Concert Review: Inhaler
By: Kate Zinke
Monday nights are not the typical night that one might decide to go to a concert, yet on March 27, 2023, many fans, young and old, headed down to Summit Music Hall in downtown Denver, Colorado to see Inhaler with the perfect opener, Sun Room. The alternative indie rock band is from Dublin. The diverse group of people in attendance were kept entertained by the infectious energy from both bands throughout the night.
Sun Room kicked off the show with “Summer’s Here”. The overall stage presence of every member was top tier. There was constant movement of them jamming out to their own songs making their energy contagious. The crowd was moving around with the beat of the music even if they didn’t know the song. In between they were able to banter with the crowd, making their set fun to all that were in attendance. Their set was about 30 minutes long containing songs, “Something That You’re Missing,” “Sol Del Sur,” “Crashed My Bike” and many more.
As the main lights dimmed again, the crowd began to get anxious with excitement, and the red stage lights came on. The cheering reached its peak when the band members, Elijah Hewson, Robert Keating, Josh Jenkinson and Ryan McMahon, filled the stage in their respective spots. Hewson, the lead singer, stepped up to the mic holding his guitar, in his simple outfit of jeans, a white tank top, and a black leather jacket that came off for the last 30 minutes of the show. All the band’s outfits were relatively simple which matched with the simplicity of their movements for the rest of the show. But don’t mistake simplicity for boring. Inhaler was able to match the energy of their songs perfectly and encourage the fans to dance and sing along. The crowd went wild as he counted into their opening song, “These Are the Days,”; their second most popular song on Spotify currently. The crowd was jumping up and down with the music, singing along to the song. As they continued with their set, performing songs from both of their albums, Cuts & Bruises and It Won’t Always Be Like This', one could tell that the crowd was engaged with the music throughout the whole set, even the parents who were there with their kids. People were constantly dancing to the music and singing if they knew the words.
Photo: Kate Zinke
The band interacted with the crowd throughout their performance, little head nods to fans, taking hats later in the show, and stopping to talk every now and then. The talking was mainly between the band members, but you could tell the crowd was hanging on to every word. At one point the band started making jokes after Hewson apologized for his vocals. Towards the end of “Now You Got Me,” Hewson was having troubles with hitting some of the vocal notes. Yet the band members and the crowd were able to keep singing the chorus despite this. The band was joking “If anyone finds his voice, let us know,” followed by small chuckles from them and laughter from the crowd. Despite the vocal issues, the band continued with the show.
Dispersed throughout the crowd were fans wearing cowboy hats. During the last half of the show, they were asking for the hats from the crowd. The fans in the front threw a couple on stage for them. Each band member took one of the cowboy hats from the crowd and wore them for a little while during their next song. A lot of the fan made cowboy hats were very creative. I always enjoy when bands interact with the crowd in this way. It shows that they do care for their fans and the time that the fans put into waiting to get barricade and in making their personalized cowboy hats, which is something that is a trend in their fandom. After the show, the band posted on Twitter a photo with a ton of the hats, one was blue and bedazzled with the Colorado flag on it and a couple were even Irish themed.
Around 10pm, Inhaler left the stage, and the crowd began to chant for them to come back. With the main lights still off, some of the fans in the back left encouraged the crowd to chant louder, wanting the band to reappear and continue performing. After a little bit of teasing the crowd that it was over, the band members reappeared on stage. Everyone went wild, cheering in excitement that they were back to perform two more songs: “If You’re Gonna Break My Heart” and “It Won’t Always Be Like This,” which was a more energetic and upbeat song to close out their show in Denver.
Overall, Inhaler had fantastic engagement with the crowd and an engaging show, even if it was simple. Yet this simplicity reflected the band's image and didn’t stop the crowd from going wild for their performance. What they brought to the stage, matched with their socials and songs, which is what fans look for. Fans of all ages were in attendance with their eyes glued to the stage for the whole hour-long set. Even despite Hewson having troubles with losing his voice, the whole band was able to captivate the audience and put on a memorable show. If you’re into indie-rock and looking for a good time, even if you don’t know all the songs, I recommend attending an Inhaler show if you can.