Diarrhea Planet Were Back at Brighton Bar with Music Band, The Battery Electric, and Trans Charger Metropolis, 11/18/15

If You Build It

The first time I saw Diarrhea Planet at Brighton Bar (my second time seeing them in the area), I think there were maybe 8 people in the place not counting employees. It was a warm Tuesday night, and Gentleman Jim and I headed over from his old trivia night at Red Bank's Downtown. The band were all smiles about it, extremely gracious after the set, and looking forward to the next show at a basement in New Brunswick on Wednesday.

Since then, Diarrhea Planet have done what I wish more touring bands at their level would do. They've kept coming back. Two or three more shows at Asbury Lanes. A show back at Brighton with JEFF The Brotherhood, and Wednesday night's show. I'm going to say that there were maybe 100-150 people in the bar on Wednesday. A good chunk of them crowded in front of the stage for the Nashville band's set and sang along with even the new songs.

Music Band, Diarrhea Planet's Nashville paisanos, took advantage of the large-for-a-Wednesday crowd and did an impressive set of their un-Googlable garage / psych rock. Local openers Trans Charger Metropolis and The Battery Electric had a hand in upping the turnout, and both bands did what they do -- Trans Charger's Justin Normandy throwing in plenty of Pollard-eque leg kicks and Battery's Ron Santee coaxing the crowd closer and closer to the stage.

Diarrhea Planet were all-out with their orchestral guitar rock from the beginning of their set until the last strains of their cover of AC/DC's "Thunderstruck." The crowd went all-out right along with them, at one point hoisting frontman Jordan Smith over their heads for a little crowd surf. A couple of years ago that would have been an impossible move.

It's nice to see a band's work to build a following outside of their hometown and the big cities pay off. It can't be an easy thing, but it looks like Diarrhea Planet have built themselves a nice little midweek tour stop on the Jersey Shore.

Links to pics of all the sets are below.