I have had this show marked on my calendar since it was announced, and the wait was well worth it. Origami Angel is back on the road, this time touring with Pool Kids and Insignificant Other. It was a jam-packed, high energy show. Origami Angel and Pool Kids have toured together before, playing with Mom Jeans and Save Face in October of last year. The addition of Gami’s label-mates Insignificant Other, rounds out an incredible tour lineup. Pittsburgh brought a TON of energy to this show, and all the bands responded.
Insignificant Other, also known as Insiggy Baby, started off the night. Insiggy Baby is a power pop-punk band from Birmingham, Alabama. This set was filled with fun synth tracks, great instrumentals and stunning vocals. Insignificant Other released their newest album “i’m so glad i feel this way about you” in April of 2019 on Counter Intuitive Records. This is a band you HAVE to see if you get the chance.
The second set of the night was the band known as Pool Kids. Pool Kids is an upcoming twinkly emo powerhouse, hailing from Florida. Pool Kids kicked off the set with the opening track from their new self titled album, “Conscious Uncoupling.” This album was released in July of this year, and has quickly made its way onto my album of the year list (if you haven’t listened to it yet, you are doing yourself a disservice.) Pool Kids also made sure to add some older songs from their debut release “Music to Practice Safe Sex To” from 2018. This set was filled with fast, twinkly riffs, incredible drum tracks, and beautiful vocal performances. They fittingly closed their set with “Pathetic” the final track on their album. This was a perfect ending to a perfect set. I will see this band EVERY time they come into the city.
In 2019, I saw Origami Angel for the first time at a basement show in Pittsburgh for the release of their debut LP “Somewhere City”. Since then, I have watched Gami Gang absolutely explode. Watching them open for The Wonder Years at Stage AE, just two years after the basement show, was an incredible moment. Now they are off on their first headlining tour in at the end of 2022. Origami Angel is a two-piece emo band from Washington DC. Since the release of somewhere city, Gami has been very active dropping multiple releases since then. The most recent of their releases were two very different three song EPs. “DEPART’ and “re: turn”. This set was filled with tracks from various different releases, and highlighted some of the biggest hits like “24-Hr Drive Thru” and “Noah Fence”. Vocalist Ryland Heagy, is also an extremely talented guitarist, making some of the craziest riffs look easy. Drummer Pat Doherty may just be one of the best drummers in the scene right now. Ryland spoke of his love for the city during their set, calling Pittsburgh their “home away from home.”
Gami Gang Forever.
Special thank you to Brett Schumaker of Don’t Let The Scene Go Down On Me! Collective for having us!
Photos and words by Tom Randall (www.instagram.com/trandallphoto)
Live from the Pitt 