It's something of a miracle that there even was a Surfer Blood concert on Sunday night. After all, the band, along with local electro-rock outfit Bearstronaut, was slated to play at Cholmondeley's on Halloween. As anyone on campus at the time knows, the weather had other plans.

The surprise snowstorm forced Surfer Blood, which is currently on tour with the Pixies, to cancel. Though to be fair to Surfer Blood, it was a choice between playing one show for about a hundred people or continuing to tour with one of the most influential bands in the past 20 years.

That should have been that. They cancel; people are sad, end of story. But apparently, Surfer Blood is made up of some of the coolest people on the planet. The band was down in Florida playing a festival on Saturday. On Sunday, they got on a plane, came to Boston, and played at Chum's. The next morning, they packed up their instruments and took a three-hour flight back to Florida. That's a lot of miles just to appease some college students.

By the time the doors opened at 9 p.m., there was already a small crowd gathered outside Chum's, waiting for Bearstronaut to start their set.

Though I've basically been gushing about how plain awesome the Surfer Blood guys are, Bearstronaut was just as good. As the first few people filed into Chum's, the band warmed up the crowd with fast, exciting electro-tinged rock. People started moving, the crowd got worked up, and, by the middle of the set, what started out as a loose smattering of people had turned into a packed house. The music was fast, it was loud, and it created the perfect atmosphere to get things going. The set was short—only about an hour or so—but the crowd loved it.

After a short break, it was time for Surfer Blood to take the stage. The Florida band's star has risen rapidly in the past two years. Its breakout single, "Swim," was named the 37th best song of 2009 by Pitchfork, while Rolling Stone listed the band's song "Floating Vibes" as the 42nd best song of 2010. As previously mentioned, Surfer Blood is now on tour with the Pixies, one of alternative rock's most legendary and influential bands. And if Sunday's performance is any indication, the accolades are well deserved. The band's surfer-influenced power pop went over well after Bearstronaut's high-energy performance, following the philosophy that the best complement to a loud, energetic show was to pile on more noise and more energy. It's an effective idea that worked well on Sunday.

The band's set was diverse, ranging from old hits like "Swim" to newer songs including Surfer Blood's latest single, "Miranda," as well "St. Patrick's Day," which frontman John Paul Pitts described as his father's favorite song. Pitts' deep voice (think Joey Ramone if he did more surf rock and didn't use a faux-British accent), accompanied by Tom Fekete's guitar, Kevin Williams' bass and Terry Schwarz's drumming, blended into one great big wall of sound.

Not to say that that's a bad thing. In fact, Surfer Blood put on what may have been one of the most charged concerts of the semester. In the middle of that never-ending midterm exam grind that is November, these two bands offered a respite from the stress of classes, and for two and a half hours, Chum's was filled to the brim with people just having a great time. For that, we owe these guys a thank you.