Briston Maroney and his band showered Hi Fi Indy with an electric performance on Saturday October 5th, 2024.
Fountain Square in Indianapolis welcomed Briston Maroney with open arms. Hi Fi’s intimate outdoor venue held an impressive general admission crowd. After speaking with fans at the stage barricade, some said they had been waiting in line since 12:00 pm that day, awaiting Briston’s stage appearance at 8:00pm that night. Fountain Square is such a hipster area of Indy, such as broad ripple and more parts of downtown. The general vibe of Briston’s discography fit perfectly with the location of the venue. It felt like the stars aligned.
Briston appeared on stage around 8:00 that night, surrounded by eclectic stage decor. Including shimmering streamers, and cartoon inflatables. He opened his set with the second track “Body” off his most recent 2023 studio album Ultrapure. I really liked this song as an opener for the live show and the record as a whole. Briston’s lyricism in this track is a reminder to the audience of our mortality – and to cherish each moment for as long as you. It set the tone for the whole night, asking fans to fully embrace the show.
After “Body” ended, Maroney went straight into his hit “Small Talk” off his 2019 EP Indiana. “Small Talk” is one of my favorite songs from Briston, and I’m sure other fans would agree with me. While Maroney was performing this song, I was in the photo pit – and let me tell you I was struggling not to fangirl in that moment.
Briston announced to the crowd that his little siblings were at the show. Briston was born in Florida and bounced around a couple different states before his career took off. Fun fact, he auditioned for American Idol at 15 years old in 2013.
Maroney’s light show was impressive – adding texture to his stage presence and really enhancing the shimmery stage decorations. Briston’s regular bassist was out of town the night of the show, so the tour guitar tech Sean McPugh took over as bassist and had an amazing performance. It also happened to be his birthday!
My favorite performance from Briston at his Indianapolis show was his single “Paradise” This song is Maroney’s most impressive rock performance. The crowd was completely engrossed in the song. The live performance of this song was life changing, it is one of those songs where you just have to put your phone in your pocket, and scream along with everyone beside you. It was absolutely insane.
One of the final performances of the night before the encore was Maroney’s hit single “Freakin’ Out On The Interstate”.” This song took off after it was used on multiple social media platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram. Again, this was another one of those performances that you just had to be there for. His most iconic song was loudly sung by a passionate crowd. Briston has the magical (and necessary) ability of displaying emotion while singing. When you are close up – His eyes are almost closed for the entirety of each song. You can tell he is truly feeling the words coming from his mouth and going into the microphone.
Hopefully in the next couple years we will see more from Maroney. As a fan, it was exciting to see his release of his single “Monday” late september. Hopefully an album is coming in the near future. Briston Maroney’s show was incredible, and is a core memory for every indie kid who used to scream “Freakin Out On The Interstate” when they first got their license. He is still climbing the mountain as a performer and will one day be a household name.
Written and Photos by Ella Absher
