The youthful exuberance and the huge guitar sound of Surfer Blood took over the main floor of the Rock & Roll Hotel last night. Lead singer John Paul Pitts did all he could to ensure there was no boundary between band and audience on what was his 24th birthday. He left the stage more than once to sing to crowd members, and let crowd members sing to him, while keeping the entire room rapt. Surfer Blood is a young band, but they already have that great combo of stage presence and strong tunes that sound as good live as they do on record.

(More photos from the set can be seen here.)