Inhaler Rocks the House of Blues
All photos courtesy of Lewis Evans // @lewsvans
On Saturday, March 18, I joined the line outside the doors of the House of Blues in Boston. Well, technically I was closer to the bar on the corner of Lansdowne Street. I arrived at the venue at around 6 p.m.—an hour before the doors were supposed to be open—and there sat a line of excited fans wrapped around the corner of Fenway Park. The line was so long that doors actually opened a half hour earlier than planned. While waiting in line, I was approached by multiple people asking who was drawing such a crowd. “Inhaler,” was my response, and each time the band’s name was said out loud, the anticipation grew.
At 8 p.m., the So-Cal quartet, Sun Room, took the stage. With some floppy, 90’s hair-dos and a laid back surfer-bro charisma, they effortlessly won over the audience. Their indie surf rock sound was exactly what you would expect from the crew. The band played a total of twelve tunes, among which were, “Sunset Blvd,” “Summer’s Here,” and “Sunset Garage.” They sounded like someone had bottled the essence of a beach in their hometown of San Diego. Their feel-good songs and the boisterous attitude of lead singer, Luke Asgian, got the crowd jumping and bopping to the sound. After each song finished, Asgian would say a deadpan “Thank you,” into the microphone, eliciting lots of laughs. The group finished their set with their viral track, “Cadillac,” a fun stand-out that’s perfect for a hazy summer afternoon. The band gave a quick thank you to Inhaler for allowing them to join the tour and promptly exited the stage. Then, it was back to the waiting game.
At 9 p.m., the pre-show playlist cut out and the lights went black. Suddenly, a red back light and smoke appeared as Inhaler walked onstage to deafening screams from adoring fans and the song “Lujon” by Henry Mancini. The soft Irish twang of frontman Elijah Hewson rang out, “Are you ready, Boston?” The rest of the band played the opening of “These Are The Days,” the lead single off of their newest album, Cuts & Bruises. If you’re looking for a song to blast in your car with the windows down on a cool summer night, this is definitely the one. It has the perfect mix of devil-may-care lyrics and nostalgic instrumentals that make you feel like you have to live while you’re young. The band followed with “My Honest Face,” a hard rock tune from their debut album, It Won’t Always Be Like This, that makes you feel like a reckless teenager in a coming of age film. It felt like the venue had exploded during this song. Cowboy hats were being tossed around, everyone was jumping, and you could feel the kick of the drums in your chest. During the second chorus, Hewson handed it over to the crowd who scream-sang the lyrics like their lives depended on it. The atmosphere was nothing short of pure joy. The crowd and the band had a marked appreciation for each other, seen through the band’s cheeky banter and the crowd’s playfully teasing signs saying things like, “Bobby Skeetz got the beatz.”
The band’s setlist was the perfect blend of their first and second album, many of the songs being fan favorites. “So Far So Good” is a rich indie-rock song that really kicks in during its headbang-worthy chorus. The lyrics and rhythm of the song are so catchy it will be stuck in your head for days. The band then played the earworm, “Just To Keep You Satisfied,”the opening track off of Cuts and Bruises. The song’s mellow vibe mixed with Hewson’s effortlessly smooth vocals put the audience in a trance.. The band also decided to surprise the crowd by playing “The Things I Do,” which had not been played at their show in New York the previous night. The crowd knew all the words to the following song, “Love Will Get You There,” and at times, you couldn’t hear Elijah Hewson over the roar of fans. The jumpy bass line by bassist Robert Keating and staggered drumline from Ryan McMahon were just the tip of the iceberg. This already high energy got kicked up to eleven once the band began playing “Dublin in Ecstasy,” immediately after. You could tell that it was a song highly anticipated to be on the set-list, and it absolutely delivered. The lights strobed different shades of blue, and everything had a sexy, smokey vibe.
Inhaler finished with a track from their debut album entitled, “Cheer Up Baby.” There was a great sense of solidarity present during this song, and that makes sense given how meaningful the lyrics are. The song deals with the topic of mental health, with Hewson once stating in an interview with NME, “Lyrically, a lot of young people in these times are dealing with mental health issues and they can get stuck in their own heads. I think that’s what this song is, it’s loosely based on a conversation between two people and this specific lyric” .
The song hit hard for the audience, as the chorus let them know, “You’re not on your own.” Audience members sang along passionately, some of whom were crying happy tears. It was a beautiful way to end the show, and as the stage went dark and smoke clouded around the band, the loud chants of “ENCORE!” began to ripple throughout the venue. Well, ask and you shall receive. After two minutes of chanting, Inhaler returned to the stage for a two-song encore, consisting of “If You’re Gonna Break My Heart,” and “It Won’t Always Be Like This.” The former is a sentimental rock-love ballad that was synergistic with Hewson’s crooning, and the latter is an upbeat track with a catchy drum hook and optimistic lyrics following the theme of its title. Lights flashed red and blue over the band as they performed, which is the same color scheme as the album the track is off of. It made for a magical experience, feeling as if you were seeing the song alongside hearing it..
If you’re looking for a band that will get you up off your feet while still giving you that indie street cred, look no further than Inhaler. Not only do they have a collection of unique and nuanced songs, but they put in a ton of effort to make sure each show is just as amazing as the last one. They have a strong relationship with their fanbase—so strong that they asked their fans to bring cowboy hats to their show once, and now they have a whole collection of handmade hats from each state they’ve performed in. If you want to see some of these hats for yourself, you can check out their instagram @inhalerdublin. Inhaler’s newest album, Cuts and Bruises is out now on all streaming platforms and you can catch the band on their North American tour through April 5, or on their upcoming European tour.
