Future Islands is hitting the Moody Theater stage for Austin City Limits Live with opening act, JOON! The band comes to Austin on May 9th and it’s guaranteed to be a good show. One thing about Future Islands is that they put their hearts and souls into performing live and feel as though it is their most important thing to do as a band. You won’t want to miss this.

Future islands is categorized as synth-pop, although the band tends to reject being placed into one category. They would consider themselves as a more “post-wave” styled band that works to combine new wave and post-punk in a combination of romance and power. The band was formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 2003 under the original name, Art Lord & the Self-Portraits. Members Sam Herring and Garrit Welmers have been lifelong friends. They attended the same middle school and lived two streets over from each other. The thought to create a band together did not formulate until much later when the two attended the same painting and drawing program at East Carolina University due to their differences in music taste in their youth. Herring invested his time in making hip-hop music through highschool and Gerrit was interested in heavy metal and punk music. Their history and shared passion was too strong to ignore and they both knew they were meant to play music together.

 After Art Lord & the Self-Portraits disbanded in 2005, Future Islands was born. The band took this opportunity to change their image from a gimmick they once portrayed to a more serious look. Their music was growing to become more mature and personal and they wanted their image to reflect that. The three current members, Welmers on keyboards and programing, Herring on lyrics and vocals and William Cashion on bass, acoustic and electric guitar formed the band in January of 2006 with previous member Erick Murillo. Murillo left the band shortly after in 2007 and after many replacements, Michael Lowry has taken over the drums for the band to this date.

The band self-released their first EP as Future Islands 17 years ago today on April 28th, 2006 titled Little Advances! Their first official album, Wave Like Home, was released on August 25th, 2008 through a London-based label. This release was difficult for the band because sales were extremely difficult in the US due to expensive import costs. They saw prominent success after the release of their first album, Singles, on March 24th, 2014. Buzz swarmed around the album’s lead single, “Seasons (Waiting on You).” The single put Future Islands on the maps and the song was named best song of 2014 by Pitchfork and NME. They band performed the song live on the Late Show with David Letterman and was later posted on the Late Show’s official YouTube. To this day, that video is one of the most viewed videos on Letterman’s YouTube channel. In more recent news, their most recent album, As Long As You Are, was released worldwide on October 9th, 2020 and was met with critical acclaim. Their latest single was released on November 2nd, 2022 and it was an alternative style rendition of the classic Christmas song, “Last Christmas.”

As a performance-focused band, Future Islands brings so much to the stage. Their upbeat music matched with Herring’s sad lyricism and vocals creates an environment where the audience feels it is okay to dance with their souls. Herring is known for his stage presence and his performance holding inspiration from stars like Elvis Presley and Ian Curtis. He was diagnosed with Reinke’s edema in 2014, which caused him to not be able to hit some notes as easily as he used to, but he did not let this stop him. He changed those notes to growls and this became his signature trademark in the music industry. Don’t miss your chance to see a band who is so dedicated to performing that they performed over 1,000 shows in their first 10 years together. With all of this experience, it’s bound to be a great show! Tickets are available on Austin City Limits Live’s official website or through Future Islands official website on go.seated.com.

When? May 9th, 2023

Where? ACL Live at the Moody Theater (310 W Willie Nelson Blvd, Austin, TX 78701)

Time? Doors open at 6:30 pm CT & show starts at 8:00 pm CT 

Ages? All ages

Photo Credits: Sharon Alagna