On November 18th, 2021, I attended The Driver Era’s “Girlfriend Tour” in Cleveland. I was extremely excited to go, literally ask anyone I know and they’ll tell you that I would not shut up about the fact that I would be seeing Rocky and Ross Lynch perform live.
On top of the amazing show The Driver Era put on, (which consisted of an amazing set list that had so many songs) they also had two amazing openers, The Wrecks and Moontower, which each performed around five songs.
Moontower’s performance was amazing. I had never even heard of them before the show, but they performed so well and their songs were so good that somehow I was able to sing at least the chorus by the time they were done with each song! It was the best opening act I have ever seen.
After the concert, Moontower still really stuck with me, which hasn’t really happened to me with openers before. Usually, I vaguely remember the opener, but the main thing I can focus on the day after was the headliner.
While I was obviously still recovering from the fact that I saw Rocky and Ross live (and that I had interactions with both of them) I was also still raving about Moontower’s performance to my friends. I immediately went onto their Spotify the next day and went on a deep dive through all their albums trying to find the ones that they had performed.
Moontower consists of three members: Jacob Berger (guitar/vocals), Tom Carpenter (bass) and Devan Welsh (guitar/keyboards). They were formed at the University of Southern California in 2018.
The band name “Moontower” was chosen as a reference to the 1993 film, Dazed and Confused and implies the inclusive community they sought to establish in their fanbase, according to Wikipedia.
A fun fact I felt I needed to share after looking into Moontower more is that the band has been deeply engaged as leaders in the fight for gun control, according to their website. They have mobilized their diverse and engaged fanbase to raise thousands for the cause.
I personally really appreciate that they are using their fame as a band to achieve something they are passionate about and want to fight for.
On top of touring with The Driver Era, Moontower has also toured with some other bands you may have heard of such as COIN (which I’m seeing next week!), Night Riots, YUNGBLUD, Bad Suns and Cold War Kids.
My favorite song that they performed was “Rerun,” which was released as an EP in 2020. The vibes are honestly everything I look for in a favorite song. The chorus is catchy and very easy to remember. The actual song is also just amazing. I’m not very good at describing music, but this song has just really stuck with me for a multitude of reasons.
From what I have already noticed, Moontower cares so much about communicating with their fans. They are extremely active on social media, always posting what show is next and even some clips of The Wrecks or The Driver Era.
They also very actively respond to their DMs from what I’ve experienced personally. After the tour, my friends and I decided to DM all the bands that had played and ask them a question.
The lead singer, Jacob Berger, was wearing a skirt at the show that my friends and I all LOVED. So we decided we would ask them where they got their skirt, he responded less than a day later and we were all shocked. I’ve rarely had a band I listen to actually respond to my DM, so that honestly made me like them 10x more.
Overall, I just wanted to take this opportunity to hopefully find Moontower as I did and find a new favorite band. Music is honestly one of my favorite things to connect with, so I hope you all enjoyed this!