Las Vegas Mixtape v23: Hawaii Street Food, Disco Ecstasy, and Feel-Good Mochi Donuts

Track #4: The Frights and Surely Tempo @The Portal inside AREA15

The Portal venue inside AREA15 is a distinctive place to see musical acts perform—its 360-degree projection-mapped room envelops concertgoers with swirling imagery (like a mini-Sphere). While the visuals were not elaborate for a recent show by two Southern CA bands—The Frights (San Diego) and Surely Tempo (Santa Ana)—it was still worthwhile to see these proudly indie rockers play in this ballroom-like space where a sizeable young crowd moved about freely.

Noisy headliners the Frights formed in 2012 and released their released their fifth album “Gallows Humour” this past March. A decidedly unslick band like The Frights, with their joyous composite of indie, punk, and emo (try “Over It”), underline how important it is to keep edgy guitar-centric rock alive and well. Hope they stick around, although a post in all caps on their Instagram—which in part reads, “LAST SHOW FOR A LONG TIME!”—shrouds their future in mystery.

Surely Tempo creates a bass-heavy, hypnotic sound with Cure-like shadowy guitar lines and pumps it up with breakneck rhythms that went over strongly with the crowd. They’ve released two albums, various EP’s, and singles including the recent track “Here We Go.” The foursome is introspective and dialed into an audience who want a band that soundtracks their hopes and fears, as illustrated by the title of the group’s 2020 debut album, “Days So Bitter, Yet So Sweet.”