Bus Crush performing live at the Lilypad, Jan 16, 2026. Photo by Wendy Schiller
To put it simply, your success in the arts can be measured by how many people you can get into a room. That goes double for how many people you can keep in a room once it becomes uncomfortably crowded and hot. By these metrics, Bus Crush’s EP release show on January 16 at the Lilypad was a total smash. Presale tickets sold out the day before the show, but that didn’t stop the door manager from waving people in with or without tickets and keeping the room alive with energy and packed elbow-to-elbow.
When I arrived shortly after Megan From Work took the stage, the crowd was already pushing up against the bar at the back of the house. Visibility was at near zero, but that didn’t hold me back from enjoying a rousing set from the New Hampshire rockers who set the bar for energy early in the night. During the set break I was able to fight my way through the crowd to Allston Pudding Corner (front left, baby) where I could get a better view of Doss; their harmonious, dreamy pop was a balm for my growing claustrophobia.
By the time Bus Crush took the stage, their star power was hard to ignore. My first clue? The near-constant flashes from the row of photographers crouched just behind the stage monitors. The papping started early and didn’t let up until after the closing number rang out. But really, who can blame them? There’s a palpable excitement around this band that compels their audiences to capture their image, whether on their DSLR or iPhone cameras.
The band has always had a magnetism–sharp dressers with strong stage presences, an air of mystique–and the furor with which they were documented is a strong indicator of their appeal. “It” factor is an agglomeration of qualities, after all, and how good you look in pictures is moving swiftly toward the top of that heap. Watching them rip through tracks from their excellent new EP Star of the Show, me and the horde of photographers must have had the same feeling: that this band has a real chance of being very, very famous some day, and we’re all ready to brag about seeing them at a crowded DIY venue when we were the only ones who knew how special they were.
Check out Harry and Wendy’s photos from the show below
