Rio Bravo Brewing Company hosts Geographer Tour

Indie bands Geographer and The Crookes are in the midst of their collaborative tour across North America, which brings them to Albuquerque on Wednesday, where they will play at the Rio Bravo Brewing Company.

The show will be a midway point in the tour as they continue to travel around America, hitting destinations like New York, Chicago and Nashville in the near future.

Rio Bravo Brewing Company is owned by Rhett Butler, who founded the venue as a way to help local musicians find a live outlet for music.

“That’s pretty much why we started the business," he said. “There’s a lot of talent in the area. Music, art and poetry, and we really want to try and support that.”

Butler also owns the Duke City Sound Stage and Co-op music venues, the latter of which was previously known as Amped Performance Center. He has booked numerous large acts across Albuquerque such as Hawthorne Heights, Saving Abel and Knuckle Puck.

“The bands that play breweries and bars are different than those that play all ages venues,” Butler said. “Rio Bravo is unique in that it’s an outdoor venue and can hold around 450 people. It fits a niche between large venues and small bars.”

Rio Bravo is one of many locales across the nation to feature the tour, which began on March 22 in Denver. Geographer has been playing shows consecutively, having performed in Portland, Seattle and Los Angeles.

The band is led by songwriter Michael Deni, who incorporates both mesmeric electronic sounds and acoustic instrumentation on stage. They released their most recent album “Ghost Modern” in 2015.

Geographer is joined by UK rock band The Crookes, who formed in 2008 and have released four albums since. Known for their catchy and upbeat take on indie-pop, they found popularity with their 2012 single “Afterglow.”

The Crooke’s latest album, “Lucky Ones,” was released in January and is currently featured on the tour. Lead vocalist and bassist George Waite said the tour has been fun so far.

“The tour is going really well,” Waite said. “The crowds have been fantastic every night and Geographer are the coolest people, we don’t want the tour to end. We’ve never been to Albuquerque, so we’re dead excited to come and play and hopefully tour the city.”

Both bands are joined by local rock band Ugly Robot, who have previously opened for bands like Red Light Cameras and Lindy Vision.

“We’re given this opportunity to throw really cool shows featuring big name bands,” Butler said, “and have local artists play with them. We’re trying our best to provide opportunities for local musicians.”

Check out Geographer, The Crookes and Ugly Robot Wednesday night at Rio Bravo Brewing Company and 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. The show is open for all ages.

Audrin Baghaie is a culture reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.