“We’ve kept a running list for years, and there were times over the years where we’d be backstage, and we were like, ‘What number show is this?’ and we’d pull up the list and count and be like, ‘Tonight’s No. 870; that’s crazy. One day we’ll hit our 1,000th show,’” bassist William Cashion said.
On Sunday, they will finally reach 1,000. After playing over 150 shows in North Carolina, their show — which will also feature Dan Deacon, Danny Brown, Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, Valient Thorr and Lonnie Walker — is a celebration of the band’s success and a homecoming of sorts.
“For them, they’ve probably played more shows in this area and in the Triangle combined, so for them it probably felt like the right place to celebrate what they want to call an anniversary — Future Islands’ 1,000th,” Cat’s Cradle owner Frank Heath said.
The show will be held at Carrboro Town Commons, a short distance from Cat’s Cradle, the venue producing the show as well as a formative influence for band members.
“The first time that I saw a band that I liked at a small club, it was Frank Black and the Catholics at the Cat’s Cradle; shortly thereafter, I saw the Flaming Lips there and then Blonde Redhead and Sleater-Kinney,” Cashion said.
“A lot of my musical upbringing or knowledge of live music in the Triangle — a lot of that happened in Cat’s Cradle.”
While Future Islands is now based in Baltimore, singer Sam Herring, keyboardist Gerrit Welmers and Cashion met while at Eastern Carolina University and formed the band in 2006.
Now they have been featured on “Late Show with David Letterman,” made Pitchfork’s 100 Best Tracks of 2014 and have released four albums.
