Meet Me @ The Altar, Young Culture

The Rebel Lounge, Phoenix, AZ

March 25, 2023

Review and Gallery By: Hannah Kelly

Hailing from Albany is New York Young Culture. A three-piece pop group consisting of guitarists Gabe Pietrafesa and Troy Burchett, and vocalist Alex Magnan. They took the stage in the sold out Rebel Lounge on Saturday night to crowd that was buzzing with anticipation. The trio kicked off their impressive 10 song set with Not In Love, a song off their 2022 release You Had To Be There. Not In Love is a groovy departure from the bands other releases. The song is reminiscent of British pop rock band, The 1975. They switched gears for a few songs to play Drift, a single from their 2019 album (This is) Heaven, several tracks off their self-titled 2020 record, and Shiver, a song from their EP titled Godspeed. They closed their set with several more tracks off You Had To Be There. The set felt fresh and energetic. With songs representing all eras of their career. They are definitely ones to watch in the pop punk scene, keep your eyes on these three.  

Closing out the sold out show was Headliner Meet Me @ The Altar, an all-female pop punk trio. The self-described “girl rock band” opened their set with the Say It (To My Face), lead single off their first full length album Past // Present // Future which was released in 2022 on Fueled By Ramen. I was immediately impressed with the powerful live vocals from lead singer Edith Johnson. Her vocal prowess rivals that of other female pop-punk vocalists that that are many years her senior. They continued on with their set Beyond My Control, a song from their 2019 EP titled Bigger Than Me. Keeping it rolling, they played T.M.I. Afterwards Edith noted that they had accidently skipped one of their most successful song, Hit Like A Girl. They made sure that the sold out crowd had the full experience and circled back to play the hit. The proceeded to play a three covers, one picked by each band member. The covers consisted on You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette, Complicated by fellow female punk rocker Avril Lavigne and Take Me Away, a viral hit made for the 2003 remake of Freaky Friday. They finished out their set playing a variety of songs new and old, one of which was an acoustic version of Feel A Thing off their EP, Model Citizen. All in all they played an electric set. Their musical abilities speak for themselves, but they also took time to interact and talk with the crowd. Playing the intimate venue allowed them to get person with their fans, taking a BeReal for one fan and a Polaroid photo for another. Meet Me @ The Altar is filling a gap in a music scene that is majority filled with white men and we love to see it. They’re creating a safe space for queer people, POC and women in the pop punk scene and I can’t wait to see what they do next.