Copyright Charleston Post and Courier
An indie-folk band from Nashville went viral after cooking up hot dogs on stage and throwing them to crowd members at a Charleston performance. The band, Arts Fishing Club, dressed up as dads for their Oct. 25 performance at Boogieman Halloween Music Festival at The Royal American in downtown Charleston, and they figured grilling hot dogs on stage would go along with the dad rock ethos they were channeling. Multiple videos of their shenanigans floating around on social media platforms, including Instagram and TikTok, have amassed more than 2.5 million views since the festival took place. “We’re a band that has a lot of fun, so we decided to be dads, you know, fathers,” said frontman Christopher Kessenich. Arts Fishing Club is also composed of drummer Jody Lee Oliver, guitarist Chris Dunkley and bassist Nir Horowitz. On the Coleman grill serving up dogs was tour manager Tyler Larabee. “We went to Walmart for the absolute best tip-top dad gear,” Kessenich said. “And then before the show we had a thought like, ‘How fun would it be to just be slinging dogs?’ Our tour manager stepped up in a big way to be grill man. We didn’t put that much thought into it, but the world started responding to it after someone posted a video. That night there were like 20,000 views and the next day it just started skyrocketing.” Two crowd members posted videos that started going viral, he said. Then the band reposted one, which took off as well. “Tyler looked like the pinnacle of the grill man aesthetic, and I think that resonated,” Kessenich said. “And the grill up on stage looked like a keyboard, so in some ways it looked like he was playing an instrument, and in some ways he was playing an instrument. But we weren’t expecting anything like this at all, it was very much just a fun joke to help make our costumes make sense.” Charleston producer Matt Zutell was running sound for the band’s set, and he said they looked like a quintessential dad rock band in jeans shorts, grey New Balance shoes, white calf socks and blue reflective glasses with eyewear straps. There was even a stray mustache and goatee. “People loved it,” Zutell said. “I've noticed when the band on stage is having fun, it's contagious to the crowd. When the band’s not taking themselves too seriously, people in the crowd feel more relaxed and more likely to let loose themselves. With that being said though, Arts Fishing Club still absolutely tore it up. They were awesome. Everybody was rockin' because they were rockin'.” An impromptu hot dog The gimmick was similar to the excitement felt at a Charleston RiverDogs game when t-shirts are launched into the crowd. And Arts Fishing Club isn’t the first band to administer goodies to Holy City crowds. Hip-hop duo Little Stranger made it into the press when they threw Philly cheesesteaks at eager fans, and Charleston party band Sexbruise? is known for firing up a griddle during a set to sling pancakes to crowd members (and sometimes fast food burgers). “It's a great way to get the audience involved,” Zutell said. “People feel like they're a part of what's going on.” At one point when the grill man was at his peak performance, among the plethora of costume-clad congregants, he lined up a 40-yard throw to a priest who caught the hot dog mid-air to copious cheers. “People enjoy seeing a successful connection,” Zutell added. “People get tuned in too, because It's like catching a t-shirt launched out of a cannon at a sports game, everybody wants to be chosen.” Plus, who doesn't want an impromptu hot dog in a parking lot?
