★★★★★

Los Angeles-based rock band Weathers is taking the alternative indie world by storm since they have kicked off their first nationwide tour.  

The band officially formed in October 2015, taking its sonic inspiration from groups including The Killers and the 1975. With both piercing lyrical depth and energetic beats that walk a fine line between the alternative and pop genres, Weathers have distinguished themselves from many other up-and-coming alt bands. Alongside guitarist Cameron Olsen, bassist Brennen Bates and drummer Cole Carson, lead vocalist Cameron Boyer took the stage at Jammin Java in Vienna, Va. where they rocked out to fan-favorite headbangers. 

Weathers released their second album, “Pillows and Therapy,” this past summer, inspiring their “Our Little Secret” tour, which brought them to Jammin Java this past Saturday. “Pillows and Therapy” takes on themes like mental health in a poignant way, according to Boyer.

“Taking mental health a step further, and instead of just bringing awareness and talking about it, we wanted to talk about taking steps to get better and wanting to get better,” Boyer said in an interview with The Hoya.  

Aaron Taos, an alternative musician in the same vein as Weathers, opened for the band with some recently released songs, including a slow ballad called “Closure” and two other numbers with strong beats, “Control” and “Loneliness.” Taos’ lively energy prepared the crowd for Weathers to take the stage soon after his set. 

Weathers opened their Northern Virginia concert with “Hello,” an electrifying song that got the whole audience dancing. “Hello” is Boyer’s personal favorite of his tracks, he said. 

“The lyrics are really dark but the song is just so fun,” Boyer said.

All eyes were on Boyer when he took the microphone, and he dazzled the audience with a burgundy suit and black bandana across his forehead. 

After playing two more songs, the band began experiencing technical difficulties because of issues with Jammin Java’s sound system, but this inconvenience did not slow down Weathers’ momentum, as they proceeded to play four songs from their repertoire while the sound system issue was being investigated. These tracks were not included on the preplanned setlist, but were fan-favorites among the audience anyway. The spontaneous songs included the band’s breakout 2016 singles “I Don’t Wanna Know,” “Dirty Money” and “Secret’s Safe with Me,” which had the crowd all swaying together. 

As Jammin Java’s sub-bass speakers glitched, Weathers improvised amid the technical difficulties and continued on with their setlist without the sub-bass speakers. Weathers followed up “Secret’s Safe with Me” with an unreleased song, “One of a Kind,” which aims to break the negative stigma associated with talking about mental health. 

“One of a Kind” tells the story of someone realizing that it is time for them to seek help to improve their emotional well being, with lyrics like “What’s going on, I’m over my head, at the end of the rope,” and “I think that somewhere, out there, there’s a happy version of me / Somewhere, out there there’s an invitation for me.” 

In addition to “Hello,” another highlight of the concert was the performance of “Rehab,” which is another one of Boyer’s favorites because of its smooth sound. The band then proceeded to play each band member’s favorite track: “Karma,” Olsen’s favorite song, “Talking is Hard,” Bates’ favorite and “Strange Dayz,” which was Carson’s personal favorite.

Weathers’ performance at Jammin Java on Saturday exhibited their close connection with their fans, as Boyer yelled to the audience, “welcome to the poser family!” 

The term ‘poser,’ which Weathers applies to their fans, comes from their popular song “Poser,” which is about living life to the fullest even when things inevitably go awry. The audience knew the song by heart, singing in unison with the band while they played. 

The band wrapped up the concert with their single “I’m Not Ok,” performing with the same animation and liveliness that they brought to the stage when they opened with “Hello.” 

Weathers is rapidly ascending in the music field, greatly aided by their “Our Little Secret” tour, which is helping their fan base grow more and more with each stop.