What more could be said about the absolute meteoric rise of San Jose’s indie-rock, slowcore, space rock-revival legends Duster within the last 5 years? It seems like just yesterday the band played a show at Johnny Brenda’s in 2019 - a time when their monthly Spotify listeners hovered around the 200 thousand mark. After playing a rousing show at Union Transfer last year, the band is back in Philly again, this time taking the massive stage at Franklin Music Hall. This is the biggest tour of their career yet, and it’s no wonder that the band now boasts 5 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Ironically with shoegaze once being a genre declared “dead” many moons ago, it has been experiencing a revival in the past few years thanks in part to TikTok. Duster’s music has been especially viral, and understandably so, as their music is timeless and helped pioneer a new wave of indie rock as a whole in the late 1990s.
On a crisp October Friday evening, Duster took the stage at Franklin Music Hall, delivering a performance that felt both intimate and expansive. The band is continuing their huge trajectory, surprise releasing a brand new album called “In Dreams” back in August. Dirty Art Club took the stage first and served up his unique blend of downtempo instrumental loops layered atop psychedelic soundscapes. Not quite the indie rock band opening you would expect to open a Duster show, so it definitely brought about a different, club-like mood rather than the stoned, dreamy mood you would expect walking into a Duster show. As the lights dimmed and Duster took the stage, the audience was enveloped in a hazy soundscape, with the band opening their set with the classic song “The Twins/Romantica”. The atmospheric and spacey tones of Clay and Dove’s guitars interplaying together were melancholic yet beautiful. The lush guitar riffs and ethereal vocals mesmerized the crowd and had them swaying collectively, lost in the moment. The band also brought along songs from their newest record, “In Dreams”, like “Aqua Tofana” and “Starting to Fall”. Highlights of the night included fan favorites like “Orbitron,” and the interstellar sounds of "Inside Out," where the band’s signature sound truly shines. Each note felt deliberate, and at certain points of the set, it was so quiet in between songs you could hear a pin drop.
Overall, Duster’s show at Franklin Music Hall was a night to remember - songs from their newest album, “In Dreams” sounded really great live. For anyone who appreciates 90’s indie rock legends, this performance was a showcase of all the reasons why Duster remains a beloved and influential force in the genre. From the small stage to the big stage in only 5 years - there’s no limit to where Duster is headed next. Maybe even an arena someday if their trajectory continues to rise as meteorically as it has the past half a decade.
Duster
Dirty Art Club
