Death Cab is currently finishing up a tour of the rock clubs they used to play before they blew up, and my sister, my girlfriend, and I were fortunate enough to be able to get tickets to see them at the Troc in Philly, despite Ticketmaster frustrations verging on LCD Soundsystem proportions. Despite it being my birthday and the day of my sister's high school graduation, we arrived just after the doors opened and were soon inside and up front in plenty of time for openers The Lonely Forest to take the stage. photo by my sister Frontman John Van Deusen got the crowd's attention immediately with his Philadelphia Flyers jersey and apparently self-tailored Dickies, then locked it in with sharp pop vocals kept front and center in the remarkably good live mix. There were a few definite earworms in the Washington state outfit's repertoire, and myself and many others began picking up on choruses right away. The entire band seemed enthralled just being on stage playing their music, and their cheerful, upbeat demeanor successfully distracted from the sometimes too overt Death Cab influences of an opening act signed to and produced by guitarist Chris Walla's Trans Records. Here's the video for standout track "Turn Off This Song And Go Outside", filmed on the Fourth of July in their hometown: Say what you like about the resounding successes of Ben Gibbard and company; they are genuine artists with a real love of their music and its fans. Sellouts don't play sets including tracks from cassette tape releases and more songs from before Transatlanticism than from Codes and Keys, which they are ostensibly touring. This was not a show for the uninitiated, with a deep track selection spanning the length and breadth of the Death Cab oeuvre. Their stage presence was compelling, and in general substantially more rock-oriented than I expected-Gibbard's acoustic guitar only took a dominant role for his solo rendition of Plans hit "I Will Follow You Into The Dark". A lengthy first set, brief respite filled with a deafening roar from the crowd, and an encore verging on second set status left a very well satisfied audience. In a trope becoming somewhat familiar given the number of shows I've seen at the Troc, the band apparently loves the venue. I think their music is better suited to more intimate spaces, and the former burlesques is nothing if not intimate. I'm very glad I caught them there, rather than at the Mann for their next Philadelphia show.
For those who don't know, The Juliana Theory was a Pittsburgh 6-piece act that participated in the huge growth of emo/screamo in the late 90s and early 00s before breaking up in 2006. The frontman went solo, and 3 other members formed a band called Vesta. This year they played 6 shows as a celebration of the 10th anniversary of their influential album Emotion Is Dead.
I was able to catch their show in Philly at The Troc (my favorite venue) with my sister. We have been listening to The Juliana Theory since about 2007, and always regretted not being able to see them live, so this was a phenomenal opportunity.
They took the stage a bit later than expected, but the sold-out crowd was mostly getting drinks in the upstairs bar section, an older demographic than the average show here. Opening with a set of favorites from their other albums, the band gradually overcame an initial awkwardness between frontman Brett Detar and the rest of the members. This discomfort was consistent with the rumors about his ego causing their split, and clearly evidenced by his obvious enjoyment of working the crowd, etc., while the instrumentalists seemed to slog through as one would a desk job. [edit:an insider assures me this is not the case and that the band thoroughly enjoys each others' company both onstage and off]
When they returned to play EID in its entirety, the crowd's excitement and their own love of the songs overcame their differences and led to much more showmanship and interaction from all of the band members. They easily surmounted the challenges of playing songs they'd never done live before, such as "Something Isn't Right Here", much to the crowd's satisfaction. The absolutely epic 'big rock ending' of "Goodnight, Goodnight" had hardly faded when crowd chanting brought them back for a further encore so lengthy as to almost be called a third set.
The band's comfort on stage, once it developed, was obvious, cracking jokes about a fight with security the last time they played The Troc and wondering why Philly always provides a better crowd than their home in Pittsburgh. Their showmanship throughout was phenomenal, with Brett's magnetic personality and elvish Michael Jackson appearance centering it all as the crowd sang along. I only wish I could go see them again like the multiple fans present planning on traveling to all 6 shows.
If anyone was wondering how to release a physical album in 2010, Freeway has the answer. His latest effort, a collaboration with producer Jake One entitled "The Stimulus Package", has the best packaging I have ever seen, along with a great promotional campaign through Rhymesayers Entertainment culminating in the release party at the Troc about a month ago. Check out these videos and go pick up a copy if you want to see CD and/or vinyl packaging done properly.
