Frontman/Founding Member Davey Fortner

Beginning with the opening track off their debut album Throw Up Your Hands for One Night Stands, Freshman 15 played a short, but enthusiastic set at Chinatown’s Santos Party House. The floor was dotted with young fans (and a few 21+s in wristbands) who had arrived early to see the one of the many openers that night. Before the Georgia pop rock band took the stage their statemates, Everybody Run, played an equally empty house. Despite the showing or rather lack there of, both bands played a high energy and spirited sets. Freshman 15 especially played a well-rehearsed, even choreographed show with intermittent, but well-timed stage jumps and similar stage antics. Lead singer and bassist Davey Fortner hoisted his instrument in unison with guitarist Mike Baker, showing a clear chemistry amidst the band. Despite being down a member and having to borrow Everybody Run’s bassist Shaan Singh, they showed no signs of being  tired of the road or of one another. The Don’t Worry Be Happy tour they were on with headliners Carolina Kings and Survey Says was well underway, but even missing a bassist (Davey Hoogerwerf left the band in 2012), Fortner, Baker and drummer Leo Teran powered through.

The earlier band’s bassist meshed seamlessly with their energy and matched their goofy smiles with a grin of his own. There was a positivity to the set, as there was to their second album, that translated to their live show. “Our California Song”, a sad tune with an upbeat and plenty of crunchy guitar, was the best song of the night, rivaled only by the closing track “Are You Ready For This?” The latter was a fitting choice given the band’s status as relatively unknown and recently unsigned. Perhaps they were right in asking if we were “ready.” Despite their skill, willingness and songbook of good old-fashioned pop rock song, New York didn’t seem ready or rather aware of them. There are plenty of fans off Freshman 15’s brand of music, who are emotionally limping around in search of a pop rock fix in the wake of Blink 182’s recent news, but for some reason the connection isn’t being made.

The track “Secret of the Ooohs/Wizard of Ahhhs” off of Here’s To Feeling Good, which didn’t make the set, but includes the line “don’t listen to what we’re wearing / a t-shirt doesn’t make a song” is a fitting bridge between the albums. Assuming one is a nod to the other, it sends the same message as “Are You Ready?” and in a way summarizes what Freshman 15 are like live. In shorts, bare feet and facial piercings, the band looks the part of a pop rock band. They want to be taken seriously based on their music not their appearance. As a result, they each seem very comfortable on stage and in their own skin. Fortner and Baker bantered back and forth in between songs, seemingly unaffected by the fact that they didn’t draw a stronger showing. They seemed most at home oddly enough when the band played their cover of MIA’s 2007 hit “Paper Planes.” They mimicked the sounds of cash registers and guns excellently, strumming their strings above the headnut to get the right shrill.

It’s hard to play an early show to an almost empty house, but Freshman 15 didn’t let it show. The band was popular enough at one point to sell t-shirts and CD at Hot Topic, but they have faded in relevance since 2009 and their first album. It doesn’t help that their second album Here’s To Feeling Good wasn’t as solid as their first. It wasn’t a sophomore slump, but it just wasn’t as strong. The record’s single “Mistaken Ex-Girlfriend” was a low point in the set compared to the smarter, sassier “Phoenix Can Keep You” (Hopefully they’ll return to their original formula for their  third album should there be one.)  Still, the set was solid albeit short and proved that these southerners can really (pop) rock.

-Zoe Marquedant