TOLEDO BRINGS THEIR NOT FROM OHIA TOUR TO ATLANTA

PURGATORY AT THE MASQUERADE — ATLANTA, GA

The rain fell in a soft hush over Atlanta as Brooklyn-based TOLEDO brought their second headlining tour, NOT FROM OHIO, to Purgatory at the Masquerade. Fresh off the release of their May EP Inertia and a sweeping 15-stop run supporting CAAMP and The Brook and the Bluff, the night felt less like a concert and more like a gathering of memories, a collection of every era that’s shaped TOLEDO into who they are today.

Georgia’s own Southam opened the evening, their Appalachian-inspired indie sound filling the room with a warm, woodsy familiarity. Songs like “Bugs” and their newest track, “Dead People”, covered the room in a blanket of warmth. Immediately after, FanClubWallet shifted the atmosphere entirely. With their vintage TV glowing on stage as grainy, playful cartoons flickering in hypnotic loops, the band summoned a dreamy, “Scooby-Doo” like nostalgia. Their set, floating somewhere between mysticism and mischief, featured tracks from Living While Dying. Hits such as “Car Crash in G Major” and “Cotton Mouth” made you feel like skipping in slow motion through the venue, perfectly painting the scene for TOLEDO’s entrance.

TOLEDO opened with “Challenger,” a personal favorite from their 2021 EP Jockey of Love. From the instant they stepped into the light, the room transformed. It felt intimate, like old friends collapsing into couches, stories spilling out effortlessly. The banter between frontmen Dan Alvarez de Toledo and Jordan Dunn-Pilz was infectious, sparking laughter from all corners of the crowd. The setlist became a time machine, guiding us through TOLEDO’s evolution, from “Crane Song” to “Zelda,” one of the gems from their latest release.

The sense of community they cultivate is impossible to miss. Everywhere you looked, strangers were dissolving into laughter, dancing without hesitation, weaving themselves into one another’s night. One fan wandered the venue collecting autographs on his jeans, curating a living scrapbook of the evening. It felt like a quiet reminder of music’s strange magic: the way it takes a room full of unfamiliar faces and turns them into something softer, something connected.

The night’s final stretch included a wholesome birthday serenade for drummer Carr Boner, followed by a delicate, unexpected mash-up of “Flake,” “Hot Stuff,” and “In Yr Head (1818)”. They closed the main set with “Sunday Funday,” another personal favorite, but even then, the crowd was eager for more. When they returned for an encore of “Some Samurai”, the cheers confirmed that this is a well-loved song for all fans.

What began as a grey, rain-soaked evening ended in a room glittering with laughter, warmth, and the electricity of newfound friendships. That is the quiet, magical power that TOLEDO carries, and they show no signs of stopping.