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New York indie rock band Ra Ra Riot coming to Vilar Center at Beaver Creek

Daily staff report
newsroom@vaildaily.com
Ra Ra Riot started in 2006 in Syracuse, New York, where they played house parties and venues near Syracuse University.
Nicole Busch | Special to the Daily

If you go ...

What: Ra Ra Riot perform.

Where: Vilar Performing Arts Center, Beaver Creek.

When: Saturday, July 14, 8 p.m.

Cost: $48 for general admission.

More information: Tickets go on sale May 8 at http://www.vilarpac.org.

BEAVER CREEK — Though they’re a dozen years in now, in many ways American indie pop band Ra Ra Riot is just getting started.

This much is clear after listening to the band’s fourth full-length album, “Need Your Light.” Ra Ra Riot is still in touch with its house-party roots even as it continuously evolves and brings its energetic live show to the Vilar Performing Arts Center on Saturday, July 14, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $48 (general admission) and are available beginning Tuesday, May 8, at the Vilar Center box office, by calling 970-845-8497 or visiting http://www.vilarpac.org.

The Vilar Center is located under the ice rink in Beaver Creek Village.



House Party in Vilar Center

Ra Ra Riot originated in Syracuse, New York, in 2006 where they played house parties and venues near Syracuse University. Like most groups of college friends, the five members — vocalist Wes Miles, bassist Mathieu Santos, guitarist Milo Bonacci, violinist Rebecca Zeller and drummer Kenny Bernard — are now dispersed throughout the country and heading into their 30s — and all that decade brings.

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The group planned to take an extended break after the year-and-a-half they spent on the road in support of “Beta Love” (2013), but within a few months they were drawn back to creating music.

While making “Need Your Light,” which dropped in 2016, they worked with a slew of previous collaborators, including Ryan Hadlock (who produced 2008’s debut “The Rhumb Line”); longtime friend and sound engineer Andrew Maury (who co-produced 2010’s “The Orchard”); and Vampire Weekend producer Rostam (who is also half of the avant garde R&B duo Discovery alongside Miles). The result is a “sweet spot” of a record with a “bright synth-pop sound not far from Passion Pit,” according to Pitchfork.

It’s also just slightly more grown-up — just like the band itself is these days. But having fun and connecting with audiences is still very much the goal. In fact the band even did a short tour of warehouses and basements to get back in touch with their roots and remind them of why they began making music together in the first place before they went into the studio to record “Need Your Light.”

“Because we started as a house party band, we never wanted to lose sight of having fun and engaging with the audience through visceral live shows,” Santos said.

Back on tour with an evolved sound, the group is well known coast to coast for their incendiary live performances which frequently transcend categorization. Rolling Stone has put the group on their “Artists to Watch” list and have said, “New York whiz kids cook up winning set of triumphant chamber pop.” Chamber pop, indie rock, baroque pop, whatever you try to classify their sound as doesn’t quite do them the full justice of their unique sound.

For more information and tickets, visit http://www.vilarpac.org or the Vilar Center box office at Beaver Creek.


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