Tickets are on sale now for a performance by Capital Cities, with special guest Scavenger Hunt, on Sunday, April 13, in Halton Arena. Doors open at 7 p.m.
The cost for tickets, available at the Halton Arena Ticket Office or online through TicketReturn, start at $15 for UNC Charlotte students (limit four tickets per University ID) and $22 for faculty, staff and the general public. The Halton Arena Ticket Office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, for walk-up sales and can be reached at 704-687-4949.
Los Angeles composers and jingle writers Ryan Merchant and Sebu Simonian initially met on Craigslist in 2008. They formed the indie electro band Capital Cities in 2010. In 2011, they released their debut EP with the song “Safe and Sound,” an upbeat mesh of synths and melody that spread like wildfire across the Internet.
When the band discovered through social media that an alternative radio station in Peru began to play the song, they connected with fans from Lima and organized tours in South America.
Encouraged by the experience, the band self-funded a promotional campaign and earned radio play in the United States. Soon, the music industry and the rest of the world took notice. Capitol Records signed the band’s indie label Lazy Hooks and released Capital Cities’ debut album “In a Tidal Wave of Mystery” in June 2013.
“Safe and Sound” went multiplatinum in the United States, Canada, Germany, Mexico and other countries, and it topped numerous international charts, reaching number one on alternative radio in the United States and number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video, a celebratory mash-up of dancing from various eras and cultures, received a VMA and a Grammy nomination.
The band, which has toured four continents, will play Coachella, Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Hangout Fest and all three South American Lollapalooza dates this year before hitting the road with Katy Perry for the first leg of her summer tour.
Merchant and Simonian are joined by bassist Manny Quintero, trumpeter Spencer Ludwig, guitarist Nick Merwin and drummer Channing Holmes.