The Somerville band Hush Club’s sold-out concert at The Sinclair on Sept. 8 gives a glimpse at one way a band builds and keeps a fanbase: After an hourlong set, fans flooded Lizzy’s Ice Cream and enjoyed free scoops with the band across Church Street in Cambridge.
“Lizzy’s After Dark,” as the band called it, was a way to thank and connect with fans. Sharing food with their audience is more like throwing a party than spending money, band members said, in part because they know how to do it – by getting discounts from local businesses in return for bringing by new customers. (Lizzy’s owner Phil Rizzuto said before the show that he agreed to the idea in part because it was “a good opportunity to connect with the customer base.”)
Fans flooded in after Hush Club played to trade their “ice cream afterparty pass” for a scoop. The shop is a small storefront with a lone table for two outside, so fans made for a steady flow over more than 20 minutes to collect the ice cream. Containers were scattered across counters from large bags as a sole worker went back and forth from the freezer to replenish the ice cream and spoon supply.
Band members Alasdair MacKenzie, the bassist and vocalist, guitarist Chris Haley and keyboardist Liz Kantor were surrounded by fans wanting a chance to meet them and get an autograph as they spread out across the sidewalk with ice cream, leaning up against the dark windows of neighboring businesses and perching themselves on planters before returning to throw their cups away in the shop’s one trash can.
That wasn’t the end of the band’s engagement, since during their set they had thrown disposable cameras into the crowd and asked audience members to photograph themselves enjoying the show. The cameras were returned to the band so the photos could be posted on their Instagram in the coming weeks.
Two days after the concert, Hush Club posted a TikTok video showing a bag of leftover ice cream in their freezer. “If you send us proof that you saved this video, we’ll invite you over to eat it with us,” said the band.
The band had posted a similar video the previous year. In that one, members made homemade pizzas, which led to them inviting about a dozen fans to their apartment to share a feast. That led to a growing demand for pizza by Hush Club fans, so the band decided to treat their Brighton Music Hall audience to Graffiti Pizza in January.
The personal touch seems to pay off. “We’ve definitely seen more people following us online and coming to our shows in the past year,” the band said in an emailed reply to questions. “It’s hard to know exactly what makes someone like a video or buy a ticket,” but the band senses “people are into the music and the feeling of community they get from our shows.”
During the show, band members take note of audience members wearing Hush Club T-shirts and holding handmade signs. Spotting four Lesly University students displayed a handmade Hush Club sign from the front row Sept. 8, Haley credited the maker by name: “Give it up for Adrian’s sign.”
More traditionally, Hush Club taught the audience part of their latest song “Movie” so everyone could sing along. Haley asked the crowd to clap along to “The Moon.” The band ended their set by prompting the crowd to hit the high note in “Caroline” – and drove home the fact they’re locals.
“The Caroline that this song is about lives in Central Square,” Kantor said. “Sing it so loud she can hear it.”
Hush Club was brought back to the stage for an encore by a chanting audience and performed “Treasure” by Bruno Mars their friend Zach Blankstein of the band Couch and with Will Leet, who opened the show with the band Photo Negative.
The band’s instincts are sound. Lua, who attended the concert with her friend Natalie (neither gave a last name), said she was there Sept. 8 because she “wanted to go to one last show in Boston” before she moves out of town. They “loved” getting ice cream after the show and wished “every concert was like this.”
It also made an impact elsewhere on the bill. Photo Negative guitarist Matty Hogan said he wished more bands would host their audiences for “a personal, down-to-earth meet and greet” after shows.
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.