flipturn returned to Arizona on August 17th, lighting up Tucson’s Rialto Theatre with an electrifying performance that left the crowd breathless and longing for more. The show, part of the second leg of their ongoing Burnout Days Tour, felt like a love letter to their fans in the state’s second largest city.
While the Florida-grown five-piece indie rock band has put on multiple lively shows in Phoenix over the last few years (all of which I’ve had the pleasure of attending as a fan), frontman and lead vocalist Dillon Basse appreciatively noted that this show marked their first visit to Tucson. For a headlining debut in a new city, they absolutely exceeded every expectation, drawing in an ecstatic crowd composed of every college-aged person in a 50 mile radius.
The appeal of their latest album, Burnout Days, comes from a place of urgency for those of us who are pushing through our own burnout days. It’s up to you whether this urgency pushes you to dance your heart out or scream into a pillow. Regardless, flipturn’s entire discography is essential listening for everyone in their twenties, especially this new album. The highs and lows of navigating early adulthood are explored in the most sonically pleasing way possible, leaving you feeling both validated and hopeful by the end of its 43 minute runtime. This feeling is only magnified when it comes to seeing the band perform live.
The show kicked off with the urgent rhythms of “Juno,” with Basse’s voice immediately rallying the seemingly sold-out crowd and sending them into a fervent cycle of bouncing, cheering, and singing along to the lyrics. The titular track“Burnout Days” kept this energy going, peaking as Basse delivered the end of the final verse.
While tracks like “Inner Wave” and “Sad Disco” continued to show off the fiery energy that the band has become known for with their live performances, others like “Whales” and “Moon Rocks” allowed them to explore the softer, more explicitly emotional end of their range.
As the end of the hour long set neared, the band received some of the loudest cheers of the night as the opening notes of “August” echoed throughout the entire theatre. As quickly as their cheers erupted, the crowd fell silent as Basse delivered the first few lines of the beloved track: “August, honey, tasted sweeter with you.” The collectively held breath in the room was released as the voices of the crowd soon blended with Basse’s, crying out the chorus of “August, honey, you were mine.”
It was a cathartic moment, the kind that leaves you feeling like a new person at the end of the night. And it’s one of the things I love most about seeing flipturn perform live, as they never fail to deliver that feeling.
