The Shackletons, an indie rock trio of brothers, and opener Lovehouse, another indie rock band, performed on Jan. 20 in the main foyer hall of the Depot. The concert, organized by the newly-rebranded Road Salt Radio as the kickoff to their new identity, was fantastic.

The first hour or so of the concert, which - on paper- began at 8 p.m., had Lovehouse performing as the opening band. The audience sang aloud to most of the songs performed loud enough to be audible at the coat-check counter, which I was stationed across from, and two audience-suggested renditions of Radiohead’s Creep, the latter of which had someone from the audience come up and sing. I’m told there were a few small-scale mosh pits during the opening act, foreshadowing the coming activities.

Following Lovehouse ending their set, another member of Road Salt Radio and I made off from the t-shirt booth into the foyer. By this time a good deal of the free CDs we had set around tables toward the back of the hall were gone or had become coasters, and various chairs and couches we had moved to the back were being used by those who needed to rest, catching their breath away from the mob. Enough dust, salt, and shoe scuffs had littered the floors, changing the wood to a dirty-white color.

Finally, The Shackletons came on. Pitch-black windows surrounded the stage, but the foyer’s floodlights kept the room well-lit, or at the very least evenly lit. The resulting atmosphere was interesting, to say the least. A crowd, primarily of college students, flooded the hall from just in front of the stage to the couches and bar in the far back corners.

The brothers, Colin, Cameron, and Evan performed a mix of originals off of their 2021 self-titled album and their preceding EPs, “The Horizon Lines” and “Second Attempt,” along with a handful of covers. By the first or second song, a large opening along the barricade formed between the audience and the stage. Those who had been standing in its space declared it to be reserved for moshing. This pit was immediately filled every time an even remotely loud, busy or “yell-y” song was performed.

It’s hard to pick out highlights from their performance, save one -which I’ll get to in a moment. Not in the “none of them are notable” way, but just the opposite. Not having been all too familiar with the band before the concert, I couldn’t recognize many of the songs’ live renditions off the bat, save for a few whose choruses were just the names, sung in near-unison by the band and much of the audience. As an unfamiliar fan though, I found that the highlights were “Minnesota Girls,” “Exactly What It Looks Like” and “The Cartographer.”

But the key highlight of the night, built up during their whole performance. One of the most repeated requests from the audience, whether jokingly or sincerely, was to perform Weezer, no song in particular, just Weezer. Eventually, the band conceded, and lead vocalist Colin said they’d perform a song of theirs so long as someone from the audience knew one and could sing with them. I cannot stress enough how immediately my friend and fellow Road Salt Radio member, Gavin Orson, sprinted onto the stage. He was preparing to run or jump since the start of their concession monologue, and those around him almost instinctively made room for him. The resulting performance, a screaming rendition of “My Name Is Jonas,” sung along to and adoringly screamed at by much of the audience, was a major highlight of the night, to the band’s sarcastic dismay.

“Now all they want to hear is Weezer,” one of the brothers said after the song was over, as the band joked about the insistence of that particular request.

The tone largely mellowed out for the rest of the concert, save for a few last mosh-pit-fueling songs. At this point, much of the audience had tuckered out or opted toward activities in place of moshing, ranging from the macarena to do-si-doing which is to say the concert was a success. The final highlight from after the show was some people sharing anecdotes explaining what wall, room, bathroom stall, or drinking fountain they had taken their concert posters from.

The Shackletons and Road Salt Radio are in discussions for potentially collaborating again. The Shackletons can be found on the usual streaming platforms, and their work is absolutely good enough to beat any retroactively fomo-fueled “man this must sound so much better live” worries. Road Salt Radio is the nighttime segment of The North, formerly The Basement and KUMD respectively, and can be listened to from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. most nights via radio (103.3 fm) or via their website.

“Now all they want to hear is Weezer;” The Shackletons Concert Retrospective