Starting off the tour for their third album Ghostory, School of Seven Bells‘ first stop was Chronic Town, bringing along their indie rock/ dream pop tunes to Penn State Tuesday night. Opening for them was Think Twice, Dublin, State College’s own local melancholic dream pop band.

After sitting for an hour in Chronic Town, I was getting tired of listening to 80s pop music while waiting for the bands to start. By the time Think Twice, Dublin started I was in a bad mood and ready to leave, but as their bluesy rhythm started I was immediately psyched for the night.

The audience cheered when they finally got on the stage, starting off the night with not even a word to the crowd, going into the smooth riffs they’re known for. Even as a lover of metal music I found myself thinking, “These guys aren’t bad for a band without a bass.”

Throughout the half hour set they played songs off their first album, including “Gull Scream” and “Outside,” even doing a new song for the crowd.

But the audience was waiting for SVIIB, standing up and gathering around the stage when they finally came out after Think Twice, Dublin.

The two person band was no-nonsense as they began their set, immediately getting into their groove as they took the stage.  I was bobbing my head and moving to the beat as they continued, but their act got too stale, too soon.

Overall I felt like I heard the same song over and over again as the night went on. If their set had been just a little bit shorter than Think Twice, Dublin I would have been satisfied, but the little bit over an hour performance was too much for me.

School of Seven Bells brought energy to Chronic Town though, shaking the benches and getting the crowd moving to their songs. They played several songs off their new album Ghostory, including “Lafaye” and “The Night,” while also doing songs from earlier albums Disconnect From Desire and Alpinisms.

The night ended with everyone in the crowd dancing and jumping to the band, calling for an encore, bringing School of Seven Bells back out for another song.

School of Seven Bells is great at the slow indie rock tunes it does, but I’d pick Think Twice, Dublin over SVIIB any day of the week.