Neon Indian with Com Truise at Belly Up Tavern: 2011

Chillwave was having its moment in 2011, and this double bill of Neon Indian and Com Truise was peak chillwave perfection. Both artists were mining '80s sounds and making them feel new, hazy, and nostalgic in the best way.

Com Truise opened with his synth-wave sound - heavy on the vintage synthesizers, drum machines, and retro-futuristic aesthetics. His music feels like a soundtrack to a sci-fi movie that never existed. Watching him manipulate synths and drum machines, building these intricate electronic compositions, set the mood perfectly.

Then Neon Indian - Alan Palomo - took over, and the Belly Up filled with those distinctive hazy, lo-fi electronic sounds. "Deadbeat Summer" is the quintessential chillwave song - nostalgic, summery, slightly blurry around the edges in a way that feels deliberate and aesthetic.

"Polish Girl" showcased Neon Indian's ability to make electronic pop that's both catchy and atmospheric. The lo-fi production that defines chillwave could have been a gimmick, but Palomo used it to create a genuine aesthetic - music that sounds like a faded memory or a sun-bleached photograph.

The live show added energy that the studio recordings sometimes lack. Palomo and his band brought genuine performance energy while maintaining that hazy, nostalgic vibe. Electronic music can sometimes feel static live, but Neon Indian made it dynamic and engaging.

The Belly Up crowd was into it - lots of nodding heads, swaying, people lost in the atmosphere. Chillwave isn't music you mosh to; it's music you drift through, and the intimate venue was perfect for that vibe.

Looking back, chillwave was a moment - a specific sound from a specific time that felt fresh and exciting. Neon Indian and Com Truise were at the forefront of that movement, and catching both of them on one bill at the Belly Up in 2011 felt like being part of something as it was happening.

Not all musical micro-genres age well, but this show captured something real - that feeling of summer nostalgia, of hazy memories, of '80s sounds filtered through modern production and aesthetic sensibilities. For one night at the Belly Up, we were all living in that moment.