Summer indie staples serenade House of Blues on Peach Pit and Briston Maroney’s “Long Hair, Long Life” tour.

By Arman Saxena     7/16/25 9:42pm

Score: ★★★★

A crowd gathered at House of Blues Houston on June 18 to hear the upbeat bedroom pop that got many of them through high school. Titled the “Long Hair, Long Life” tour (see the band members), this collaboration between Peach Pit and Briston Maroney felt like a time capsule to 2017: a setlist teeming with both original songs and music from their latest albums, “Magpie” and “JIMMY”, and an unspoken dress code of cargo shorts, graphic T-Shirts and backward caps.

The opener, BNNY, kicked things off with a grungy but ethereal set. Frontwoman Jessica Viscius enchanted the crowd with lilting, dreamy choruses set against moody guitars. Her whispery voice – a delicious blend of Suki Waterhouse and Cigarettes After Sex – had the audience swaying with the drummer’s beat. 

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As the setlist progressed, BNNY leaned into grungy hooks and simmering guitar. Viscuis danced around the stage with an endearing ease, reminiscent of AURORA’s stage presence. Her scream that punctuated “Something Blue” earned cheers, and she took breaks between sucker punch tracks to gush about a new ring she bought at the mall (“It’s my new personality!”). But the band didn’t just play their own hits. At the set’s midpoint, they covered Weezer’s “Sweater Song” and the entire venue pulsated with nostalgia. 

After an intermission of trips to the colorful merch stand and groovy filler music, Briston Maroney kicked off his set with an introduction that was so him – green lights shone through the fog machine as frogs gurgled and crickets chirped over the speakers. Narration rang through the swamp noises: “At the beginning of time, there was silence. That silence grew into a whisper…” As the fog cleared, we caught a view of the stage, repurposed with moss-covered rocks and fluorescent green streamers on papier mache trees.

When Briston’s band finally took the stage, swamp setup in full swing, the crowd went crazy at the signature drum beat of “Real Good Swimmer”. When Maroney shouted, “Sittin’ in the sun, man, skinny as a lizard,” the crowd screamed back, “My baby fell in, but she’s a good swimmer!” with almost as much energy.

Energy is the perfect word to describe Maroney’s set, as his crowd work was the most standout part of his psychedelic-garage performance. With the enthusiasm of a camp counselor, he broke after “Tomatoes” to ask every audience member to stick their arms out. “Now flap like birds,” he yelled. “You know birds, right?” Fans flapped obediently, bumping into each other and laughing. And after a sing-along rendition of “Small Talk”, he screamed into the mic, “This life is infinitesimally small! We must live now!”

Indeed, life’s finitude was definitely Maroney’s biggest theme. The entire setlist centered on the fact that everything is temporary. In “Body”, he crooned, “Someday, my body will be just a body / and a big white light before me lets me know these days will end / But I’ve got today….” Maroney closed out his 14-song set with “Freaking Out on the Interstate”, leaving fans energized for Peach Pit.

Peach Pit stepped onstage at 9:30 p.m. with a sick guitar opening and heavy drumbeat, inducing swaying from the crowd. A man of few words, frontman Neil Smith held up two peace signs before continuing the riff that led into their first song, “Magpie.” While Peach Pit could not give the same energy as Maroney, they made up for the lack of stage presence with a clear addiction to their craft.

Their crisp notes and in-synch movements gave the confidence of musicians who have rehearsed these basslines countless times before. While many fans came to hear songs from the new album, Peach Pit created familiarity by mixing oldies into the 14-song setlist: “Shampoo Bottles”, “Vickie”, and “Give Up Baby Go” found homes alongside “Magpie” tracks. 

In between songs, Smith talked to the crowd as if he were passing time with some friends on a fishing trip, relating stories about making eye contact with audience members who didn’t know the words to any songs. 

“Even non-fan boyfriends are welcome here,” he said.

The whole set felt like summer 2017, with Peach Pit’s light guitar riffs and swinging bass lines, and everyone in their horn-rimmed glasses, freshly grown mustaches and jean shorts. They played “What Once Was” by Her’s, earning cheers when the recognizable guitar intro sounded. The cherry on top of the nostalgia was “Alrighty Aphrodite”, which leaned into the band’s grungy sound. “Take a seat inside your clamshell,” Smith crooned against angry melodies. Coupled with Maroney’s performance, Peach Pit’s set made for two top-tier shows for the price of one.

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