Plaid Brixx, an alternative-pop band from Columbus, Ohio, made their mark by capturing the hearts of the audience in Salt Lake City, opening for the We The Kings 10th Anniversary Tour.
Screams and cheers filled In the Venue when front man and guitarist Chris Duggan, drummer Mark LeRose and bassist Jared Sawaya, took the stage. The crowd was not only impressed with the bands musical talents but with their onstage energy. With Sawaya playing the guitar in the pit and Duggan leaping across the stage, it made for an exuberant performance.
“We have fun when we perform, and other people have fun watching us perform,” said Duggan. “It’s fun to write songs and we have fun in the band.”
Three weeks before the WTK 10 Tour was scheduled to start, Plaid Brixx was asked to be one of the opening acts, and they gladly accepted the invitation.
“It’s kind of a very nice stamp of approval that someone thinks we are good. They are really super nice. … They are teaching us how to be on tour, and we are learning so much every day,” said Duggan.
Before Plaid Brixx hit the road with We The Kings, they had to put in a lot of work to break out of the local music scene.
“[It was hard] breaking out of the local scene in Columbus or being a part of the local scene,” said LeRose. “Our genre of music isn’t extremely compatible with a lot of bands around there. It was tricky, in the beginning, to find good shows with bands like us.”
After this tour wraps up and the year comes to an end, Duggan hopes that Plaid Brixx can have another tour under their belt and new songs to perform. If invited, the band would definitely be interested in coming to the UCCU center to preform for college-aged students.
“This is our first time out west, so driving around seeing all of the mountains is pretty crazy,” said LeRose.
Astro Lasso and Cute Is What We Aim For also had time to take the stage before We The Kings. Each band was well received. Despite the heat, foggy room and crowded venue, the audience stuck around for two-and-a-half hours to watch We The Kings.
