Milly returns to Los Angeles in a triumphant homecoming show with support from Rocket and Toner

The final night in a nationwide tour that brought the sensational sounds of some of the west coast’s most exciting new bands from sea to shining sea descended upon The Lodge Room for a midweek victory lap showcasing the incredible talents of Milly, Toner, and Rocket. The wildly exuberant hometown crowd was completely invested, generating a feedback loop of positive energy that radiated with palpable potency and a celebratory atmosphere.

Rocket began the evening by unleashing a torrent of thunderous alt rock turbulence that would set the tone across the entire bill. Amidst the rolling rhythms and subtly downtuned guitars, brilliant melodies pierced through the wall of sound like beams of light escaping from the heavens. The abject sincerity that characterized the band’s recently released EP, Versions Of You, is on full display when performed live, as each member of Rocket performs with a level of genuine dedication and emotive investment that positions the band as ready and willing to tackle much larger stages in the not too distant future. Vocalist Alithea Tuttle has a presence that puts her squarely in the same league as Hope Sandoval, accenting the dynamic twin guitar attack of Desi Scaglione and Baron Rinzler with a resolute, but delicate presence. The percussive intensity delivered by drummer Cooper Ladomade is mesmerizing to watch, a whirling dervish raging against the confines of the kit with a mechanical mania that channels the legendary efforts of Grohl, Moon, Krupa, and Bonham into a furiously wondrous cacophony. Rocket is certainly on an upward trajectory, and their path to the stars will be thrilling to behold.

In the middle slot was Toner, bringing a streetwise swagger that quickly grabbed the reins to realign the mood in a different, slightly more dangerous direction without letting up a ounce of momentum. From the first notes the band’s set was ultra-muscular, an untamed V8 fully revved on a full tank of fuck-shit-up, devil-may-care octane boosted attitude. The unhinged ferocity was tempered with moody post punk elements that swam ominously just below the surface, lending an intriguing accent to Toner’s hardcore-adjacent alt-rock stylings. Slightly slower numbers incorporated a prehistoric stomp that shook the walls, and moments of chiming guitar lines pulled a page from the nü-shoegaze playbook but sidestepped the obfuscating nihilism of zeitgeist bands like Nothing in favor of crystalline clarity and straightforward songwriting. Toner’s mastery of the marriage of muscles and melody is perhaps their strongest suit, aligning the band more closely in nature to Turnstile and, perhaps more accurately, in the same vein as fellow Bay Area superstars Third Eye Blind’s late-90s megahit self-titled debut album.

Breathless and sweaty from spontaneous eruptions of moshing, the crowd exuberantly welcomed headliners Milly with a chorus of wildly enthusiastic screams. Low-key and charmingly scruffy, the band’s stage presence was defined by their simultaneous embodiment of Liam Gallagher’s simmering self-confidence and Richard Ashcroft’s brooding rebelliousness, coalescing into a set that reinterpreted classic Britpop into a juiced up amalgam of 90s alternative rock from both sides of The Pond. Oasis but meaner, Queens Of The Stone Age but more nuanced, My Bloody Valentine but electrifyingly lucid. The set was monumentally loud, bursting from the PA with earthquake magnitude and setting the very air into motion, molecules harmonizing on primordial frequencies that permeated everything and everyone in the band’s presence with the unifying force of the music. Milly can be absolutely nasty when unleashed, but measured and precise within moments of relative calm. Massive ballads were rendered in magnificent widescreen, bursting with cinematic shades of red and orange and gold like autumn leaves scattered by the ripcord passage of a racing motorbike, freedom and danger amidst breathtaking beauty.

Stream Milly on Spotify and follow the band on Instagram. Stream Toner on Spotify and follow the band on Instagram. Stream Rocket on Spotify and follow the band on Instagram.