With singer-guitarist Elijah Hewson, 25-year-old son of U2’s Bono, out front, Irish rock band Inhaler is playing its first-ever Florida concerts this week on a tour supporting “Open Wide,” a superb new album by a group that requires your attention.
The band will perform on Friday, March 14, at Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale, a show bracketed by concerts on Thursday in the Orlando area and Saturday in St. Petersburg. At the end of the month, the band will head out for their first shows in South America, with stops in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Brazil.
Inhaler, which first coalesced as Dublin schoolmates more than a decade ago, includes Hewson, guitarist Josh Jenkinson, bassist Rob Keating and drummer Ryan McMahon. Their first album, “It Won’t Always Be Like This” (Polydor Records), debuted at No. 1 on the U.K. charts, with the follow-up, “Cuts & Bruises,” hitting No. 2. “Open Wide” was released in February, also debuting at No. 2 on the U.K. charts.
That sales-and-streams success has yet to translate into a broad following in the United States, where they have toured consistently over the past three years — though Eddie Vedder has taken notice.
In a conversation from the road, Hewson and Keating talked about their expectations for Florida and South America, hanging out with their musical heroes in Pearl Jam, and the uncool advice dispensed by Bono, maybe the coolest dad in the world. The exchange has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
What’s with the name?
The derivation of the band name Inhaler is the subject of some imprecision in the press, a situation they do not discourage.
“I guess we’ve told a few different versions, haven’t we?” Hewson says, with a smile.
They will acknowledge that when they started playing live shows, an asthmatic Hewson did carry an inhaler, and young fans did start calling them The Inhalers. This likely included Hewson’s sister, actor and songwriter Eve Hewson, though she should probably not be credited with the name, they say.
“We can make up a new story for you now, if you’d like,” Keating says, laughing.
On their Florida debut
Hewson: “The only thing we know about Miami is seeing it in the movies. We’re interested in the countryside. We always see stuff online about the Everglades, but I think it’s just crazy that there’s this place in America that has so much wildlife. It kind of blows my mind. It’s a territory that has been unexplored by our band and it’s actually very exciting.”
Keating: “We’re hoping to see a few alligators — at the gigs.”
On South America
The band has scheduled six tour stops in South America, including Lollapalooza festival concerts in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Santiago, Chile; and São Paulo, Brazil.
Hewson: “We’re really looking forward to it. I guess the main thing that people talk about is the physical reaction to live music that goes on in South America. There’s something about the culture there, I don’t know.”
Keating: “There’s like a Rolling Stones religion in, I think maybe Argentina. People who are disciples of Keith Richards. There’s a visceral reaction to rock music that we’re really excited to see.”
Pearl Jam moments
Inhaler was the opening act on a portion of Pearl Jam’s 2023 tour. At a stop in Austin, Texas, bandleader Eddie Vedder came out for a short acoustic set to introduce Inhaler, describing how he first heard them on the radio.
“I was immediately taken,” Vedder told the crowd. “Having them join us on these shows has been a real honor. So, everybody, take a deep breath, exhale, and then inhale the great Inhaler!”
It was the stuff of schoolboy dreams for Inhaler.
Hewson: “When we were younger, we were like massive disciples of the Seattle scene in the ’90s. So that was, like, freaky,” he says, name checking Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and The Melvins.
Keating: “We don’t sound like any of those bands [laughs], but we were obsessed.”
Hewson: “We were kind of like deer in headlights when we went out. They have such a dedicated fan base, and we thought they were, like, checkin’ their watches waitin’ for Pearl Jam to come on. [Laughs] It was amazing and [Pearl Jam] were all really, really sweet to us. They are the most beautiful people you’ll ever meet. I just don’t know where [Vedder] gets the energy to be jumping around like that.”
Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune
U2 bandleader Bono has plenty of practical advice for his son, Elijah, and band Inhaler. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Bono’s fatherly advice
One of the world’s most popular and influential music celebrities must be a constant source of daring ideas for his son on how to live a rock star life.
Hewson: “He’s not shy on giving advice, I’ll tell you that. [Laughs] His advice is always, like, ‘Caution, there. Make sure this is what you want to do. Make sure that if you do it, you cover every aspect of it and you’re passionate about it.’ He’ll say, like, ‘Are you sure, because you could go to college and get a real job.’”
This kind of regular-dad guidance is meant to keep Inhaler’s feet on the ground as the industry tries to leverage its celebrity, Hewson says.
“You know, just because you join a band, it doesn’t mean you’ll be the biggest band in the world. There’s plenty of bands that have had to meet the real world. We are real lucky in a lot of regards,” he says. “There’s a lot of advantages to having him as my father, but at the bottom of it, we just wanted to make sure that we weren’t just cruising through. We work really hard.”
Do they sound like U2?
“Open Wide” is a gorgeous, dare we say glorious, album. Spacious, soaring, cinematic and gleaming with pop polish, it calls to mind the artful ambitions of “Achtung Baby”-era U2. It was produced by British songwriter and producer Kid Harpoon, who won a 2023 Grammy Award for Best Album for Harry Styles’ “Harry’s House” and the 2024 Grammy for Record of the Year for the Miley Cyrus hit “Flowers.”
But does it sound like U2 to them?
Hewson: “Only as far as the voice goes, and other people hear that more than I do. I don’t really hear it in the music. Maybe in the bigness of it? But it’s something we’ve always just naturally done, so, yeah.”
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Inhaler, all-ages concert, with opening act Benches
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 14, with doors opening at 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Revolution Live, 100 SW Third Ave., Fort Lauderdale
TICKETS: $31.50+ for general admission
INFORMATION: JoinTheRevolution.net
Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com. Follow on Instagram @BenCrandell and X @BenCrandell.
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