Hotel Fiction is an alternative/ indie-pop group hailing from Athens, Georgia consisting of Jess Thompson (Vocals/ Guitar), Jade Long (Vocals/ Keyboard), Lucas LoPiccolo (Bass Guitar), Aaron Daugherty (Guitar/ Keyboard) and Gideon Johnston (Drums). They started releasing music in 2018, and have been touring since 2019. The band facilitates a sound somewhere in between happy garage rock and nostalgic feeling indie music. Their music is reminiscent of other groups in the genre, such as Flipturn, Mt. Joy, The Brazen Youth, COIN, Hippo Campus and others.
Their show with Trash Panda in Asheville on Friday, August 18th, 2023, at the Grey Eagle was an incredibly intimate concert. The concert consisted of a lot of songs from their older projects, but they included some new ones that have been released recently as well as some songs from an upcoming project that has yet to be released.
Long-time fans as well as new listeners of the group were present, and everybody in the venue seemed to dig the groovy, upbeat sound that the band provided. The cheers were loud but the fans singing along were louder, especially during the more driving portions of the concert.
Jade Long and Jess Thompson started playing together their sophomore years of college and have a lot of musical chemistry on stage, communicating effectively and building off of each other’s sound. The band has come a long way since their first release in 2018, and they still have a long career ahead of them.