Concert Review: Weston Estate at The Echo Lounge

Hailing from North Carolina, five-piece Weston Estate took to a Dallas stage at The Echo Lounge on June 9.

Written by Arundhati Ghosh

Photo courtesy of Brian David Ha

The members of Weston Estate have effortlessly curated an earthy indie aesthetic, if their fans donning muted browns and beiges and forest greens on all legs of their tour is any indication. The group, having opened for keshi on the singer-songwriter’s headlining tour, is only gaining popularity with time, and the line that wound around The Echo Lounge’s parking lot thrice made this obvious. Even beyond the concert attendees, Weston Estate’s popularity with young South Asian Americans, specifically, is one of note — for a demographic that rarely sees themselves represented within the larger western music industry, having a band that is 80% South Asian feels damn near miraculous. Srikar, Abhi, Tanmay, and Manas look more like us than most people in music — let alone the English indie music scene — do. The band is always subtle in its representation; their music is not about identity, rather finding purpose in the more universal natures of love, laughter, and loss.

At 7:59 p.m., the drummer for opener greek began setting up. The lights dimmed as he did so, the sounds of his seat being adjusted drowned by the low drone of fans’ voices gaining aural traction. Precisely at 8:00, the guitarists ran onstage, with greek himself following as he posed a question to the crowd: “Dallas, how are we feeling tonight?” This was the first of at least five times that he asked this during his half-hour set. The vocalist opened with a track titled “always” off of the album EXTC. His vocals were clear and easily heard over the accompaniment, though his style overall is inherently slurred in an indie-reminiscent manner.

Greek established a rather one-toned range early on, whether on purpose or on accident, and stuck with it throughout his opening set apart from well-handled runs and on-the-nose falsettos. He took a break between “when the world is on fire” and “hmu” to introduce the members of the band, guitarists Max and Tim on his left and right respectively, with Richie on drums. He followed with a twangy psychedelic song named “Bluff” before playing a few unreleased tracks in the same vein, all prior to settling down and covering “Self Control” by Frank Ocean. This cover was the most soulful tune of the set — it became evident that greek is a solid, confident performer, even as he finds his footing with performing his own music. He pulled through with a final, unreleased song, the title eclipsed by instrumentals, as he utilized the lower timbres of his voice atop a funky beat. Greek exited the stage after his 12-song set, and the anticipation for the main act truly began.

The lights dimmed promptly at 9:00 p.m., causing an immediate uproar within the audience. Five microphones were neatly set up in a row even prior to the opener’s set, everything in order for Tanmay Joshi, Abhi Manhass, Srikar Nanduri, Manas Panchavati, and Marco Gomez. A singular, emphatic “yeah” pierced the air from backstage, the mic check of all mic checks, and, suddenly, lights were strobing, Tim helmed the drumset (a switch up from his stint as a guitarist, hardly a half hour earlier), Srikar and Abhi had guitars in their hands, and Tanmay, Manas, and Marco were center stage with their microphones. Their set began with second most recent single “Drown,” as the three vocalists harmonized, wondering, “Do you believe in love?”

It was evident how comfortable each of the band members were becoming with working gigs and having a unified stage presence as they smoothly transitioned between songs, with the next being “Outside” off of EP Maggie Valley. Marco’s sultry voice elevated the recorded version of the track, though Manas and Tanmay had their moments on the next song, “Fresh Air,” in which the former’s gorgeously clean cut vocals with purposeful gruffness induced awe, and the latter’s smooth riffs and clear enunciation inspired wonder.

They followed one of their early career tracks with their most recent release, “Where Do We Go?” Their fans’ devotion became ever clearer now, as every single person in the room knew every single word. The opening, typically a single voice crooning “I’m still findin’ meanin’ / In what the future holds / I wanted you to save me / From what’s outside the door,” sounded more like a full-bodied chant, with hundreds of voices buoying the lyrics. Abhi, fingers flying across the strings of his guitar, turned towards the corner, the performance overtaking his body.

“Silence” off of their EP came next, a desperate post-breakup melody about how hindsight can be 20/20. Marco thrust his microphone into the front row of the crowd, seeming surprised when a girl sang the chorus perfectly, her higher voice contrasting beautifully with the backing track laid behind typically lower, mellower vocals. Manas introduced the next song by asking the crowd as an entity what their favorite flower was, and the resulting answer in the form of cheers eclipsed the first few notes of “Daisies.” All three vocalists collaborated on a group falsetto at the end of the chorus as fans began a phone flashlight wave. Guitar strings successfully reeled in — but did not bring down — the energy in the room just as the second half of the song set in.

