One song into their set at Washington, DC’s DC9 nightclub Friday night, Evening Elephants frontman Sam Boggs apologized for the state of his voice. “We were up late last night, rolling around on the floor.” He needn’t have bothered. Though that impaired voice did show up on some of the gentler power ballads in the band’s repertoire, most of their songs are more about attitude than about purity.
Sam Boggs has attitude for days. He is among the most engaging frontmen you will find in the world of modern indie rock … joking and flirting with his adoring fans, and belting out plenty of rock and roll that sounds both modern and throwback at the same time. More on the difficulty in classifying the LA band soon.
As for Boggs, maybe it’s the moustache and blond hair. Maybe it’s the self-deprecating humor that runs through his performance, but there’s something of stand-up comic Jason Salmon in his persona -- provided Salmon were a goofy-cool rock & roller instead of a goofy-cool comedian.
Evening Elephants blasts through Washington DC’s DC9
After opening with several early singles, EE drew most of their 16-song set from Wholeheartedly, Terribly Sweet, a compilation album released earlier this year collecting many of their previous singles. This is the band’s first feature-length release, following up on a couple of EPs from 2022 and 2025.
So when I say “early singles,” I’m talking about songs like “Parking Lot Problems” and “Rent Free,” none of which are more than three years old. The band, which began as a collaboration between Boggs and drummer/producer B Leslie in the early 2020s, was known for their high-energy backyard shows in and around LA before beginning to release their music.
Now Boggs fronts a tight four-piece band, which allows him room to roam while a classic power trio pounds away behind him. Despite being fairly new to touring, the 250 fans crammed into DC9 seemed to know most of the words to most of the songs.
That was readily apparent when Boggs encouraged the audience to support him and his under-the-weather voice. On “Westside,” a song about their west coast home town, he actually handed the mic over to a young woman in the front row to sing a couple of lines.
Thanking her afterwards, Boggs seemed incredulous that her name was Misc – short for Miscellaneous. But Misc stuck to her story, and she would evolve into something of a running skit throughout the evening. For the final song of the night – EE’s very first single “Life is Swell” – Misc stepped up onto the stage and sang side-by-side with Boggs.
She probably felt empowered since a couple of other young women had begged to be allowed on stage to dance with the band for “Life is Swell,” and the ever-accommodating Boggs allowed it.
As for their sound, EE can sing about the poignant side of love – “Inject Me” turned into a big group sing-along – and the more emotionally violent side of the topic – their recent single “Succubus” also had the crowd singing – without losing the party atmosphere.
There is an LCD Soundsystem upbeat dance vibe that runs through most of their songs, but with some rap elements layered on top of the rock, it’s as if a modern indie like Royel Otis absorbed some DNA from Linkin’ Park.
Mind you, EE doesn’t really sound anything like Royel Otis or Linkin’ Park, but they have a fabulous way of melding disparate elements together and creating a very good time.
So if early on, Boggs’ voice did indeed falter on more nuanced tunes like “De Ja With a View” and “Outta Habit,” he mostly let his overwhelming charisma carry ravers like “Facedown Kentucky” and “Pheromones.” By the time he reached the lovely “Snow on the Bluff” and the raucous “Chewing Cheeks” at the end, his voice, if anything, sounded stronger.
EE is definitely on the upswing. As Boggs noted, they played a show at DC’s Pearl Street Warehouse back in April of 2025 for “about eight people.” Now they are selling out small venues like DC9. The sheer fun they provide in an hour-long set is winning the band a loyal following. They are one of the many new rockers proving rock & roll, reports to the contrary, is far from a museum piece.
EE got fine support from NY hardcore quartet Garret Elias and San Antonio jazz-pop singer Jackson Marshall. The three acts will continue the tour with shows in Philly and Boston over the next few days. In between, Evening Elephants plays a set at the Iron Blossom Music Festival in Richmond, alongside headliners Jack White and Geese.
Then they swing west, finishing back in LA in October. Come November, Boggs brings the show to Australia as Evening Elephants goes international.
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