Canadian pop-punk quintet, Bearings, kicked off their debut headlining tour last Thursday at The Sanctuary Detroit in Hamtramck, Michigan. Bearings are joined on their North American tour by Between You and Me, Young Culture, and Arrows in Action, with Unknown Neighbors joining the lineup for the Detroit date. Doors opened at 6 pm on Thursday and music started at 6:20 pm. The Sanctuary, with a capacity of 300, was nearly sold out for the opening night of this tour.
The show started strong with local Michigan alt-rock quintet, Unknown Neighbors. Unknown Neighbors played their two hit singles, “Lost” and “Greenlight”, and their recently released single, “Frontline”. The crowd was full of fans who knew every word and kept the energy alive for every single song the whole set. Unknown Neighbors also played a cover of “Kiwi” by Harry Styles, and the entire building came alive. Everyone, whether they had heard of Unknown Neighbors or not, was singing and jumping around, and mosh pits even opened up. The band matched the crowd’s energy on stage too. With a strong drummer, intense guitar solos, catchy bass lines, a singer who wasn’t afraid to move around, and a guitarist that never lets the crowd die out, Unknown Neighbors was bound to put on an enthusiastic set.
Following Unknown Neighbors was Florida’s pop-punk trio, Arrows in Action. Arrows in Action proved their impressive DIY style during soundcheck when it became apparent that they didn’t have a bassist. But, they didn’t need it. Much of their setlist came from their 2021 album, Be More. Their song “All the Ways I Could Die” caught my ear and captured my attention for the rest of their set. Arrows in Action had some diehard fans at the front of the crowd. They were scream-singing to every word and finger-pointing directly at the band. Arrows in Action interacted with the crowd and developed a comfortable presence on stage by adding comedic commentary between their songs. The lighting on stage matched the moody emotion that underlies every Arrows in Action song. Arrows in Action closed out their set with their hit song “Uncomfortably Numb”, which felt like everyone in the venue knew.
Third up on the lineup was New York’s pop-punk band, Young Culture. Young Culture was a crowd favorite at The Sanctuary Detroit. From the moment they started playing, the crowd was jumping around and singing. Young Culture’s set started the first crowd surfing of the evening, with dozens surfing throughout the set (myself included). The lead singer, Alex Magnan, encouraged people to partake in the mosh pit and crowd surfing while simultaneously reminding everyone to take care of one another, which was very cool. In a venue as small as The Sanctuary Detroit, there is no security to catch crowd surfers, so the lead singer took it upon themself to reach a hand out to every crowd surfer, to make the landing on stage easier. Young Culture brought back their 2017 hit “Party Girl”, and everyone in the crowd channeled their inner (or outer) party girl.
Australian pop-punk quintet, Between You and Me, played next on the lineup. Thursday’s show in Detroit was the first that Between You and Me had played in 722 days, and Detroit did not disappoint. Between You and Me’s crowd was excited, energetic, and loud. There were constant mosh pits and crowd surfers and a plethora of fans singing the backup vocals that the band didn’t ask for. Between You and Me played tracks off their 2021 sophomore album, Armageddon, including the hit song “Butterflies”, coincidentally (or maybe not so coincidentally) matching the lead singer’s prominent butterfly tattoo. They played their hit song “Dakota” during which everyone in the venue went crazy. Between You and Me’s set ended with a stage to merch table wall of death involving a vast majority of the crowd and encouraged by the band. At the breakdown of their closing song, fans ran at each other, colliding bodies solely for Between You and Me.
Bearings was the final act of the show. The quintet’s first headliner was not one to forget. The band’s choice to provide their own lighting was the first clue to the crowd that this was going to be a well-developed set. Bearings started their set strong with the crowd moving, moshing, and yelling. Crowd surfers only increased in frequency as the set went on. Bearings slowed things down in the middle of their set by playing the acoustic song “Tide” from their 2018 album Blue in the Dark. The crowd sang “Tide” with Bearings’ lead singer Doug Cousins which made for a very intimate moment. The energy picked up again after that, with Bearings playing hits from Blue in the Dark and from their newest album Hello, It’s You.
Bearings gained many new fans on Thursday, engaging members of the crowd who had never before heard of them. Bearings also impressed long-time fans with the quality of their performance by sounding exactly like they do on their recorded albums, live. Bearings closed their set with “Better Yesterday” and “Sway”, after stating they would not be doing any encore, which was badass.
The energy of The Sanctuary never died, even after the show was over. People who hung around to buy merch and meet the bands were running on adrenaline-fueled by an exhilarating night. Detroit showed up for the opening night of Bearings’ debut headlining tour. Fans made sure every single band had a big crowd, lots of movement, and plenty of opportunities for capturing memorable photographs. Catch Bearings on the remaining dates of their headlining tour, here!