Concert Review: Hotel Fiction at Aisle 5

The Georgia natives return home to Atlanta to headline Aisle 5. Their last appearance was with Adam Melchor at Terminal West. The indie pop/rockers have been making waves as they travel the country. The band also just released their debut album last fall, Soft Focus.

Always the performative bunch, the band electrified the crowd. The quintet got rowdy and the crowd got rowdier. Dances, singalongs, and smiles were everywhere you looked. Hotel Fiction's shows have a way of bringing so much joy and friendliness into a room.

While Hotel Fiction is technically just the duo of Jade Ireland (vocals, keys) and Jess Thomas (guitar, vocals), the band is joined by a rotating cast of musicians. Aaron Daugherty was on rhythm guitar, Cannon Rogers of Cannon and the Boxes joined the band on bass guitar, and Karmen Smith, of CLOUDLAND, backed them up with drums.

The band sounded as good as ever. Despite the rotating cast of backline, they were synchronized and tight. The band was fresh off a show in Nashville with HAPPY LANDING and eager to get back to touring after postponing a handful of dates. Their blend of alternative rock and indie pop layered on top of emotionally hopefully lyrics is more than enough to get you engaged. 

WEGL's big fans of Hotel Fiction, the band has performed in our studio and was set to play Tigerfest last August before rain cancelled their set. 

Hotel Fiction is great for fans of Phoebe Bridgers, Soccer Mommy, and Julien Baker.

With only nine songs officially out in the world, you might think Hotel Fiction wouldn't have a ton to play. Crazily enough, the band only played four of these songs. Most of their set consisted of new cuts the band has been testing out, "Man on the Moon," "Monster," and "F U Jess" are crowd favorites that have yet to be released. In fact, many in the crowd were singing along to these songs, not an easy feat for unreleased songs. The full setlist is below;

          1. Think Twice

          2. Athens, GA

          3. Out of My Head

          4. Man on the Moon

          5. Soft Focus

          6. I Like You Around

          7. Monster

          8. F U Jess

          9. Astronaut Kids

          10. To the Moon

          11. Allure

          -

          12. All These Things That I've Been Done (The Killers cover)

Hotel Fiction has a busy run of shows coming up, opening for national acts like Proxima Parada and SUSTO, as well as a couple of headlining shows. They hit the stages again in just over two weeks to headline their hometown at The Georgia Theatre, their biggest show to date.  

          2/18 Athens, GA — The Georgia Theatre^

          3/02 Portsmouth, NH — Press Room*

          3/03 Cambridge, MA — Middle East Downstairs*

          3/04 New York, NY — Mercury Lounge*

          3/05 Washington D.C. — Pearl Street Warehouse*

          3/06 Richmond, VA — The Camel*

          3/10 Charleston, SC — Royal American*

          3/11 Charolette, NC — The Evening Muse*

          3/12 Savannah, GA — Savannah Stopover Festival

          3/25 Oxford, MS — Proud Larry's~

          3/26 Jackson, MS — Duling Hall~

          4/02 Denver, CO — Globe Hall+

          4/03 Denver, CO — Globe Hall+

          4/06 Davenport, IA — Racoon Motel+

          4/07 Davenport, IA — Racoon Motel+

          4/16 Gainesville, FL — High Dive<

          ^ with Nordista Freeze

          * supporting Proxima Parada

          ~ supporting HAPPY LANDING

          + supporting SUSTO

          < with The 502s and Driveaway

Now is the time to hop on the Hotel Fiction bandwagon. They're going to be one of those bands you flex to your friends for knowing before they were big.