Ever since I discovered Between The Buried And Me this past spring, I’ve been hooked. After hearing Selkies, they quickly moved ahead to be one of my favorite bands. It may be my all-time favorite song. I even wrote a song with sweeps inspired by the solo at the end of the song. All of this being said, when I heard they were coming to Philly, I immediately marked down the date and planned for a crazy night.And quite the eventful evening it was… From nearly running out of gas in stop and go traffic to the actual show, it was quite the event. Unfortunately, in our hitting stop and go traffic, having to stop for gas, having to drop a friend off at Temple, and then discovering that everywhere we wanted to park was full, we ended up late to the show. We missed 3 Inches of Blood and some other band I hadn’t heard of, but got there just in time for BTBAM. The set was solid. It consisted of: All Bodies, Selkies, Obfuscation, Foam Born A and B and White Walls. Despite being sick, frontman Tommy Rogers came through with his ridiculously powerful screaming and left the crowd to fill in some of the softer singing parts. All of the instrumental work came through with studio-quality precision and, as it usually does, blew my mind. Paul Waggoner’s guitar work is simply amazing. Closing the night was In Flames. I had listened to these guys a few times before, but they never really did much for me. I feel like them playing after BTBAM took away from the show more than anything. Not that they weren’t good, but they just don’t have as much to bring to the table as BTBAM. The crowd seemed to be just as content with them, however[editors note: I am just as content with them as well]. There was even some crazy drunk guy who jumped from the balcony down to the pit to mosh… Somehow they let you do that at the Troc? Also, during In Flames, the stage lost power for a good 10 minutes. No one really knew what was going on. At the end of the night, the show was a good one and a great time, even looking back on it like a month later.
For the uninitiated, let me explain: Rock concerts have often been compared to religious services. mewithoutYou concerts take this vague analogy and add both overtly and subtly religious lyrics (including quotations from Song of Songs and Sufi poets, among other things), an often largely religious audience, the reverence that fans have for lyricists like Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen (directed toward Aaron Weiss), and the physical impact of the dancier indie bands amplified by the post-hardcore backgrounds of most of the musicians involved. In other words, if this rock concert isn't a religious experience, there may not be a God after all.
That said, on to this particular show: I lined up outside the Trocadero, a former burlesque theater in Philadelphia's Chinatown district, with a pair of hardcore friends and their less-hardcore fiancee and girlfriend. Wandering up and down the line (which was down the block and around the corner well before doors opened at 7) I ran into about a dozen groups of friends I knew from various places: hippies, scenesters, nerds, indie kids, hipsters of various stripes, along with the occasional "normal" person. Once inside, we were greeted with the sounds of what appeared to be a Christian version of The Roots-Urban Sophisticates, a live hip-hop band with a small brass section (trombone and trumpet), guitar, bass, drums, an MC and a singer. Hailing from the South, they had evidently met the members of mewithoutYou at festivals around the country, their trumpeter even recording tracks for the new album. They ran through a half hour set of their material, pumping up the crowd and taking their own videos, before being replaced by Danielson (the MC and trumpeter would return for guest spots with the main act). Here's one of their on-stage videos:
Danielson was... how shall I put this... interesting. A family band wearing nursing uniforms that reminded me of a cross between the Salvation Army and Awana, they were fronted by a vocalist who reminded me of the more grating moments of The Blood Brothers, Coheed & Cambria, and Modest Mouse (comparisons being shot around the crowd the entire time). After a few songs of their post-rock-ish indie jams (at least one of which involved the keyboard player simply mashing his hands rhythmically on the synthesizer in front of him), I elected to hit up the bar for a drink of water and check out the merch in the foyer, where I talked with the frontmen from Urban Sophisticates. After discovering that they were scheduled to play b-sides at Messiah in the fall, how they knew mewithoutYou, and the quality (or lack thereof) of the music being played in the other room, I let them leave for a quick Wawa run before they headed backstage for mewithoutYou's portion of the show. (Disclaimer: a few of my friends really liked Danielson).
