It was a summer of sunshine and set-lists for one of Stony Brook’s local bands, Nice Shot, Kid. The five-piece band had the opportunity to rock the stage during Van’s Warped Tour at Jones Beach Nikon Theater in Wantagh this past July.
“I don’t think any of us expected to play,” vocalist John Gallagher said. “We just pushed our campaign, but we were thrilled to be picked.”
Before performing, the band ran around the Jones Beach parking lot, frantically handing out stickers and flyers to promote the set.
The band then rushed to the Warped Tour stage and kicked off the day with an 11:30 a.m. performance.
The band’s set consisted of past hit songs “My Best Interest,” “Kick His Ass,” “Seabass” and “Monster Jamz” as well as their newly released songs “Shelf Life,” and “Cornered,” featured on the bands new album “Personal Space.”
“It was surreal,” vocalist and bassist Thomas Fasano said. “We went on and there was a packed crowd in front of us. We were ecstatic.”
According to Gallagher, the five of them chose these songs because they are just the most fun to play. If you have ever seen these guys perform, their excitement for their music can radiate across any venue.
“It was truly remarkable how much support we got from all our friends and fellow music-lovers, Fasano said. “It is people like this who push us to keep moving forward in our passion for performing the music we love.”
Even after experiencing Warped Tour, the group stands behind its local garage band values and venues. They band performed all around Long Island in places like East Islip Bowling Lanes and O’Brien’s Pub. They have played in New York City as well and just wrapped up a performance this past Saturday at the Nanuet Arcade in New Jersey.
Nice Shot, Kid is a garage band that gives back. At the end of July, the band performed a backyard benefit show for the Lustgarten Foundation supporting pancreatic cancer research at “Susiepaloooza” in Deer Park.
The group successfully raised around $3,000 through ticket sales and merchandise, with all proceeds benefitting the charity.
With autumn just around the corner, the band expects to release a lot of new music. The band’s new digital album, “Personal Space,” was recently released on Spotify this August. The album is a follow-up to their last two albums, “Setbacks,” released last March and “What Makes You A Monster,” released in May 2013.
Stony Brook students may recognize Nice, Shot Kid’s pop-punk sound from last fall’s Lupe Fiasco concert, where the band was the opening act, or from the Streetlight Manifesto concert.
According to Gallagher, the boys will be performing more shows come October. For now, they are taking some time to concentrate on new music and cutting back on performance dates.
“We’re working on writing a bit,” Gallagher said. “So I don’t know how much we’ll be playing other than that.”
Their next show will take place Deer Park, hosted by Babetalk.com and Terminally Trill, on Oct . 10.
On Oct. 10 earlier in the day, the group will perform a benefit festival in the South P lot at Stony Brook University hosted by WSUB for bikes and the children’s cancer ward at the Stony Brook Hospital.
“All in all, were just 5 dudes doing what we love and being lucky enough to have our friends and family for support,” Fasano said. “They are the reason we are able to continue our passion for music.”
