As a serial music festival attendee, I can attest that one of the best things about immersing oneself in three days of live music is the opportunity to discover acts that you weren’t previously aware of. In the spring of 2019, under the shade of oak trees in Atlanta’s Central Park, I sat down at the Shaky Knees festival’s smallest stage to rest my legs and take a break from the sweltering May heat and found myself greeted by the warm, jangly sounds of a young Canadian band with an abundance of earworm guitar licks.
I became a fast fan of Peach Pit thanks to that set, and because of the strength of its early songs, and perhaps as a result of that introduction, I’ve long considered the group to be one that was simply coasting on the love for its debut LP. On Thursday night, that same Vancouver group returned to Fort Lauderdale’s Revolution Live nearly three years after its first visit and proved me wrong.
Though the show seemed to be undersold, taking place inside despite being planned for the venue’s larger outdoor stage The Backyard, it still drew a respectable crowd—albeit one that may have been too young to fully appreciate the many Runescape references in the marketing for the band’s ongoing “Fall Quest.”
Having seen Peach Pit a few times before—twice at festivals along with the aforementioned 2022 gig at Revolution—I was struck by a clear level up in the group’s live show that found its five members playing to their strengths, both as performers and in cultivating a set list that made for 90 jaunty minutes with hardly any filler.
Lead guitarist Christopher Vanderkooy has always been the focal point of the group’s live show from an energy standpoint, but each of the other four musicians seems to have grown into their role nicely over the years as well. Small bits of choreography were incorporated throughout the night, from interplay between guitarists during solos to a freeze-frame moment during one song’s extended rest, and lots of deeply dorky dancing was on display in a way that was endearing rather than cringe-inducing. From frontman Neil Smith stomping along to the tempo to multi-instrumentalist Dougal McLean bouncing between pedal steel, guitar and violin, there was always something to draw one’s eye.
Another welcome inclusion was lots of nodding to classic rock pastiche, from a set-opening cover of Black Sabbath’s classic “War Pigs” to the lead guitarist’s employment of a double-neck guitar later in the set. The group also made time for a salute to the ill-fated British duo Her’s with a cover of “What Once Was,” a lovely little track that became a surprise streaming hit, which fit into the set nicely and elicited a strong reaction from those in the crowd who were well versed in 21st-century indie rock.
After a well-balanced set that worked in nearly every one of the band’s biggest songs and fan favorites, the encore began with an extended story from Smith about the band’s origins that led nicely into a solo-acoustic rendition of the track “Peach Pit” before wrapping up with “Tommy’s Party,” which is still perhaps the song that best distills the group’s strengths into a single package.
On the way to the show, a friend and I discussed the type of movies that are enduring classics because of their endless rewatchability on cable TV—the ones that you flip to on a Sunday afternoon and reliably watch until the credits roll. After this show wrapped up on a balmy Wednesday night in Fort Lauderdale, I couldn’t help but think that Peach Pit fits that same mold as well. They may not be a band that many of us will go out of our way for, but their particular brand of indie rock is comfortable, always pleasant, and seems to just get better with repeat viewings.
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