Erika Mugglin
Spaceface
Jake Ingalls is a jet setter. When he isn’t touring the world with The Flaming Lips, he’s hitting the road in a short, yellow school-turned-tour bus with his own band Spaceface. Last week, the band embarked on a seven-day tour that ends this Friday with a hometown show at Minglewood Hall, where they will open for dream pop New York natives Phantogram. Spaceface formed in 2012 and has since been touring extensively to build a regional fan base. They even made their way to this year’s Hangout Fest in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and were put on stage by The Lips to play an unexpected set.
Spaceface at Minglewood Friday Night
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In the digital age, there is a new band on the radar every week, and it’s hard to find anything that stands out. But in a pool of up-and-coming bands that blend together, Spaceface has fused psychedelic rock ‘n roll with pop in a way that makes them – dare it be said – unique.
But it isn’t just bassist Matt Strong and drummer Victor Quin “Caveman” Hill’s groovy rhythm section, Eric Martin’s washed out guitars, Ingalls’ trippy vocals or Peter Armstrong’s spacey keyboards that will pull you in. When Spaceface loads in for a show, they don’t just bring their gear. The band carries an extravagant light show to every gig, and when they take the stage, the guitarists have lasers attached to the necks of their instruments. A sixth member, Daniel “Big Red” Quinlan, operates hundreds of multi-colored bulbs, lasers, LED rope lights and whatever else the band can get their hands on from side stage. A Spaceface show is as much a production as it is a performance. The band has stolen the light show typical of an arena rock act and made it their own in hopes that they can give showgoers the most for their money.
Phantogram and Spaceface have more common ground than just playing the same show in the same city on the same night. Recently, The Flaming Lips announced that they would be releasing a full-album cover of The Beatles’ iconic Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band titled With a Little Help From My Fwends. The Lennon-McCartney classic “She’s Leaving Home” will be a collaboration featuring Spaceface, Phantogram, and Julianna Barwick.
The last time they were inside of Minglewood Hall, Spaceface played a show at The 1884 Lounge. On Friday, they will play the main stage for the first time. Every venue has different standards when it comes to Spaceface’s expansive light show, and it will be interesting to see if they will use all, or any, of it in the midst of Minglewood’s already stacked LED light system.
