The Noah Martin Band hit the stage with friends The Basements and newbies Hookie on Saturday, Jan. 28, at Tucson venue 191 Toole.

Five-piece indie rock band Hookie has only been playing together for six months — this was their first live show. 

There was an array of emotions across everyone, especially lead guitarist Diego Martinez.

“We were nervous and really surprised by the crowd,” Martinez said.

Despite the band’s lack of experience performing together, the crowd had a very positive reaction. They were waving their hands to the beat of the music and even started a small mosh pit during their second to last song, “Pressure.”

In addition, the band played a few other of their songs: “Lips,” “Hannibal,” “A Call to Arms,” “Parlay,” “Do What You Want” and “Hard to Pretend.”

Members of Hookie mentioned they invited a lot of their friends, which became a relief for Abe Fletcher, lead singer, whenever he got anxious onstage.

“Whenever I forgot a lyric, I’d just look down at my friends and be okay,” Fletcher said. 

Following Hookie was alternative indie band The Basements. 

While doing mic checks, members Brandon Pors and Sebastian Driver casually dropped hints about something new coming out.

“Check, check, Broken Escalators are Stairs out March first,” Driver said.

The boys’ chemistry as a band shows heavily in their performance. Between songs, their breakdowns leading into the next song demonstrated the band’s comfort with each other.

Driver, at one point, banged his head so hard his hat went flying off.

During their second to last song, “No Fly Zone,” bassist Dylan Goode ripped a bass solo.

With “No Fly Zone,” the band also played “Changes (stay the same),” “What to Say,” “BYU,” “Dr. Dirty,” “Dirty Dungeon,” “Jumbo Jan” and “Days.” 

Last but not least, headliner Noah Martin took the stage with his band: bassist Mitch Melodia, guitarist Diego Mackean and drummer and father to Noah Martin, Chris Martin.

Following two energetic groups, Noah Martin and the band continued that energy throughout the night.

During their song “Spin,” Noah Martin shredded out a guitar solo with his band complimenting him in the background.

“Shoutout to my friends from Ironwood,” Noah Martin said before playing “All Goes Dark.”

The audience throughout the show was jumping and singing along as the band performed. 

As an ode to Mary Jane, they played “Coming Down,” and the crowd responded with excitement.

“The Cycle” was lengthened with solos from Noah Martin, Mackean, Melodia and audience praise after each solo.

The band also played “Morphine,” “Trusting Hand,” “Grace’s Secret” and “Indigo.” 

Additionally, they played covers of “Welcome to Paradise” by Green Day and “Song 2” by Blur. 

When deciding who to have open up for the show, The Basements was an obvious choice for Noah Martin.

“Ever since we met at [the 2021 DUSK] Battle of the Bands, I’ve loved The Basements,” Noah Martin said.

However, Noah Martin and Martinez go back a bit further. They went to high school together and accepted Hookie’s demos with open arms. 

“[Mackean] went to [Austin, Texas] to try to do music and came back and right away has this killer band,” Chris Martin said.

The Noah Martin Band has some new songs and videos in the works as well as a show on Feb. 17 at the Groundworks with bands Early Moods and Mastodonna. 

Follow Amanda Mourelatos on Twitter