The 502s bring seriously happy energy to the Radio Room: Upstate Beat

Have you ever seen a rerun of the classic 1960s show “The Monkees?” You know the part where they walk down the street arm in arm, singing “Here we come, walking down the street,” and seeming like joyful best friends?

That’s what I picture when I think about the Maitland, Florida band The 502s hanging out together. The 502s is also nicknamed the “Happiest Band On Earth,” and the musical evidence is difficult to argue with.

The 502s, which performs at the Radio Room in Greenville on Oct. 8, mixes the communal, foot-stomping energy of Mumford & Sons, the loose Americana of Old Crow Medicine Show. and the exuberant, horn-and-percussion-driven spirit of The Lumineers, and wraps it in a bright, celebratory sound that feels designed to get a crowd moving.

Even when the songs deal with life’s rougher edges, The 502s tend to come back to joy, connection and the simple pleasure of making music together.

And boy, are audiences feeling that joy as well. The tour that brings The 502s to town celebrates the fifth anniversary of its most successful album, “Could It Get Better Than This,” which has been streamed more than 150 million times on Spotify alone.

The band’s founder, lead singer and banjo player Eddie Isola loves that rapport with the fans.

“It’s really awesome because people will come up to us and say, ‘Wow, what a fun show!’” he said in our interview. “There’s such a connected, community-type feel in the room. I know for the 90 minutes that I’m onstage, I’m going to be with people who are in the same mindset, who want to connect, who want to have a good night and let the worries go for a minute.”

But let’s get back to The Monkees because I have a theory that this band makes happy music because they’re inseparable. In a world where some bands take separate buses to avoid seeing each other, The 502s – Isola, saxophonist Joe Capati, drummer Sean Froehlich, and guitarists Nicholas Melashenko and Graci Phillips – can’t seem to bond enough.

“We all spend time together,” Isola said. “We go on vacations together. We were just at a wedding together last weekend. It’s like its own little family.”

The 502s started out as a three-piece acoustic folk group, but now they’ve piled on the guitars, drums and sax for one reason, which will be apparent at the Radio Room on Oct. 8.

“We want you to walk away with a smile and a sweaty shirt,” Isola said. “We always say the sweatier the show, the better.”