Echoing sounds of the Fruit Bats’ performance can be heard throughout the Teragram Ballroom’s entrance room. The venue’s intimate structure is reminiscent of 70s-style interiors, its open pit space fostering a community that revolves around the music of the night and is free of hierarchical seating structures. The Teragram Ballroom features a ceiling with intricate, dome-shaped details that add to the beauty of the venue and contribute to the acoustics of the space, allowing sounds to bounce around the room and create a stronger sense of rhythm and percussion. On view from the venue’s balcony, silhouettes below sway to the sounds of the Fruit Bats with the occasional shift in tempo resulting in brief spouts of activity in the crowd. Each audience member stands on even ground with an equal ability to enjoy the performance. This particular show’s lively guitar instrumentals combine with softer, elegant pianist solos, balancing the band’s different styles. From energetic rock to slower, textured ambient noise, the band is able to create a distinct indie folk-rock sound.
Eric Johnson, lead singer and songwriter of the Fruit Bats, began the musical project in the 1990s as a side endeavor to scoring movies, a pursuit that was his main focus at the time. To date, the group has released 13 albums over the span of several decades, connecting with a broad range of generations that could be spotted throughout the audience at the Teragram Ballroom. Whether new or seasoned in the world of live music, the crowd shared an ability to be present and absorb the music themselves, instead of through a camera lens. While many live shows have the tendency to encourage fans to digitally capture a performance, the Fruit Bats’ air of authenticity was conducive to meaningful engagement with their music.
The Fruit Bats have captured the rare ability to balance upbeat rock sounds while also creating music with soft chords that envelope a listener. Starting their set with “The Bottom of It,” the Fruit Bats began the night with energetic vocals and emotional instrumentals. Most notable in this song are Eric Johnson’s lyrical abilities. This song features a strong poeticism that brings listeners into the world created by the band’s combination of unique vocals and instrumentals, such as the tambourine.
The set moved with fast pace to incorporate the twenty-some songs included in the Fruit Bats’ performance. In the first portion of the set, the band’s sound aligned with a folk theme in songs like “From a Soon-to-Be Ghost Town,” “My Sweet Midwest,” and “The Balcony.” In the fifth song featured, the group made note of the longevity of their career creating music as they played “When U Love Somebody,” their 2003-released song that has been played by fans for over 20 years. As the group played other fan favorites, such as “On the Avalon Stairs,” “Tacoma,” “Absolute Loser,” and “Cazadera,” they incrementally shifted their sound towards a more rock-oriented feel. The range of music performed reflects the ever-shifting composition of the band’s members and new sound created by each combination of performers.
The group’s popular “A Linger Love” closed out the main portion of the night’s set. Johnson showcased his dry humor when he removed the mystique of a potential encore and directly announced he would be standing a few feet behind the curtain for a moment before returning to stage. After the band departed from the stage, fans began to chant “Fruit Bats!” repeatedly with increasing rapidity until the group, as promised, returned to stage. The encore that followed featured “Rushin’ River Valley,” “Shane,” and closed out with “Humbug Mountain Song.” The night’s performance brought the wide array of music-lovers found in the crowd together, uniting them through a range of strong rock sounds and more folk-oriented music.
