Friday night's Lonely Forest's CD release show at the Vera Project was sold out before the Lonely Forest took the stage. I was shocked. I knew they had a big fanbase in their hometown of Anacortes, but I had no idea that the band was that beloved in the all-ages scene. Hundreds of kids were all giddy and bouncy and restless, anticipating the moment the Lonely Forest took the stage. The girls were wearing fancy tops and heels, the boys were less polished and drooling over the girls. And for the 20 minutes or so before the Lonely Forest's set, they all crammed in tight to the stage, vying for prime spots.

And then they screamed. The instant the Lonely Forest stepped in front of the crowd, the room was filled with shrieks and applause. Throughout the set, every kid in that crowd listened to everything frontman John Van Deusen had to say. When he burped into the mic (twice) they laughed. When he did an impromptu acoustic version of "Tomorrow," they sang along. When he introduced one song as being a song he wrote after having a night of suicidal thoughts, they all let out an sympathetic "awe" and then cheered when he said the world was beautiful.

They even loved him when he messed up. At the end of the first song, he clumsily knocked over his piano by rocking out too hard. Then his tuner wouldn't work. "I'm being lame tonight, I'm sorry," he said, when he couldn't tune his guitar fast enough. They cheered anyway. They love him so much because he's just like them. He's a little awkward and nervous, but he's gone through what they're going through, and they appreciate that he candidly talks about that on stage and in songs. And while Van Deusen may be the most magnetic personality of the Lonely Forest, the whole band is incredibly talented—their songs are blasts of power pop and rock laced with piano and epic choruses that are fun to sing along to. The lyrics are thoughtful, but they're not too precious to stomach.

Here's video of their closing song, "We Sing In Time," via mattithyahu on YouTube:

See what I mean about the adoring teenagers?

The Lonely Forest are going to be famous.

(Side note to Wild Orchid Children: It sucks that there were no vocals for the first 20 minutes of your short 30 minute set, but I think you handled it really well by not throwing a fit and moving forward with the psychedelic jam sessions/freak-outs, and then rocking the fuck out as soon as the mic got fixed. So props to you, dudes. It wasn't ideal, but your set still sounded great.)