Felix Tandem Fun Tour Fact for True Fans #5: The members of Felix Tandem did not realize how cold it would be during their tour in late February 2025. It’s supposed to get warmer the further south you go, right?
We started our day by posting up at Chattanooga’s Mean Mug Coffeehouse near Grash’s house and each doing some work for our respective jobs. I tried a pistachio latte, which was honestly not my favorite beverage but an interesting mixture of flavors nonetheless.
I wrapped my work a bit before my bandmates and went for a walk to some nearby stores in the Northshore area. I spent the most time at Gearhead Outfitters, which had some great fleece vests on sale. I would have bought one if they’d had my size. Later in the night, I wished I’d bought a slightly-too-small one anyway (see FTFTFTF #5).
We said goodbye to Chattanooga and began the drive to Atlanta. I appreciate Joel’s willingness to offer his car and to drive on this weekend tour, as the traffic in Atlanta ended up just as annoying as everyone says it is. We broke up the trip with a stop for lunch and another work break at Taziki’s in Kennesaw. If you’re in the market for solid if unremarkable Mediterranean food, this Birmingham-based chain has your back.
We found out very late Thursday night that there was a venue change for our Atlanta show and that we’d now be playing outdoors as temperatures fell below 40 degrees. This was not ideal, but I started to feel more optimistic when we arrived at the house venue and met our hosts, the GT Musician’s Network. This is a student-led organization that’s put on shows at Georgia Institute of Technology since 1994 and has hosted such bands as Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, Jimmy Eat World and The Protomen.
Not to sound old or like a college orientation leader — I am not old and am no longer an orientation leader — but there’s something so invigorating about seeing college students work really hard to create something awesome, whether that’s an academic project, a newspaper or, in this case, a music scene. We appreciate the efforts of GTMN leader Dion and everyone who set up a fairly complex stage in a backyard with little notice. The house was very cool, too, with a fun CRT TV art installation that made for very cool photos.
It was starting to get chilly by the time the five-band gig kicked off, but GT’s own The Dean Scream heated things up with some Blink-182-tinged pop punk. They pulled off the dual singer approach really well, and I only just realized while writing that their name refers to the gaffe that doomed 2004 presidential hopeful Howard Dean’s shot at the White House. Neat!
Joel and I caught the first part of Janie Danger’s hardcore punk set before heading to solve two problems: We were hungry, and we were getting chilly. We solved both problems at a nearby Super Walmart. The truly colossal outpost of this national chain not only had shakeable handwarmers to help us keep feeling in our hands during the set, but it also housed an astonishingly well-reviewed Subway. We picked up some sandwiches to consume after our set and got back in time to set up for our set. The sandwiches, we’d later find out, lived up to the five-star reviews.
Remember FTFTFTF #5? It was about 37 degrees when we hit the stage, and Max and I decided to strike a few songs from our normal set to avoid playing complicated solos with chilly little fingers. We were still a bit nervous: The crowd had been great all night, but would we put on as good a show as we always strive to?
I think we did! We got an early encouraging sign when we played “Broadcast,” a fun, Beatles-y power pop number that crowds normally bop their heads to. The Georgia Tech crowd decided it was the perfect soundtrack for absolutely raging, which was confounding but amazing.
I spent the first part of the set fighting with my beanie. It kept either sliding down to completely cover my eyes or falling completely off, causing my hair to completely cover my eyes.
FTFTFTF #6: Bassist Cole Villena prefers to perform without hair, beanies or other objects completely covering his eyes.
I eventually asked for a brief pause and said “I’m going to take this beanie off and use a hair tie.” Someone in the crowd asked, “Do you need a hair tie?” Max thought they asked, “Are you playing ‘Airtime?’” and after a few seconds of more hilarious banter, we decided to add the song “Airtime” back to the set.
It might have been my favorite performance of this less-often-played track, even if my chilly fingers meant I botched some parts toward the bridge. Who cares! The crowd sang loud and rocked hard. We had fun. By the time we wrapped up with “Shoplifter,” I’d completely forgotten about the cold.
I was really encouraged by the scene that welcomed us to Atlanta. Los Gargoyles and Buice kept things rolling with back-to-back sets of noise rock, and I appreciated the latter band’s choice to project the title screen for Pokémon SoulSilver behind them as they set up. Everyone we spoke to was incredibly welcoming and complimentary, and we hope to be back soon.
Our accommodations for the night came courtesy of Max’s family friend Steve, who welcomed us into a home where we could sleep in real beds and even take showers in the morning. We had an enlightening conversation with Steve about modern society, artificial intelligence and his dog, Ringo, and I went to sleep with both a warm heart and a warm body.