The Hi Hat: Letters to Cleo with American Hi-Fi

I usually head out to The Hi Hat for local bands. This was perhaps the first time I went to The Hi Hat to see a touring band. Actually, that might not be a totally true statement. Letters to Cleo is from Boston; however, as I noticed via a comment from the band on someone's Instagram account: 3 of the 5 band members live in Los Angeles. So at this point, are they a Los Angeles band?

Letters to Cleo formed in the 1990s. From there (per Wikipedia), they've gone on various lengths of hiatuses. Even through these breaks in time, they kept their fan base intact. The Hi Hat was packed with fans. And if one had no clue who Letters to Cleo are, you could get a good idea of their sound via the various t-shifts that were worn: Ramones, Pixies and even a local band, Spare Parts for Broken Hearts.

Letters to Cleo

Their alternative rock sounds had the crowd thrilled from the start and throughout their 14 song set along with an extra 2 encores. The songs ranged across the albums: "Demon Rock," "Fast Way," "Find You Dead," "I'm a Fool," "Jennifer," "Pizza Cutter,""Veda Very Shining," "Jennifer," "Pizza Cutter."

Letters to Cleo

And, of course, for an encore they played a song that "they only played once during a practice session," which was "Cruel to Be Kind."

Moment of the set: Kay, lead singer, mentioned that she was feeling a bit uncomfortable as she was playing the set with short hair. The crowd was having none of it. The music for them was the most important part of the night -- not hairstyles.

Letters to Cleo

American Hi-Fi opened the night with some Boston punk. Lead singer Stacy just knows how to pump the crowd up. Fans had their fists in the air. Stacy actually did double duty for the night. He also played drums for Letters to Cleo. He is also one of the 3 band members of Letter to Cleo who lives in Los Angeles. He admitted that he had mixed feelings during the World Series: Red Sox or Dodgers. In the end, he cheered for the Dodgers. Of course, considering Letters to Cleo and American Hi-Fi are playing in Boston on November 16th, I'm not sure that was something to admit.

American Hi-Fi