Voxtrot is on the road in the US right now, supporting their richly uplifting new LP, ”Dreamers in Exile”.
See Voxtrot on tour right now.
While we’ve waited 19 years for the new record that followed their self-titled debut, fans have fortunately been sated with a reunion tour a few years back, along with a steady supply of singles to get us to this point.
The touring band features Ramesh Srivastava (vocals, guitar, keys), along with founding bandmates Jason Chronis (bass) and Matt Simon (drums). Other original band members, Mitch Calvert (guitar) and Jared Van Fleet (keys), couldn’t make it on the tour this time round. Instead, two very capable guests; guitarist Paul Price (Good Field, Brazos, The Early Tapes) and keyboardist Jack Van Norman are joining in on the fun.
I spoke with Ramesh before the gig about the tour and line-up. “[Paul and Jack] have been playing with us for the last year plus. Paul has played with Voxtrot many times over our whole career and a lot of international stuff going back 18 years. He’s a long-time friend of ours.”
As the first gig of the tour, Phoenix was a logical stop as the band headed from their Austin-area homes on to California for a few SoCal dates and then north in San Francisco as of last night. The Crescent Ballroom wasn’t full but the band were full-tilt with Ramesh energetically interjecting between songs. The crowd was eager and loud from the start.
The show kicked off with two new songs that also lead of the new album. Both “Another Fire” and “Fighting Back” storm, showcasing the strength of the material they’ve been writing together since reuniting in 2022.
From there, the band played six straight from the earlier 1.0 version of the band. “Raised by Wolves” started things off. The jangle pop track epitomizes the band’s sound from the mid-aughts. Ramesh gleefully shared afterward that it was surreal to sing the song now as fans in the crowd were wearing shirts that feature the sleeve art from that 2005 EP, the photo capturing a youthful Ramesh with his friends from that time in his life while living in Scotland.
The older tunes sounded fabulous, and the band’s muscle memory returned swiftly. High-energy tracks included “Kid Gloves”, while mid-tempo back-to-backers, “Steven” and “Soft and Warm”, allowed Ramesh to move over to keys, playing alongside Van Norman. With everyone but Matt the drummer crammed right at the front of the stage, Voxtrot connected intimately with fans, who merrily sang along.
“Dreamers in Exile”, the new album’s title track, followed. Ramesh passionately sang the autobiographical lyrics touching on his college days in Scotland. The song’s yearning/remembering lyrics, along with the surging upbeat melodies evoke a sort of “Boys of Summer” vibe.
LP closer, “Babylone”, was a perfect follow up. Ramesh introduced the beautiful and ambiently Baroque song saying it’s one they’re very proud of, and when it was over he excitedly shared that this was the first time they’d ever played it live. He was eager to share that “Dreamers” and “Fighting Back” were also new performances for the band and the smallish crowd eagerly cheered in support.
The set continued with the band’s most well-known tune, “The Start of Something”. To be honest, the song has never been a favorite of mine, but the band truly lit it up with this muscular and seamless rendition. Not letting up for a second, the band closed the set with a controlled-yet-caffeinated version of “Wrecking Force”.
The 60-minute set was over too soon, but the band returned with an encore to play two older EP tracks; “Long Haul” and a transcendent “Missing Pieces” that Ramesh rightly declared a “rocker.”
At 10:15 the houselights came on and the crowd migrated to the merch booth, while Ramesh and Matt hung around on stage to sign records and set lists, posing for selfies. It was cool to see so many happy fans of varying ages with records and t-shirts, eager to line up and meet the band.
Set list
Buy the new LP
