Locally

Loved Julia Pox Continues to Expand Their Fan Base

Camelot, a locally-loved show house in downtown Harrisonburg, VA, hosted a
Night of Math Rock showcase on Saturday, March 21st. The show started at 9 pm,
with the music starting at around 9:30 pm, and continued well into the night. No
tickets were sold, seeing as it was a house show, but donations were heavily
encouraged to support the three out-of-town bands on the ticket. The line-up
started with Beds, a four-piece band hailing from Northern Virginia, followed by
Night Idea, a two-piece from Richmond, Virginia, followed by Fight Cloud, another
Richmond-based band, and closing with Julia Pox, a three-piece local band. Though
the entire ticket was enticing, I was only able to make it out for the finale
performance by Julia Pox.

The set-up and sound rigging was rudimentary, as is expected for house
shows. The bands have to bring their own sound equipment and instruments,
though microphones are usually shared between bands. In Camelot, the bands set
up in the houses expansive foyer, blocking the front door and facing the rear of the
house. Julia Pox had the drummer, with a microphone fixed on his kit, at the back of
the stage and flanked by the two guitarists and singers, who each had an amp
hooked up to their guitars and a microphone apiece. Though the sound equipment
was college-kid expensive, Julia Pox had no problem projecting their sound across
the entire house and the packed-in crowd.

Julia Poxs performance was energetic and loud, which is the perfect
combination for Saturday house shows. The crowd loved them from the minute they
stepped on stage, and not just because the three members are friends or friendly
with most of the house show regulars. There was some genuine talent streaming
from their guitars and over the crowd, enough to garner up vigorous head banging
despite their minimal lyrics. Julia Pox even dared to cover Mix Tape by Brand New,
a well-loved emo punk band from the early 2000s, which excited the crowd (and
myself) into screaming along with the lyrics and crowd surfing. One guitarist,
Tristan OShea, even crowd surfed himself while still playing the hook to the chorus.

Overall, the night was extremely successful. The crowd was energetic and
supportive, and the bands all feed off of and, later, expressed gratitude for such a
positive reaction. Julia Pox were the clear favorites of the night, and will no doubt
continue to impress math rock and non-math rock fans alike as they ride their
budding success as far as it will take them.