A Tiger Made of Lightning – DREAM TOUR

In this Dream Tour segment, the pop punk artist, A Tiger Made of Lightning, reveals who he would want on their ultimate tour lineup. You can check out their picks, after the break.

Thrice
I discovered Thrice during a weird place in my life – not a lot of direction, things not making much sense, not quite sure what my purpose was. I knew I wanted to make music but hadn’t quite found my voice yet, not exactly sure how to effectively express all the big feelings I had bubbling under the surface from my oppressively conservative upbringing. The Artist in the Ambulance was one of the first albums I ever heard where I realized you could write-heavy, emotional music that was just as hopeful and joyful as it was angry. As a bonus, I found my singing voice as I sang and screamed along in the car – Dustin’s vocal range is the same as mine. I find myself listening to these songs again since the feelings of confusion and uncertainty are very similar. It’s reminding me that I’m having a normal response to an abnormal situation, and to be kind to myself as I navigate my way through. Also, “Silhouette” is one of my all-time favorite songs.

Moving Mountains
Moving Mountains’ music hits me so hard. It’s where I wish Thrice would have gone after The Alchemy Index – lots of soaring post-rock arrangements over soft-to-roaring dynamic vocals. It’s aggressive and beautiful and moody and hopeful. Their album “Waves” is my personal favorite – it’s so sonically expansive that I know I can put it on when I’m overwhelmed and feel like I have the space to take deep, full breaths again.

IDLES
“Joy as an Act of Resistance” is one of my favorite albums ever. It definitely feels like we are all in the Darkest Timeline, and one of the most powerful things we can do to combat the darkness is to find joy despite it. Part of that joy is yelling a big “fuck you” to those institutions that profit from hurting others, whether it’s toxic masculinity or racism or homophobia. Part of it is also celebrating your friends, your mental and emotional health, the people you love, and your own sense of purpose. I just love the image I got the first time I saw IDLES live – a bunch of blue-collar tough guys going nuts on stage and unapologetically singing about super-progressive and empowering topics. This band inspires me more than I can adequately explain. I just want to throw myself into a mosh pit with all my friends and give them big sweaty hugs. Plus, I’d love to have some tea with Joe and talk about social issues and being dads.

Thursday
Early-to-mid-2000s emo/post-hardcore is where my musical heart is buried, and Thursday is one of the bands most responsible for putting it there. The hardcore and punk elements fused with the emotional rawness of Geoff’s lyrics get me all in my feelings in the best way. Watching bands like them is where I got my stage presence – not playing guitar so much as “wielding” it and singing as a way to rally people to screaming all the words like they’re part of the band, too.

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