NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
I can’t believe it’s been twenty five years since the Neon Trees’ debut album Habits was released and thrust the Utah indie-pop band into the spotlight. With the album and singles “Animal” and “1983” making waves on the Billboard charts, it seemed like you heard and saw (lead singer Tyler Glenn and his signature mohawk) the band wherever you went. Their second album Picture Show featured their bestselling single “Everybody Talks” and also hit 13 on the album charts. However, after the release of their 2014 record Pop Psychology and frontman Glenn coming out publicly as gay, the band took a break and, while Glenn’s 2016 solo record Excommunication was excellent and the band continued to tour (we last saw them in 2017), the Neon Trees started to fall off the pop radar. It didn’t help that when they released their fourth studio album I Can Feel You Forgetting Me (ironic), it was during the pandemic and subsequent lockdown and the marketing just wasn’t there. Four years later, Sink Your Teeth was released to mostly favorable reviews and Neon Trees have been touring in support of that record. This year, they added five more stops to the tour including Electric City in Buffalo. After not having seen them live since before COVID, I was looking forward to see how the band has evolved over the last several years.
Opening for the Neon Trees was Philadelphia based rock band The Tisburys who had just released their latest studio album A Still Life Revisited on Friday!! With four studio albums under their belts, the band still seems to be missing the hooks that will put them firmly on the map. I listed to the recent record and there weren’t any songs that made me absentmindedly tap my feet or nod my head. However, the band is solid and lead vocalist/guitarist Tyler Asay (yes, two Tylers for the price of one) did his utmost the get the crowd excited and engaged but it was in vain. Besides cheering a few times, the crowd looked very disinterested. My first thought during their set was that the crowd was only there to see the headliner but, after watching the Neon Trees set later, it was obvious that it was the Buffalo crowd. Nevertheless, the Tisburys’ ten song set was a nice if not terribly inspiring start to the show.
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When the Neon Trees hit the stage to a smattering of applause, Tyler Glenn immediately chided the Buffalo fans for being so quiet. For someone who feeds off the crowd’s energy, Glenn was going to have little to work with. But gone were the flashy outfits from earlier in their career as Glenn opted for black on black, with a leather jacket on top. Even his kicks were plain black boots. No more canary yellow leopard platform sneakers! Guitarist Chris Allen was similarly in black jeans with a leather jacket. No more bowties and his attire matched his seriousness. In fact, I’m not sure he broke a smile the whole set, which is very unusual for Allen. Drummer Elaine Bradley looked great as usual with a pink tank top and a bejeweled “necktie” hanging from her neck. Conspicuously missing was bassist Branden Campbell. In speaking to new bassist Denney Fuller, he mentioned that Campbell needed a break from touring, especially since he is the elder statesman in the band and he is devoting more time with his family. Makes total sense to me but we miss you Branden!! But going back to the crowd, there were people at the barricade that looked completely bored. It’s not clear to me why they came early just so they can take up space in front!?!? Look at this picture! I’d be pretty upset if I looked out onto the crowd and these guys were what I saw.
The Neon Trees kicked off their set with “Losing My Head” from their latest album, followed by “Nights” and “Used to Like” from their previous album I Can Feel You Forgetting Me. I have to say that, with “Songs I Can’t Listen To”, the band had still not given the audience any of their old hits to get them amped. Having been to ten Neon Trees shows, I was ecstatic to hear the new music but, for the casual fan (of which most of the crowd consisted, based on a show of hands) at their first Trees show, it gave them nothing familiar to hang their hat on. That is until the first strains Allen’s guitar presaged the intro of their 2010 hit single “Animal”. This finally woke the crowd a bit even though the reaction wasn’t as “animated” as I was used to from the Neon Trees’ shows in NYC. Even the thump thump thump beginning of “Lessons in Love” didn’t have the whole crowd dancing. Bizarro! They did a nice cover of the Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me”, which the audience actually seemed to know the lyrics to. Overall, the set was a decent mix of old and new, skewing towards their last two albums as you would expect. The last song of the night, “Everybody Talks”, finally had the crowd going nuts! THIS is what I expect from a Neon Trees crowd!
Overall, this was still a fun Neon Trees show but the crowd just wasn’t energetic, in turn reducing the band’s energy. I think part of the challenge for the band is that newer crowds in smaller cities may not have been to a lot of Neon Trees shows before and are there primarily for the hits. This is not to say the band should change anything since they are touring in support of their latest record. However, they may get similar reception like the one this night at other venues along the way…..or maybe it’s just Buffalo.
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