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Student Engagement

Vinyl Theatre w/ Royal Teeth & The Catching

September 21, 2018, 8:00 PM

Contact: Angela & Matt (mshop@iastate.edu)
The Maintenance Shop

Doors open at 7:30pm 
$15 ($10 w/ ISU student ID) in advance

scroll down for additional ticket info

Genre: Indie Rock | For Fans Of: COIN, Bad Suns, Smallpools, Misterwives, Flor, Hippo Campus

Vinyl Theatere image

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A piece of paper may seem flimsy, but once it’s folded into something it becomes stronger, its weakness suddenly transformed. That’s true for people, too: Once you recognize your weaknesses you can shift them to become your strengths. You can become like that piece of once-flimsy paper, now folded into origami. That’s the premise behind Vinyl Theatre’s dynamic second album, which takes the title Origami to represent the idea that you have the power to reform your personal limitations.

The Milwaukee trio started writing the new music shortly after finishing their 2014 debut album Electrogram, their first release for Fueled By Ramen. The musicians found themselves deep in thought while touring the country extensively over the past two years, reconsidering how they wanted to project their ideas through their songs. The goal of Origami was to tell a cohesive story, rather than just gather tracks together, and Vinyl Theatre wrote nearly 40 songs, beginning with one called “My Fault,” which encapsulates the main message of the record.

The musicians mostly wrote between tours, finding time off the road to focus on the new music. Only one track, “Pull Your Weight,” was written in a hotel room in Pennsylvania while on tour. There was an emphasis on growth this time around, a desire to push beyond what the group achieved with Electrogram.

The final album spans nine songs, each of which reveals a thoughtful message in its lyrics. “30 Seconds,” a propulsive rocker, is about the brevity of life and how amazing it is that we get any time here at all. The hopeful song asserts that we have a birth date and a death date, but what’s really important is that dash in between them. “New Machines,” a surging, layered number, embraces a new sound for Vinyl Theatre. The compelling song asks whether there’s an end to knowledge, exploring ideas of spirituality and how important it is to keep searching for new ideas. It feels like the band’s most thought-provoking and mature song to date. That sense of imagination and open-minded consideration is an important facet to Origami overall.

Origami marks a massive growth for Vinyl Theatre. The guys originally started writing songs together nine years ago via Skype, but didn’t officially form as a band until a few years back when they unveiled their Chromatic EP in the summer of 2014. Since the release of Electrogram a few months later, the band has toured with Twenty One Pilots, Smallpools, The Mowgli’s, and Dashboard Confessional among others, and headlined Summerfest in their hometown of Milwaukee. Being on the road so much has pushed the musicians to become even better, which is reflected in the new songs. They’re driven by a sense of pride in their work, always aiming to do more and to create music that is hopeful and encouraging to those who listen. For them, Origami is about embracing who you are and using that knowledge to become stronger.

Indie dance pop band Royal Teeth will support the show and pop rockers The Catching will open.

TICKETS: $15 ($10 w/ ISU Student ID) in advance | $2 increase day of show

-- Click Here To Purchase Tickets Online --

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Purchase tickets in person at the M-Shop Box Office or over the phone at 515-294-8349 (M-F 11am-5pm).
A $1 service fee will be added to all telephone orders. Tickets also available online via MidwesTIX
A 3% service fee added to all online orders. 
All tickets are subject to an additional $2 MidwesTIX fee.
Most tickets increase $2 on the day of the show. Click here for full ticket information / policies.

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