by Matt Kelchner

On Thursday night, San Francisco duo The Dodos brought their tour with Springtime Carnivore to the corners of Frankford and Girard for a sold out show at Johnny Brenda’s. The greater Philadelphia area has recently morphed into a chilly tundra, yet the freezing temperatures didn’t keep fans from venturing out early. With the place packed, The Dodos proved with a face melted performance that they aren’t slowing down any soon.

Journeying with The Dodos as they make their way across the country are Springtime Carnivore. They are the latest musical project of Greta Morgan. Prior to this, she was a part of the Hush Sound and Gold Motel. Springtime Carnivore takes Morgan and her band into catchy, laid back songs.

Springtime Carnivore (all photos by Matt Kelchner)

Thursday night, tracks like “Creature Feature” and “Sun Went Black” put Morgan’s knack for cleverly crafted songs on display, with her 60s girl group-esque vocals taking center stage. She even threw in a solo rendition of “Other Side of the Boundary” in the middle of her set. Morgan and the rest of Springtime Carnivore put on a rather impressive opening and set the bar quite high for their touring partners. It would not be surprising to see the band coming back around to Johnny Brenda’s later this year on their very own headlining tour.

“I love Johnny Brenda’s because when you get stage fright, there’s no where to turn. There are people all around you,” drummer Logan Kroeber said into the mic early on in between songs. It was not understatement Thursday night. The sold out show had fans packed into both the main floor and the balcony at Johnny Brenda’s, truly giving Kroeber and singer/guitarist Meric Long a full view of people all around themselves.

The Dodos treated the concertgoers with several selections off their recently released sixth studio album, Individ. Their night began with one of the record’s best, “Goodbyes and Endings”. Several songs later, another strong taste of the album, “The Tide”, was thrown in as well. In between cuts off of Individ, The Dodos threw in a few fan favorites like “The Season”, “Walking” and set closer “Precipitation”, all of which received huge cheers and applause.

The Dodos

When it came down to the encore, Long and Kroeber let the fans call out any favorites that they may have missed. After a barrage of yelling, they landed on “Men”. They followed this up with a rendition of “Don’t Try and Hide It” featuring Springtime Carnivore’s Greta Morgan on guitar and backup vocals. For a night that featuring two amazing bands that gave it their all, there was no better way to end it than having them together on stage for the final song.