Saint Motel and Echosmith deliver indie-pop dream line up

It was an electrifying Tuesday night in San Diego when Echosmith opened for Saint Motel at The Observatory in North Park.

The crowd buzzed with anticipation as they prepared for the indie-pop combination of dreams. 

As Echosmith took the stage, the three siblings launched into a high energy yet vulnerable collection of 2010s throwbacks, newer releases and even a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams”. For the band, this was the first of a trio of California nights spent with Saint Motel before the group embarked on its European tour in late September. 

Lead singer, Sydney Sierota related with the crowd, guiding through the set with anecdotes that matched the groups’ songs of being young, overshadowed and not able to fit in with the norm. Sprinkled throughout the show were the exhilarating, booming sounds of two floor tom drums, used by both Sydney and guitarist Noah Sierota, in echo and answer to Graham Sierota’s drum kit. With a 2022 revamped rendition of the ten-year-old hit “Cool Kids”, Echosmith ended its set with a crowd screaming the lyrics, perhaps remembering times of growing up and—as the triple-platinum song goes—wanting to be like the cool kids. 

When the time came for Saint Motel to come out, the crowd was prepped for another lively set of alt-pop sensations and the stage was primed for a night at the theater. Hailing from Los Angeles, the group was not too far from home when it took the stage for another night of The Award Show tour. 

Each of the musicians donned a gold velvet jacket and took up their position with their instruments. When lead singer A/J Jackson walked on in a red, rather than gold, velvet jacket and held his arms out in a gesture akin to an award show host, the crowd went wild and the night truly began. 

The band jumped through its discography throughout the night, beginning with “Van Horn” from the 2021 album The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.

In between certain songs, Jackson announced that the votes were in and a card was brought out with the name of a song that was voted on by fans.

He congratulated the nominees (the songs), had another band member read the winning title and then began the song written on the card. 

The members remained animated and interactive throughout the night, with Jackson even inviting the crowd to sing into the microphone. Each member commanded attention with their own stage presence, the trumpet and saxophone musicians bringing the extra jazz flair heard in so many of the band’s pop-rock anthems. 

After a roar from the crowd for an encore, the night ended explosively with two songs from the band’s 2014 EP, My Type EP, the final song being the group’s most successful number “My Type”.

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