The Band Camino LIVE! | Starland Ballroom New Jersey

The Band Camino is an Alternative Rock/Indie Pop band based in Nashville, Tennessee. They've released 2 records - their debut EP, tryhard, in 2019, followed up with their self-titled first album in 2021. They're on tour across the United States right now along with Games We Play and renforshort. They played Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey on June 17th to a packed house of eager fans.

The night started out strong with two very different but engaging openers. Games We Play hyped the crowd up with a high energy pop-punk-bordering-on-emo set of upbeat and engaging songs, followed with renforshort's set of alt pop songs. Mixing up the sound of the openers kept it interesting, though, and fit The Band Camino very well. The audience was a really interesting intersection of fans from the pop punk, alt, pop, and even country scenes. Baseball caps, Doc Martens, cowboy hats, and heels were donned throughout the ballroom. If you've listened to The Band Camino, though, this makes sense - you can hear all of these influences in their music, down to the occasional Tennessee twang in a pop song - and at one point the band even commented on how they loved seeing the genre-confused crowd all dancing together.

The Band Camino started their set off strong, opening with their song Know It All followed immediately by Roses, a hit single off of their second album. Before their set, I had noticed that most of the fans in the front row were holding bouquets (something I had never seen at a show before, with the exception of Wallows just the night before, which I found to be quite an amusing coincidence) and it was soon clear why, as dozens of roses got tossed onstage during the chorus. Just as he sang to "stop and smell the roses", they came raining down on lead singer Jeffery Jordan, who couldn't hide his excited grin under the floral confetti. It was clear from that moment on that, with the combined efforts of the band and the crowd, that night's show would be special, and this proved that to be true as The Band Camino continued their set with another 20 or so solid and captivating songs.

From high energy pop songs such as "See Through" and the closing "Daphne Blue", to the more stripped back and emotional moments of "Crying Over You", their set was strong and I even caught a few of the venue workers that couldn't help but to briefly pause and dance to a song that caught their ear. The venue itself was great, with a tiered U-shape GA floor offering good vantage points from all over and easy mobility throughout the crowd. It was a New Jersey show through and through - the bar served pizza, the parking lot was a bit of a disaster, I ran into 20 or so fans wearing their new merch at Wawa after the show, and the incredible performances that night were more than worth the excessive tolls on the drive home.

Contributing Photographer and Editor Carly Palicz

Concerts & Livestreams, f28 Live Coverage, Rock & Roll Musicf28 Music Media LiveJune 23, 2022The Band Comino