Photo credit: Brianna Griepentrog
Though Milwaukee’s small, intimate show settings can occasionally be unattractive to some artists, the city’s warm embrace can frequently draw artists back again and again. Milwaukee is even harder to resist for bands that are a mere 90-minute commute away; depending on traffic, of course. Chicago garage rockers Twin Peaks have rolled into town countless times over the last few years, opening for acts like Spoon and Benjamin Booker and headlining their own shows. They made their return to the Turner Hall Ballroom on Saturday night, playing a show that was unlike any of their previous Milwaukee efforts.
Turner Hall is famed for bringing the latest and greatest indie bands to Milwaukee, but Twin Peaks are far from a new addition to Milwaukee’s show circuit. The venue was surprisingly jam-packed; even the balcony was filled with fans eager to catch a glimpse of the band’s set. Twin Peaks invited two local outfits to rile up the crowd before finally taking the stage. Fuzz rockers Platinum Boys and indie darlings Midwest Death Rattle played to a much bigger crowd than usual, and their obvious enthusiasm only encouraged the crowd’s ravenousness.
The noticeably large crowd wasn’t the only thing that made Saturday’s Twin Peaks show different from the others. The five-piece aren’t a “new” band by any means—they’ve been playing together since they were in high school nearly 10 years ago. Their long-term relationship was apparent, and they performed with a newfound sophistication even die-hard fans haven’t seen in the past. Though sloppiness and slack may be their signature style, their set was slicker and more refined than ever before.
The band’s music may not be completely indistinguishable from their garage-rock peers, but Twin Peaks’ on-stage dynamic is certainly unique. It’s easy for rock bands to fall into a trap where every song sounds the same, but Twin Peaks kept things interesting throughout the entire set. Three out of the five members shared singing responsibilities, and the switch-off offered some refreshment between tracks. Their chemistry is magnetic, too. It’s obvious they’ve been jamming together since they were going to prom and studying for the SATs.
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The five boys—err, men—still look like they’re in high school, and they and play with that same youthful energy. Band members performed with the swagger of a young Mick Jagger, bouncing around the stage in between goofy attempts at doing the splits. The crowd’s rambunctious physicality mirrored that of the band’s. As singer-guitarists Caiden James and Clay Frankel thrashed their electric instruments, adolescent crowd members climbed on stage and immediately dove back into the raucous mosh pit with huge grins on their faces.
Maturity was not only apparent during the band’s performances. Near the end of the set, one of their fans came on stage and proposed to his girlfriend in front of the audience with the help of the band—an adulthood milestone that illustrated how fans have grown up right alongside the group.
