Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage
Iration is a Hawaiian-bred band that never loafs.
While some groups choose to tour and play festivals when the weather is nice, Iration consistently tours in wintertime. It will make its fourth consecutive midwinter appearance at Reno’s Cargo Concert Hall on Wednesday, Jan. 31. The last two were performed during nasty snowstorms. Iration put irony in its irie by calling this year’s 14-date trek is called the Heatseekers Winter Tour 2018. Supporting Iration on the tour are The Movement and Tyrone’s Jacket.
Iration, a sunshine reggae band with a Rastafarian name for creation or the beginning of time, exited its garage a long time ago with a driving sound.
“We started in the garage in college (in Santa Barbara) doing reggae covers,” Pueschel said. “I don’t think anybody had any intention of making it a full-time career.”
Since its first release in 2007, the band has five full-length studio albums and three LPs. Since summer, it has released three singles “Fly With Me,” “Borderlines” and “Hit List,” which came out on Jan. 19. A new album is planned but no release date has been announced.
Iration supported Bernie Sanders for president and performed at one of his rallies.
“If there’s any positive to be taken from Mr. Trump’s presidency is that he really fueled a lot of emotion and new music for me,” lead singer Micah Pueschel told Tahoe Onstage in a 2017 interview.
“I want to take something positive out of it. It’s really disappointing. As a band that preaches love and equality and treating everyone with respect, it’s a downer. We are going to go out there and still bring the same message because this is a time when people need it the most. People don’t want to hear negativity and division. They want to hear togetherness.”
The single “Borderlines” addresses today’s major issue.
“Borderlines” is a song that crosses into new territory both stylistically and subject-wise. In a divided country/world, it’s always helpful to look at conflict from the opposing point of view and ask ‘Why?’”
Iration includes Pueschel (lead vocals/guitar), Adam Taylor (bass), Joseph Dickens (drums), Cayson Peterson (keyboard/synth), Micah Brown (guitar/vocals) and the newest member, Drake Peterson (trumpet and percussion). It last performed in the area in August at the Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys Slightly Stoopid on the Sounds of Summer 2017 tour.
Tickets for the Jan. 31 show at Cargo are $18 and $30. It is for concertgoers 18 and older.
The Movement is a reggae/rock/hip-hop band from Columbia, South Carolina. It collaborated with Stick Figure last year on the single “Siren.” Opener Tyrone’s Jacket is a recently formed trio from Los Angeles. It toured last fall with the Dirty Heads. The band plays funk, reggae, rock and hip-hop.
