Posted January 27, 2018 by Kailey Howell Concert Reviews & Galleries

If Walls Could Talk – The Loving Touch – 1.20.18

If Walls Could Talk, Conrad Shock & The Noise, Telegraf and The Social Bandits
The Loving Touch – Ferndale, MI – 1.20.2018
Photographer: Kailey Howell

“When we have a show, we want it to be more of an experience than just a concert.”

Detroit local band If Walls Could Talk sold out Ferndale’s popular music venue, The Loving Touch on Saturday night.

Joining the bands that evening were their friends in The Social Bandits, Telegraf and Conrad Shock & The Noise.

“Selling out The Loving Touch was amazing. Last year we sold out The Crofoot’s Pike Room, and we asked ourselves ‘what can we do next?’ So this was a big stepping stone for us,” said guitarist Nick DiStefano. “2017 greatly helped us grow our fan base and include more people into our IWCT family than ever, so it wasn’t as hard as we expected.

The opening bands each brought tons of energy to the room. The smoke machines covered the place in an intense fog that created an intimate atmosphere as crowd moved closer to the stage.

The Social Bandits opened the evening with their fun sound. The band comes from Commerce Township here in Michigan. They debuted their first album In Retrospect in 2016. The band performed their song “I’m Just Fine” off the album, which has a reggae vibe to it.

Detroit pop band Telegraf came on next. The band in studio consists of Shane Grenier and Myles Carter. However, alongside other live band members was Landon Tewers from The Plot in You on bass. The band performed their latest single “Miss You Sober” as well as a cover of Nelly’s “Ride Wit Me”.

Conrad Shock and accompanying band The Noise came all the way from Grand Rapids to jam out. The band’s folk rock feel was a change of pace for the night. Conrad Shock released his debut album Red Skys & Phyrrhic Minds in 2017.

If Walls Could Talk opened with “Beautiful You” showing off their upbeat sound with Steven Fronrath on the keyboard. Balloons bounced around the crowd as the set started.

The band played a game with the crowd during their song “Summertime” as vocalist Tony Burke sang the song from the crowd.

“We’re always trying to find ways to interact with our audience. When we have a show, we want it to be more of an experience than just a concert. When we first started #teamtony, it was before our latest EP release and before we took things seriously, and it was blast. It started as Tony taking selfies with the crowd and then having the crowd post it to any social media with #teamtony,” said DiStefano. “Someone in the band had the idea of using Snapchat instead and it’s been perfect ever since. Our merch girl Mary has always picked the winner for years, and she texts us on stage to let us know who she picked during the show.

I think everyone has a great time with it!”

Afterwords, the band performed fan favorite “Specter of the Dead”, a ghostly tale with dramatic instrumentals. For added affect, Burke held a flashlight under his chin during certain verses. The band brought Elric Thomas on stage for guest vocals during the intro of the song.

“Elric is a great musician who is still making his name in the community. About last year we came up with the rendition of the Specter of the Dead intro as a halloween special, and he had the perfect voice to fit it.” said DiStefano.

The set also included a cover of “Shout!” followed by a drum solo by Zack Spoutz. The band closed their set with “Sleepless” and a group photo with the crowd.

“There’s A TON that we have in store that I can’t talk about just yet, but I will say this- expect a little bit of new material and some big news for the future.” said DiStefano.

If Walls Could Talk can be followed on Facebook and Twitter.

Their debut EP What Would They Say? is available for streaming and purchase on all major distributors.

Check out the photos from the show below!