The set bursts into life with the tremendous ‘Fire Pit’, one of the songs which most evokes memories of his Alkaline Trio day job. But before long, tracks like ‘Wait’ cast the lens inward as Andriano spills forth introspective confessions, admitting that he “tried to pretend like [he] was someone else”. While the added instrumentation channels life through the songs, they remain stripped-back enough that the power of his lyricism spills through in ways that its often unable to under the heavier flow of his main band.
The double whammy of ‘Hurricane Season’ and ‘Eye Contact’ shows that there are plenty of gems to stitch together a sixteen-song setlist despite the relatively sparse catalogue of solo material at his disposal. He shows so much confidence in his own material that he isn’t even tempted into adding to the set with covers.
Around the midpoint of the set, his newly-appointed band members leave him to it and he delivers a haunting run-through of both ‘Hollow Sounds’ and ‘This Light’. While the singalongs might not quite be on the scale he’s used to, it’s desperately clear that swathes of the audience are entirely under the spell of his solo material. He’s eventually rejoined by his bandmates for a final run-through of upbeat numbers all leading to a climactic ‘Snake Bites’, before Andriano closes the night alone with a note perfect exploration of ‘From This Oil Can’. There’s no doubt that Dan Andriano’s influences are clear when listening to his solo material, but who cares when it sounds this good.