Recently I got the chance to check out a slew of awesome bands at Amityville Music Hall. On Thursday, March 8th, Accept the Wind was a supporting act for the tour of Sweet Ascent & Anson. Although six bands were on the bill, I am going to write a review for each band in order to have the flexibility to go in depth about each one instead of trying to keep it short. Each of the bands that played that night put their heart into their shows and put on memorable performances!
The first band I was able to watch was Accept the Wind, a Long Island native band hailing from Huntington, NY. Accept the Wind is a very new band. The band started off as a solo acoustic project and has now become a three piece band. I got to talking with Johnny Kingdom (vocals/guitar) and learned about how the band came to be. Johnny Kingdom started off his musical career in a metalcore band. Unfortunately for him (but fortunate for us), the band broke up. Within the same week, he also found out he was a victim of credit card fraud by one of his closest friends and his girlfriend broke up with him. He has deemed it his “week from hell.” To many people, this amount of tragedy in a week can be absolutely devestating. Johnny Kingdom didn’t let it stop him from pursuing his dreams and bounced back quickly.
As we continued talking, Johnny told me about an amazing opportunity that basically fell in his lap. While scrolling through instagram one day, Johnny saw that Aaron Gillespie of Underoath was looking to fill a time slot in his studio out in Salt Lake City. Johnny emailed Aaron about recording a few acoustic tracks and asked him to check out some video clips of Accept the Wind. To his surprise, Gillespie emailed him back saying that he would “really love to produce and record Johnny’s style.” Johnny flew out to Salt Lake City on January 24th, 2017 to record three songs while living in Aaron Gillespie’s studio for the week. Each track on the June EP features Gillespie playing drums and performing vocal harmonies. The songs were transformed from an all acoustic sound to sounding like a full band.
Accept the Wind started off their set with So Close. The instrumentals sounded great during the song, but they drowned out Johnny Kingdom’s vocals. It was very difficult to follow, as the song sound muffled. I was nervous that their entire set would follow suit but Accept the Wind recognized their sound issues. By the second song, the band sounded crystal clear and were rocking! The band followed up with Cigs & Cinnamon. They knew they had to compensate for their rocky start and show off their true talent if they wanted to keep the crowd engaged. Accept the Wind went full force for this song, ending with a killer jam session that had the crowd dancing along! Their performance of that song alone won the crowd over immediately.
Accept the Wind ended their set with the three songs from their EP, June. Seconds was the third song that the band performed. The song has a strong Dashboard Confessional vibe both through the instrumentals and the emotional lyrics. Seconds begins with a light guitar chord and drumming before it enters into the full sound of the band. The lyrics of this song are very deep and relatable for most people. Everyone goes through points in relationships where they are not saying exactly what is on their mind, leading to stress and uncertainty. “All alone and I’m wondering why, she won’t call me tonight. I know she won’t be by my side for just one night, one night. I’m out of time, should have said what’s been on my mind.”
Accept the Wind ended their set with Jag, followed by Surrender, two songs off of the June EP. Jag begins with an acoustic intro before it picks up into the full band. This song is slower and softer than what had been been played in the set already. Because this is a softer song, I was very surprised to see the band perform a jam session at the end of it. It added tremendously to the overall feel and allowed the band to show off their abilities. I especially love the guitar chords present on Jag. They are very simple and soft which makes it sound beautiful. Because of this, there is no doubt in my mind that Jag will become a favorite among fans as the band progresses and gains more and more of a fan base. Accept the Wind ended their set with Surrender, the first song on their June EP and my personal favorite song of theirs. This song goes back to the Dashboard Confessional sound that the band has mastered so well. This was the perfect song to end with, as it highlights the band’s preferred sound and allowed for each member to really let loose and have a good time!
Accept the Wind proved to the crowd that they are a serious and here to stay. Their energy on stage was exciting and it was obvious that each member was having fun. The band is currently writing new music and I for one cannot wait for it to be released. “We’re hyped about the new material we’re writing and can’t wait to record it this year – along with playing more shows; the first couple have been awesome AF.” Make sure that you follow Accept the Wind on their social media accounts to stay up to date with the evolution of the band, and check out their music on the blog’s Spotify playlist; After Hours Review!