REVIEW: Racing Mount Pleasant: Live at Terminal West - ATL
- Magali Rivera
- Jun 8
- 3 min read
The experimental rock group begins their latest tour at one of ATL's favorite venues
Racing Mount Pleasant brought the first stop of their 2026 tour to Terminal West in Atlanta on May 27. The band, formerly known as Kingfisher, formed in 2019 having met each other at the University of Michigan. They released their debut record, Grip Your Fist, I'm Heaven Bound, in late 2022 and later changed their name in 2025 to Racing Mount Pleasant for both search engine optimization and feeling they had outgrown its meaning. The seven-piece put out their warm and ambitious sophomore, self-titled record in August of last year. They also opened for Geese on the first leg of the band’s Getting Killed tour, bringing them a load of new listeners turned fans. Racing Mount Pleasant meld folk, Midwest emo, and garage rock with jazz and classical additions to create their own sound in art rock that the seven instrumentalists are pioneering in the US.
The group consists of lead singer and guitarist Sam Dubose, drummer Casey Cheatham, bassist Tyler Thenstedt, Connor Hoyt on alto saxophone, Samuel Uribe Botero on tenor sax, Kaysen Chown on strings, and Callum Roberts on trumpet. They took the stage at Terminal West with a calm confidence, seemingly due to their strength in numbers. The band cycled through songs old and new, including “Snowing, all at once,” “Emily,” and some wistful unreleased tracks.
Racing Mount Pleasant are often compared to English experimental rock band Black Country, New Road, who produce a similarly passionate and imposing sound with the size of their group. The range of instruments allow for only the most grand output, which leaves a deeper, lasting impact on fans. This kind of music seeps into hearts and souls further than one may expect upon first listen. It is sentimental, tender, and nothing short of entirely moving, with its hefty sax and strings, and makes for a splendid gig to attend.
“Your New Place” and “Call It Easy” were two huge highlights of the night. The first is a track of sweet words and sweeter chords and tones. In the latter, there is much more dismay and darkness. It is searching, in every note played by the septet, particularly in the horns. It goes full out and envelopes each listener in an inescapable cloud of emotion, then diminishes to a whisper before returning to attack with the same enthusiasm as before. The recorded version is impeccable, but live, it is impossibly more perfect.
To begin a new tour in a new city is obviously nerve-wracking, but Racing Mount Pleasant did just that, with a cool ease and assurance in their work. All the band’s members smiled from ear to ear at many points throughout the set to excited fans bopping around to their own rhythms. They mentioned this was their first time playing a show in the South, which made the crowd cheer for them even harder. Between reserved, measured moments and totally expansive, riveting ones, Racing Mount Pleasant’s set in Atlanta was a mighty way to kick off their 2026 headline tour.
Article and photos by Magali Rivera. Please credit @magliriver or @art.seen.atl if reposting on social media.
