Friends of INOHA clustered near the front of the BMI Stage Saturday as the band prepared to represent San Antonio at the Austin City Music Festival.
“Great show,” one called out after a short sound check.
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By the time the four-piece rock band was several songs into its 1:30 p.m set, that cluster had grown into a crowd of a few hundred, and front man Keanu Bicol had them dancing in the sweltering heat.
“We’re INOHA from San Antonio, Texas,” Bicol said. “This is our first ever festival ever.”
The band was clearly as excited to be at the festival as their fans. At one point, Bicol had to stop to plug his guitar effects pedals back in because he “got too hyper.”
Fans cheer for INOHA Saturdya afternoon at Zilker Park. (Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman)
INOHA is an acronym for In Need of Her Affection, which sounds emo enough, and the band’s songs do dig into personal matters. But with Bicol and guitarist Gavin Gonzales riffing more than they played leads, and a booming rhythm section of bass player Chris Young and drummer Ricky Juarez, INOHA also wants to get people moving. Their records – the debut album “Aloha INOHA” and a pair of EPs, the new “Chance 2 Dance” and “The Next Stop” – can be breezy, but live the band sounded more like a New Wave club act.
If you’re counting, this baby band has released a lot of music in its three-year existence. Their hourlong set was full of crowd-pleasers, such as their best known song, “Seventh Heaven,” which has 81 million streams on Spotify; “Cabaret,” which had fans singing along; “Saturday Night” (not the Bay City Rollers song but almost as catchy); and “GESHUOH,” which could be a Smiths outtake.
INOHA isn’t the first San Antonio band to play the BMI Stage, which is known as a launching pad for young acts. Two Tons of Steel hit the stage in 2010. It also has hosted early performances by Alessia Cara, Maren Morris and Lucy Dacus.
INOHA isn’t playing the festival’s second weekend, at least not on festival grounds. They have an ACL Fest Nights show Friday at 3TEN ACL Live with another San Antonio band, Wild Party.
This article originally published at INOHA represents San Antonio at the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
