Real Estate Takes Over Thalia Hall
The indie rock band Real Estate is made up of New Jersey musicians Martin Courtney, Matthew Mondanile, Alex Bleeker, and Jackson Pollis. The wonderful artists work together to create groovy, chill, dreamy rock. They got together for the first time in 2008 and since then they have released six albums and many singles and EPs. By the time of their performance in town at Thalia Hall, the band had seen some changes, recording their latest release Daniel with Courtney, Matt Kallman, Julian Lynch, and Sammi Niss. On the 12th, they were opened by the band Marina Allen. A similar relaxed aesthetic similar to Helena Deland. She played songs from her albums Centrific and Candlepower as well as a few songs from the forthcoming album Eight Pointed Star which should be released this June. They did a wonderful job warming up the audience, and Marina gave a special thanks to Thalia Hall for letting in her four-year-old niece who watched the whole show from atop her father's shoulders, dancing along with special muting headphones.
A little after nine, Real Estate walked on stage to loud cheers and applause, set up, and started the set with a special sped-up version of the song 'Flowers' from their latest album Daniel, released in January of this year. After their second song from the new album, called 'Water Underground', the band took a moment to thank the venue and the audience. They then said that Chicago was where they recorded and wrote their album Atlas, released in 2014. They added songs from the album like Crime, 'April’s Song', and 'Had to Hear' from the Atlas album to commemorate their time in the city. The band also moved up 'Talking Backwards' from the encore to the main set.
The latest addition to the band, drummer Sammi Niss, did a wonderful job, and looked like she was having a great time on stage with the other performers. Another memorable moment of the performance was when the lead singer and guitarist Martin Courtney had a dead cord. While they were looking for a replacement, the rest of the band members put on a seemingly improvised lo-fi riff which was breezy and coordinated, it revealed that even though the band has a laid-back style, every member is an expert on their instrument. After the new cord was plugged in, bassist Alex Bleeker said thanks and dubbed the riff the “dead Cord Jam” which the audience loved. Close to the end of the set, the band played their song 'It's Real' and had the crowd scream the chorus as loud as they could, filling the space with joy and love for the performers, the song is still in their top 5 on Spotify despite releasing over 10 years ago.
The range of ages in the crowd was pretty diverse. Real Estate definitely connects with both old and younger fans, the whole audience was smiling and grooving to the music. Because the band has been around for 16 years, all of the members have many other things that take up a lot of their time, Martin is also a part of the band Predator Vision with Etienne. The guitarist Matthew is a part of the band Ducktails. and the bassist Alex Bleeker is in another band called Alex Bleeker and the Freaks. But it was great to see the band back together, dancing along to their new lyrics like “We moved up here a year ago/ I'm starting to feel right/ I'm gathering material and holding it to the light” as the lights flashed through the smoke and crowd sang along, knowing the lyrics by heart.