Bleachers Perform On Top of a Moving Ice Cream Truck in "Rollercoaster" Video

Bleachers is the new project of fun. guitarist Jack Antonoff. His album Strange Desire came out back in July (and features guest vocals from Grimes and Yoko Ono). Today, Antonoff has shared the video for the Bleachers single “Rollercoaster”. Directed by Richard Shepard (Dom Hemingway, The Matador, The Hunting Party), the clip features Antonoff and his band performing while standing on top of a moving vehicle. Watch it below via Pitchfork.tv.

 Antonoff said of the video:

The idea of getting on top of a car and playing on a highway felt distinctly 90s in a way that excited me about videos I saw growing up. Didn’t think it would be acutely dangerous — the breaks ended up going out and we literally almost died. There’s something special about almost dying for a video. Beyond that, “Rollercoaster” was written while I was driving home on the NJ turnpike. The song always felt like driving on a highway to me sonically. That part was perfect. Working with Richard was a dream because of his wide scale cinematic feeling. The car crash in his film Dom Hemingway is possibly the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life.

Shepard added:

Jack Antonoff came to me with the idea of the band playing on top of a van. I thought is was such a funny cool idea, and together we riffed on all the other stuff. The girl in the car, the fight at end. I was thrilled that Jack asked me to work with him on this. We shot out near Lancaster. We had a day to do everything, which was ambitious considering all the car stuff. I came up with the old ice cream truck idea, and it seemed perfect both visually and technically for what we needed to do. Of course the truck broke down while we were filming—including losing its brakes with the entire band on the roof—so we only had a few hours to get most of what you see in the video. It helps though, because we shot so much at magic hour with that beautiful lens-flaring sunset. Jack dressed Stefanie, the girl in the video, with his own wardrobe, which is why they look like doppelgängers. During editing Jack was very involved, helping set the tone and pace of the piece. It was a true collaboration, and I think the finished product is a great reflection of that.

Find Bleachers’ tour dates below the video.

Bleachers:

10-28 Atlanta, GA – Center Stage *
10-29 Nashville, TN – Cannery Ballroom *
10-31 New Orleans, LA – Voodoo Music & Arts Experience
11-01 Houston, TX – Fitzgerald’s *
11-02 Dallas, TX – House of Blues *
11-05 Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern *
11-06 San Francisco, CA – The Independent *
11-07 Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom *
11-08 Vancouver, British Columbia – The Rio Theatre *
11-09 Seattle, WA – Showbox *
11-12 Denver, CO – The Bluebird Theater *
11-14 Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall *
11-15 Chicago, IL – Vic Theatre *
11-16 Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theater *
11-22 Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage *
11-23 Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of Living Arts *
11-25 Boston, MA – Paradise Club *
11-26 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer #
12-06 Norfolk, VA – 96X Winter Meltdown
12-19 Toronto, Ontario – The Edge Jingle Bell Rock
03-13 Tempe, AZ – Pot of Gold Festival

* with Wild Cub
# with Vacationer

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