For those who like their indie rock both sweet and sour, you can always count on The Drums to put on a loud, lively and emotionally powerful show. With magnetic frontman Jonny Pierce at the helm, the Brooklyn-based band has experienced a successful, if not rocky, evolution since first performing together in 2009 in NYC. The Drums have been busy on the road every single year since, even while enduring lineup shifts. Still, Pierce has always managed to bring his heart and soul to the stage, from the band's first big shows in the U.S. and across the pond in the U.K. to multiple major festival appearances at Coachella (in 2011 and 2018), Outside Lands (in 2015) and Lollapalooza (in 2011 and 2017). He continues on with The Drums name - and signature style - touring the U.S. in support of the band's fifth album, 2019's Brutalism.

The Drums in Concert

The Drums have been helping keep indie rock alive and raw since 2009, when childhood buddies Jonathan Pierce and Jacob Graham moved to Brooklyn, added drummer Connor Hanwick and guitarist Adam Kessler, and soon took the band to an international level. While their career seemed to take off rather quickly, it was actually several years in the making. Pierce and Graham first met at bible camp during their pre-teen years and hit it off with a mutual adoration for synth-pop. They started the short-lived band Elkland, in New York, but after that project dissolved, the two moved down to Florida, where the seeds for The Drums began to form. It wasn't until they relocated to Brooklyn, though, that the band took off. Their debut EP, 2009's Summertime!, caught on with the American and British press, especially the catchy surf-pop single "Let's Go Surfing." Their self-titled debut album followed the next year and peaked at No. 17 on the U.S. Heatseekers chart. Only one more year would pass before they released their sophomore album, Portamento, and took to the road for a busy world tour. But by this point, the lineup was starting to crumble. Kessler had already left the band and soon Hanwick would as well. Pierce and Graham kept the group going for 2014's Encyclopedia. Then, in 2017, Graham announced his departure, as frontman Pierce took on the full job of writing and producing The Drums' fourth album, Abysmal Thoughts. Though he's become the last remaining member of The Drums, Pierce has continued to keep the band's synth-lined aesthetic intact as his songwriting has turned more poignant and personal, especially on the 2019 album Brutalism.