Attending a concert only a few months ago sounded like a pipe dream, but recently it’s become a reality. Thanks to COVID-19 vaccine distribution and booster shots, in person concerts have been able to make a triumphant comeback.

Current Joys, a band that has held strong since 2012, has been able to resume their 2020 tour. With four complete albums released, Current Joys has been able to grow a large following over the years. The current tour headlines their newest album, Voyager, which was released in May of 2021. The tour plans to have over 40 stops in the United States, closing the North American portion of the tour at Coachella in April of 2022. Shortly afterwards, the band will fly overseas and open the Voyager tour in Europe and Australia.

To better understand the achievements of this tour, let’s start at the beginning. Nick Rattigan is the lead singer and songwriter and plays multiple instruments for the band. Truly, Rattigan is largely the band.

On January 2nd, 2013, he released an album titled Wild Heart under the name Current Joys. Not knowing what to expect, he prepared for the album to flop, but it quickly got picked up. A new wave of indie pop and alternative music was booming, and Current Joys filled the gap. Some of Current Joy’s most iconic songs came from this album, including “Blondie,” “Symphonia IX,’ and “New Flash.” 

After the success of Wild Heart, Current Joys began to grow a small following but faced the problem of keeping fans listening. Rattigan rushed to release Current Joy’s second album, titled Me Oh My Mirror, on February 15th, 2015. He decided to take a chance and shift the style of music away from the indie feel, as he wanted to mature with his music. But this action did not see the same success, and Rattigan realized he needed to change back to his old music without bringing down Current Joy’s name.

Thus, Surf Curse was born.

Rattigan released an EP titled Freaks under the name of Surf Curse in 2013, and at the time it was barely heard. After re-releasing Freaks and a new album, Rattigan was able to recapture his Current Joys audience. Rattigan was now able to have two different musical platforms to release similar yet different music.

Current Joys made a triumphant comeback when Rattigan released an EP titled Kids in 2016. In 2018, Current Joys released their third album, titled A Different Age, featuring some of the band’s most famous songs. Rattigan slated a world tour to occur in 2019 and 2020 and set off on the road, but halfway through the tour, COVID-19 struck and everything went on pause.

The artist took a hiatus from posting or releasing music until 2021, when it was announced that Current Joy’s fourth album, titled Voyager, would be released in the spring. Once released, Rattigan announced that Current Joys would be going on their first official full tour, starting in early 2022. 

The tour was nothing short of almost a decade of hard work by Rattigan, and the four other members of the band. The set list heavily included songs from the newest album, but also featured fan favorites from the earlier releases.

Nick Rattigan is an example of how one’s creativity and ideas can turn into so much more. The Voyager tour is slated to end in August of 2022 in Europe.