Neon Trees w/ Yes You Are and Alex Winston at Emo’s -

AUSTIN – Wednesday just got a whole lot better! Neon Trees played at Emo’s with two unbelievably fun bands, Yes You Are and Alex Winston.

Let’s begin with Yes You Are. Yes… it’s a brand new band from Kansas City consisting of five members. They are noticeably very interesting in terms of style and music, at least live. Can’t wait to see what’s to come from this group. As an intro, Yes You Are has a genius guitarist, Jared White, Joe Wilner on drums, Jacob Temeyer with the keyboard, bassist Willie Jordan, and the fierce-beautiful-talented lead vocalist, Kianna Alarid. Their live show was energetic yet seemed ethereal on occasion, perhaps to prepare us for the next two performers.

Up next, the indie pop rock singer-songwriter Alex Winston from Michigan. She was ready to rock the stage. Winston didn’t hold back a single bit. She shared all the adrenaline she had on stage to the crowd as well. Aside from strong vocals, she is absolutely amazing with the guitar.

Neon Trees then opened with their latest single release, Songs I Can’t Listen To. It was a dramatic entrance but that was expected. Front man Tyler Glenn brought out many of Neon Trees’ specialties for his Austin fans, starting with that gold bass guitar and his galaxy shirt. He was throwing high kicks, spins, and get-downs on stage. The crowd was having the time of their life, dancing and cheering with the bum-swinging lead vocalist. Halfway throughout the show, Tyler made a nice speech thanking the fans,

“Back when we used to play in Austin . . . a crowd comes along, with young people, old people, and middle-aged people, that they’re music fans… and so it is always stuck with this band, with us… and our love for Austin is the stuff beyond that festival [SXSW] and the real true music lovers in this town that really respect live music. You would think you all would be tired of live bands cause you see it everyday with every band come through, but you’re not tired and you’re not weathered, and you’re here tonight… and like I said thirty minutes ago, would mean so very much on a Wednesday night that you be here with us, so thank you very-very much once again.”

Even when running a 16-song setlist, they didn’t skimp on the energy they were bringing. The night was all about escaping with music and waiting for that one song… Everybody Talks, which was fulfilled as the encore. Dare to have fun? Go see Neon Trees next shows!

Article and photos by: Christian Sena