The Quarters of Change Show at Club Dada in Dallas

September 26th, 2023

I am bringing back the regularly scheduled concert blog posting solely because of how good this show was. I've gone to so many good concerts recently and so many artists have stood out to me, but this was the one that pulled me out of my three-month writing slump.

I will admit that I did expect to love this one going into it. I love Deep Ellum and some of my friends had a little moment with this venue in particular earlier in the summer, and I found myself reading all of the posters and advertisements for upcoming shows all over the walls in between sets. For this one particularly, I was reading the calendar for the month of September that had been posted on a pillar in the venue in early July, and I wrote it down on the note titled "2023 concert scheming" in my phone. I was a very casual listener of Quarters of Change up until the release of Hollywood Baby a little later in July, so I just got more and more excited about hypothetically attending this concert as it got closer and as I got more into the music. I kept hinting at wanting to go to this show with a few different groups of friends to see if any of them would want to go, and I finally had a few people agree to go after I posted miserably on my private Snapchat story about how bad I wanted to be there without having to go alone.

I feel like I have definitely mentioned this on here before, but one of the greatest joys in my life right now is getting to share experiences like these with people I love to be around. I actually met this group of friends in line at another show in March of this year and they have become my go-to impromptu concert group ever since. I feel like I have been always missing a core group of dependable girls to go places with, especially now that 2/3 of my beloved sisters have moved out (...Addi and Bryna I miss you so much) and these girls have been that for me this year. They always amplify every experience for me in the best way and I was stoked when they were the ones who answered my cries for accompaniment to this show.

We all bought last-minute tickets (despite the fact that the plan had been in motion for me personally for several months), and we got to the venue about 15 minutes before the first opener was scheduled to start. I had somewhat expected the venue to be packed because I feel like the band has a pretty prominent media presence and that is often an indicator of a solid and devoted fanbase. I was very pleased to see I was right about that. I love going to small concerts, especially local and/or club shows, and I love them a lot more when there are a ton of people there. I love it when the whole crowd is really excited to be at the show, and it was clear from the moment the first opener went on stage that this was one of those cases. The room was packed from wall to wall, to the point where it was hard to get out of the crowd to go to the bathroom, which was a little inconvenient for those with drinks and small bladders but very exciting for those who wanted to have a very fulfilling live music experience. It has been a while since I've seen that many people in Club Dada, which is something I personally really look forward to seeing.

I was also super impressed with both of the openers for this show. I think getting to a show early enough to see the openers is one of the easiest ways to find new music, and both of these bands were a great success for me and my friends. The first opener was Vision Arcade and the second was Rebounder, both of which I have added to my playlists and followed on social media. (The picture I included here is of one of the members of Rebounder on stage). I especially liked that each band had a different vibe than the others, this was one of my favorite lineups of artists I've seen all at one show. All three bands were so talented and entertaining. I would've loved to see every single set be longer, and that is a rare thought for me to be having during three back-to-back sets on a Tuesday night... (because I do really love to be at home and in my bed most of the time).

Me with Jasper
(one of the guitarists of QOC)

Carrying out that same kind of thought, I really think Quarters of Change could have played every single song in their discography and I still wouldn't have been ready to go home at the end of the set. I already listened to their music enough to follow along with most songs on the setlist, but I have gone down an intense rabbit hole of streaming their deluxe Into the Rift album in the past week. I think my weekly "airbuds" report came back with 9 hours of their music alone over the course of 4 days. All of the guys in the band are so uniquely talented, and they were absolutely incredible live. 

It amped up my existing appreciation for them as musicians and as people dramatically. I have always been a huge fan of bands with two lead guitarists, I think that is one of the coolest and most satisfying things a group can do musically, and Quarters of Change do that insanely well. Both guitarists are insane on their own, but it was seriously (I cannot think of a word better than insane to use in this sentence) (I want to use it again so I am going to) insane to see them play together on stage. I have not become so quickly obsessed with a band/artist in years.

I saw them on September 26th in Dallas and spent all day on September 28th wishing I lived in Austin to see them again that night, (skipping over the Houston date on the days in between of course because I am nothing if I am not a hater of Houston Texas). I loved the show so much that I went around talking about pretty much only this concert with everyone I encountered for several days afterward. I talked my dad's ear off, each of my sisters have individually heard all about it, all of my coworkers have been forced to listen to Dead several times each shift we've shared. And I kept telling people that I wished they could have seen them live, I wished they could have gone to the concert, because then they'd understand why this was one of the best shows I've been to this year...

And then, Friday, September 29th... the ACL Weekend 2 lineup got updated. And yes, Quarters of Change were added to the schedule. Not only were they added, but they are scheduled to play the stage that my friends, sisters, and I have already planned to spend most of our afternoon at. I did threaten to do a backflip upon hearing this news (I absolutely can't do a backflip) and I have once again told just about everyone I know about this addition to my wonderful future Sunday. I am so excited for the chance to see them again now that I am so much more invested in the music, and I am SO excited that I will have so many friends and sisters to share the moment with. I believe this is also the first festival the band has ever been scheduled to play, so that will be a really cool thing to see too! I can't wait to be back in that crowd again so soon.

So, Quarters of Change, if you're reading this, hey lol. That Dallas show was one of my favorites of the year and it was my 32nd concert of 2023 so far... so you should be very flattered. I am expecting Rift to be on that ACL setlist so please do not disappoint me on that. See you soon!!

I have some exciting shows coming up (including all three days of ACL weekend 2) and I can't wait to write about some of that here soon. Thanks for reading!!