Earlier this year, Ra Ra Riot’s cellist Alexandra Lawn’s left the band, adding more drama to the shifting arrangement of band members. Gasparilla was their first performance without Lawn, but that did not alter the band’s performance. Having their two previous albums The Rhumb Line and The Orchard behind them, Syracuse’s chamber pop sextet has begun recording their junior release.
Making the show even more unique for the band, Wesley Miles announced that this was their longest set to date. Playing for nearly two hours, the band’s music had matured without feeling boring or drawn out. Ra Ra Riot dusted off old favorites from The Orchard like “Boy” and “Too Dramatic”, as well as trying out new tracks from their upcoming album.
Ra Ra Riot’s performance was just the nightcap that the crowd needed.
Watch our interview with bassist Matt Santos, as he fills us in on the band’s plans for 2012.