SHUTTERSTORY: YOU CAN BE A WESLEY

Boston’s lo-fi indie rock foursome, You Can Be A Wesley (YCBAW) has performed at Great Scott an epic 27 times, and Thursday’s last show before the band takes a haitus until the fall welcomed the “regulahs” to rock a packed house of local fans.

YCBAW’s “comin’ home” to Great Scott seemed essential to their announcement of going on a break, making the set brimming with both extra-hyper energy and nostalgia. There were many moments of reminiscing between vocalist/guitarist Saara Untracht-Oakner, guitarist Winston Macdonald, bassist Nick Curran, and drummer Dylan Ramsey, and many an offering of tequila shots and PBRs to our local loves.

“It was an amazing crowd, and not just because they were crowd surfing and force feeding us booze, but because it was a representation of the Boston music scene that I love,” said Winston.

The other Boston bands in attendance included Camden, the Fagettes, Stereo Telescope, Young Adults, Pretty & Nice, Earthquake Party (the two latter led the beer can hurling tradition that’s been going on for years between them and YCBAW).

“I had a good 25 beer cans thrown at me, which was beautiful,” said Nick.

The set began with “Stuck in a Battle,” which set off a transition of collective energy as the crowd moved from head bobbing to hard moshing. YCBAW ended the show with “Gravity,” the first song they ever wrote as students at Boston University. With the first notes of this last hurrah, fans stormed the stage to sing along and Saara dove into the crowd.

“The show was incredible. I think it was my favorite show ever: line up, turn out, set list-wise.  Everything about it.  So many people came out and got super into it. It was too awesome to even be bummed about not playing again for awhile,” said Saara.

You Can Be A Wesley’s next step is a bit uncertain, especially since Nick will no longer be the bassist, and Saara is moving to New York.

“Last night was a blast. I’m all hungover and emotional and listening to Japandroids and Hold Steady on repeat,” said Nick.

Currently, YCBAW plans to record a full-length album and is recording two new songs this week at Converse Rubber Tracks Studio in New York.

After six years as a band, this past year saw a lot of highlights for YCBAW, who toured across the nation, performed at the SXSW Music Festival, and released their album Nightosphere, along with many music videos.

“Between the flying beer cans and crowd surfing, there were definitely a lot of hugs and sad faces,” Winston said.

“I don’t honestly know the future of the band.  It feels like a new chapter opening up both for the band and in our personal lives, but we’ll just have to see how things pan out in the fall.”