Photo courtesy of Neema Sadeghi

This more chill vibe was short-lived, however, as the first notes of “Stoked” played out next. Lights began strobing out across the crowd in tandem with the drumbeat, and even those that were standing still earlier began jumping with the band members. Marco’s voice filled the room, beating out the already-impeccable quality of the song’s recording in both structure and emotion. Tanmay highlighted his own serious vocal quality and how smooth and comfortable he is onstage in the next song, “Saturday Nights,” as he showed great ease in switching through tones and applying movement to his voice. Marco and Tanmay’s harmonies held together flawlessly. Marco sang out the age old question, “Oh, do I, do I make you nervous?” As he did so, the smile on his face made itself known in his tone.

Folksy deconstructed guitar chords introduced the tragic coming-of-age track “Hold On.” Manas’ low tones got lost at moments, especially as the beat slowly switched up and the accompaniment grew in volume. The masterful natural reverb in his voice could not be missed, though, and was a highlight of the night. As lights began strobing, many of the members began running across the stage, evidently having fun with their performance.

They followed the high energy ending of the previous song with an even higher energy cover of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy,” giving Tanmay an opportunity to show off how steady he is with his vocal runs. “Sixty,” another song off of Maggie Valley, came right after, and the vocals were drowned slightly due to the lower and slower nature of the song’s first half. As the drums built up to the beat drop, Abhi and Srikar made eye contact with each other, coming together seamlessly to harmonize their guitars as the three vocalists harmonized with the lyrics.

The twelfth song saw Srikar hand his guitar off to Max from the opener’s set before donning the strap of an acoustic at center stage. They introduced the song as an unreleased one, titled “Slowly,” before melting into it. Marco’s voice, as delectable and smooth as flavored butter, melded into Manas’ crooning blues vocals to create a song that would be perfect as the backing track during the turning point of a slice-of-life film. The acoustic and electric guitar duet sealed the song off, packaging it up neatly. After relishing in the song’s final note, Srikar took back claim of his original instrument. Following this moment of group vulnerability was another cover, this time of The Neighbourhood’s “Sweater Weather.” Though a seemingly more upbeat version of the original, Weston Estate’s rendition did not lose any of the original’s emotion. A beat switch halfway through also introduced a main vocalist switch from Tanmay to Marco, with the latter finishing the song off slower than it began.

The band’s song “So Good” brought an air of mystery and a possibility of new love with its backing synth and bouncing drumbeat. Tanmay’s gruffness as he sang “Down baby, down baby / You ran me right, right through the ground baby, ground baby” contrasted perfectly with the utter warmth emanating from Manas’ underlying vocals throughout the melody. They followed it with “Pears,” the song that gained them major traction on TikTok when the acoustic version came out. The instruments blurred together, but Marco’s enunciation was precise, and Manas’ vocal quality was absolutely seamless and crystal clear.

Knowing exactly what they were doing for nostalgia purposes, the band decided to finish their set off by introducing their final track as their first real song, tipping everyone in attendance off to the fact that they’d be playing “Cotton Candy” next. Both guitarists immediately relaxed their sound to match the more calm, reserved vibe of their first song. Though they sang, “I don’t know where I’m to stay / I just hope you’ve got a place for me,” it was obvious to everyone watching that all five men knew they were meant to stay onstage. Upon completing the last song, the members gave the crowd their heartfelt thanks for listening and attending, and then ran offstage almost abruptly. Cheers for an encore began before they were out of sight.

Hardly a few minutes passed before all five members returned to the stage, this time armed with bubble blowers. They played “Stoked,” their most upbeat song, one more time as everyone cheered, this time releasing bubbles into the wild as they did. Before any time truly passed at all, the concert came to a close at 10:15 p.m., with the lights coming back on and the curtains finally closing.

The band members later walked out into the crowd, as they’ve been known to do after every show. They took solo and group pictures with fans, holding genuine conversations and making an effort to interact with everyone around them. The night only well and truly ended once they were whisked away by security, but, by then, they’d left everyone truly hypnotized and wanting more.