There’s an expected protocol to most shows; months before the performance date, the event is announced, giving ample time for its promotion and preparation. The artist practices to their heart’s content while fans have time to buy tickets and arrange their schedules accordingly. For Turnover’s most recent show in Philadelphia, throw all of that out the window.

Shoegazy indie rock outfit Turnover was one of many bands affected by the great Bamboozle Cancellation Catastrophe of 2023, leaving a ton of artists in the dark as the news unfolded; a weekend of performances once planned to be witnessed by thousands was washed away in the instant of an Instagram post, but not without opening the door to different (and arguably more meaningful) opportunities.

A Brief Overview of Bamboozle Fest’s Announcement-turned Cancellation Timeline:

• On Friday, March 3rd, Atlantic City’s Bamboozle Fest announced its full lineup featuring 70+ bands scheduled to stretch across a whole weekend. This lineup included Turnover, Fiddlehead, Angel Du$t, and Glitterer, amongst others.
• On Friday, April 28th, Bamboozle Fest announced its cancellation, leaving these artists show-less with a free weekend on the east coast.
•  On Tuesday, May 2nd, Turnover announced a surprise show at the TLA in Philadelphia for that Friday with support from Fiddlehead, Angel Du$t, and Glitterer, leaving the bands a mere 3 days until showtime to promote and prep.
•  On Friday, May 5th, all four bands played a packed room full of some of the bands’ most dedicated fans, turning the scheduling nightmare into something that can best be described simply as a very special night.

The show began in complete darkness until a string of starry saxophone-driven notes illuminated the room with its sonic iridescence and led the band into the first three tracks off their most recently released album, Myself in the Way. “Stone Station” drew the crowd in before seamlessly transitioning into “Tears of Change,” a song whose slow and mesmerizing groove proved fit for inspiring involuntary, full-body sways. “Myself in the Way” provided the perfect moment of juxtaposition; escalating energy with its encourage-you-to-dance funk.

After the first three song stint of fresh Turnover tracks, the band announced they would be paying preferential treatment to their 2015 album release, Peripheral Vision. Once they played the notably Turnover “Cutting My Fingers Off,” the band took a moment to reflect.

“Philadelphia is a very special place to us,” vocalist Austin Getz expressed. “Peripheral Vision was recorded here and ya’ll are a part of it,” he said in honor of Philadelphia-based producer and long-time friend Will Yip (who played a big part in the record’s creation) along with everyone that listened along the way and helped birth such a success of a record.

The record’s songs may dominate eight of the band’s top ten songs on Spotify, but the definition of success cannot be limited to listens. Every song performed from Peripheral Vision felt like a fan favorite, not just in popularity, but in connective spirit. It only took the first note of each song from the record to evoke a collective, audible excitement from attendees, illustrating the extent to which this record resonated with Turnover’s listeners over the years.

Much to everyone’s excitement, the band played nearly the entire album with picks like “Humming,” “New Scream,” “Diazepam,” and more.

As the spiral-styled lights swirled around the room and bassist Dan Dempsey and guitarist Nick Rayfield’s fingers glided across their instruments in a smoothness like no other, everyone was transfixed in the spell of a carefree serenity. The mic’s echo effect bounced around the room; it’s like you could hear them radiating a sense of calm from everywhere all at once, settling everyone into a dream state that no one wished to be awoken from. Drummer Casey Getz’s drum taps were tranquil, yet stately, keeping everyone in this sweet spot of energetic content. All of these qualities of Turnover’s performance gave new meaning to the lyrics “Somewhere nice but far away” from Altogether’s “Much After Feeling.”

Getz was quick to shower everyone with appreciation for their dedication the band multiple times throughout the night. The band continuously thanked everyone for making such a last-minute event come to fruition, maintaining this remarkable ability to make every individual feel important in their choice to come that night. Even in a jam-packed room, the lyrics “Everyone’s gonna be at a basement Friday” from “People That We Know” reigned true; we were all made to feel like we were a part of something much more intimate, every single body making the night count by contributing to the heart of the show. 

He also thanked all of the bands playing that night for simultaneously being professional cohorts and consistent friends throughout the years, revealing how lucky he felt to share the stage with them and proving their perfect fit for the bill.

Arriving at the last song was a moment of bittersweet power as everyone took one last moment to scream the lyrics to “Take My Head” in unison. It was a beautiful collective of emitted liveliness moved by the desire to show just how much everyone cared about the heart-melting, ‘food for the soul’ essence of Turnover.  

This Turnover show was such a pleasant surprise, like unexpectedly bumping into an old friend on a Saturday or spotting the first firefly of the summer season. The last-minute nature of it all certainly never dwindled the dedication of their fans who showed up to a show that will go definitively down in history, a night everyone will look back on and say, “Wow, I can’t believe I was there.”