another time he asked the crowd to introduce themselves to the people around them that they didn't know.
After performing some of their popular songs like "Guru" and "Pockets Full of No," which got the crowd grooving, Coleman also asked the crowd to all think about a thing they desired and yell that on the count of three. One of the coolest activities, though, which was amplified by Coleman and Luke's incredible live band, was when Coleman had the whole crowd close their eyes and imagine they were in an Amazon Rainforest. Meanwhile, the band played some sound effects to enhance the imaginative activity. Coast Modern's 18-track debut album proves that Coleman and Luke are skilled musicians, with a broad range of tones and moods that sit all over the sonic field, but these between-songs engaging moments proved that Coast Modern have also become performers over the years, in addition to their developed musical talents.
Other highlights of the hour-long set included the band's cover of Julia Michael's song "Uh Huh" and their own song "Comb My Hair" towards the end of the set, which had the crowd animatedly singing along still. The personable and authentic show ended just after 9PM to a thundering of applause. If you missed out on the incredible show, check out our photo gallery of the evening, including some behind the scenes shots before the show!