Lead singer Matt Embry began the show with a special announcement.
“This is the last night of our tour, so let’s make it a dance party,” he said.
The RX Bandits delivered an energy-packed show on Sunday at Downtown Brewing Co. Despite the small turnout, the band stayed true to its reputation, encouraging fans to let loose to its up-beat instrumental sound.
The group’s new guitar-focused sound is the latest transformation in its 11-year history as a progressive rock band. Its 2009 release, “Mandela,” is the first album without a horn section and features heavier guitar solos and a more structured sound. Matt Gagne, a math sophomore, is a fan of lead guitarist Steve Choi and said he was excited to see what kind of elements he’d bring to the show.
“I’m excited for the guitar. He’s hella good. He’s in another band called Sound Animals Fighting, which is the best band in the world,” Choi said. “Well, one of them.”
Other fans, such as general engineering sophomore Scott Costello, said he was also excited to see how the new sound would translate in the show.
“Guitar is the rhythm. Guitar gives it attitude,” Costello said.
RX Bandit’s style is not only influenced by guitar, but also hints of reggae, hard rock and ska. Elise Stewart, a concert promoter for DTB and Numbskull Productions, said she has difficulty describing the band’s type of music.
“I love it because you can’t really put it in a single genre. People try to say they’re ska, but there’s some progressive stuff in there, and reggae. People always ask me, you know, if I’m trying to promote the show, ‘Oh well what kind of music are they?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, hmm. Let me give you like a five-sentence-long explanation,’” Stewart said.
Although the band has sold out at DTB in the past, the half-full turnout didn’t come as a surprise to Stewart because the music scene and economy have influenced ticket sales.
“The crowd is different now,” she said. “They definitely have sold out before. I think the economy has a lot to do with it. A lot of our more unique shows are kind of suffering. There are some shows that always sell out no matter what. But even those are not doing as well. Maybe there just aren’t the right people with the right amount of buzz.”
The band seemed unaware of the small turnout and played as if the venue was packed.
Constantly starting claps to the drumming and encouraging fans to get up and move, the band showed no signs of fatigue from its four-month tour. Known for their drum-focused intermittent jam sessions, all four members were playing on their own drum sets at one point. Choi then picked up his guitar to slowly weave the introduction to their next song.
The audience received the free-flowing transitions well, while not getting too rowdy. One fan, however, started pushing other fans around. Embry stopped the group, mid-song, and addressed the fan.
“I will pay you your money back to leave if you continue being an asshole,” he said.
The fan complied, and the show went on, mosh-free.
Embry, who doesn’t support violence at shows, addressed the fan not to prove a point, but to do what he felt was right.
“The thing is, a lot of bands just let whatever happens happen. I don’t ever want someone to pay money to get into our show and get hurt,” Embry said after the show. “Music is a communication that predates written language. And I am there to communicate with people. We are there to communicate with people. We want to communicate a message of peace and a message of respect over all things.”
The U.S. tour is the third leg of its first world tour and Embry said he is excited to wrap up the tour in Europe.
“I’m really looking forward to playing in Spain; I love Spain. I’m really looking forward to playing in Italy again. It’s been seven years since we played in Italy, which his rad,” he said. “We’re really looking forward to playing in Europe overall.”
The Long Beach-based band has been touring all over the world since the release of “Mandela,” from Australia to Brazil to the California valley and coast. Embry said their position as a working band helps them appreciate fans in any town, even San Luis Obispo.
“This is our living. Our living is playing music. But our main income is touring. So we take a lot of value in the fans that are everywhere,” he said. “We like playing here — it’s always pretty packed and a really nice crowd.”
Fans were happy to see the band bring its new sound to San Luis Obispo. Computer science sophomore Stephen Baldwin said he enjoyed its blend of old and new material.
“A lot of their old songs, they’ve changed them up. They’ve added parts. I don’t know whether they were improvising or just changed that, but that was really cool,” Baldwin said.
Baldwin, who has been to four of their shows, also noticed its more recent focus on guitar.
“They added a lot more guitar parts,” Baldwin said. “They never really had that many guitar solos.”
First-time attendee and listener Megan Smith, a history sophomore, said she enjoyed the positive vibe.
“You could dance to it and you could see everyone was getting into it, and that was pretty awesome. All these kids are pretty cool,” Smith said.
The band seemed to wrap up its tour on a good note, delivering music with positive attitudes with the welfare of the audience in mind. The audience threw up peace signs were thrown up as the band walked offstage.