When mewithoutYou finally hit the stage, the hometown crowd erupted. The clapping throughout nearly every song failed to obscure the fact that nearly everyone was singing along-to every single word, even the new stuff. Cheers erupted at the opening notes of each song as devoted fans recognized their beloved favorites. Joined on stage at various points by the frontman from the Psalters (singing background vocals and playing some foreign type of stringed instrument), the trumpeter and MC from Urban Sophisticates, a second trumpeter, a chamber group including strings and more winds, and former band members, mewithoutYou regaled the crowd with an unforgettable set of both old and new material, peppered with comments such as "Mom, it's like this every night on tour". By the time they returned for the inevitable encore, ending with perennial favorite "In a Sweater Poorly Knit", the crowd was dominated by dancing, swaying, sweaty veterans, hugging each other like they'd been friends for years and screaming the lyrics back at the band like their lives depended on it. I ran into people I hadn't seen in years, saw grown men brought to tears, and experienced such poetry that I just accidentally rhymed in a blog. This was not another show, not another concert; this was an experience we will all treasure for a lifetime. Here's an (admittedly shaky) black & white video of what that final anthem was like that night:
Saturday evening I headed to the Trocadero to catch my friend Tony DeFranco's band Giants Among Men playing the balcony stage at Exposure Festival. After opening with an instrumental introduction, their call-and-response vocal style made them stand out from the pack of bands performing that day, with all three members singing and guitarist Kieran Lisney and drummer Tony's screaming. Limited to a short set, a guitar amp malfunction during their second song forced them to cut the last one on their list, despite admirable riffing by bass player Alex Good and Tony's energetic drum solo while waiting for the amp situation to be resolved. The mishap, however, highlighted the group's remarkable cohesion, as they remained professional and even played a song finished the night before. Here's a video of them performing "Shotgun For Future References" at the show:
Other bands featured at the festival varied in both talent and interest, one standout I saw being all-girl hardcore band Tearher. I wasn't there for the entirety of the event, and did a lot of wandering around and talking during the shows, so I can't properly describe most of the other sets I heard, which included old-school metal and punk acts, pop-punk, hardcore, and screamo of various stripes. Winners of the battle of the bands (prize being 20 hours of studio time) run by concertsfirst.com were Axis (one of the aforementioned old-school metal bands, this one with a much older-looking singer/guitarist) and Bullets & Belvedere (one of the screamo bands that I didn't see, who have a cover of "I Like To Move It" on their myspace).
On February 25th a friend and I took a train down to Philly to see one of our most beloved bands. We grew up with Jimmy Eat World, a "heart"rock outfit from Mesa, AZ, so the show was centered around nostalgia, both for us and for the band. You see, Jimmy was touring to commemorate the 10th anniversary of their celebrated (and underrated) album Clarity. We were very lucky, and a little crazy to have gotten in, as all of the shows on the Clarity x 10 Tour had sold out within a month of the on sale dates. I had never been to the Troc before, but I found that it had a kitschy atmosphere with a touch of the skeevy. Perfect for intimate shows, even if they are sold out. Aside from the very tall man with messenger bag right in front of me, visibility was great. I was surprised at how close we actually got to the stage.
First up was opener Reuben's Accomplice, a five member band with an atypical female drummer. RA had a classic pop punk vibe, amplified by the Clarity-esque heartfelt lyrics and vocals. I was especially impressed with the group's ability to switch up, and play each other's instruments. Bass guy went to lead guitar, lead guitar went to accessory perc, accessory perc guy picked up a guitar, and everyone kept it awesome. I was more impressed than I thought I would be. However, during their set, it was pretty obvious that everyone in the venue was waiting for Jimmy.
I speculated for a second whether Jimmy would play the Clarity album straight through, as released, or whether they would mix it up, but as soon as Jim Adkins, Rick Burch, Tom Linton and Zach Lind started up "Table for Glasses", I knew it would all go in order, as released. Which was just about perfect. My friend and I knew every word to every song, as I'm almost positive every other audience member did. It was neat to see a variety of age demographics as I looked around. As Jimmy has been together since 1994, it makes sense that they would draw such a wide range. Highlights for me include: the chorus of "Your New Aesthetic" which determinedly screams "Take Back the Radio!", the whole song of "Believe in What You Want", the three song chill set of "Ten" (surprisingly good live), "Just Watch the Fireworks" (which was almost my prom theme!) and "For Me This is Heaven" (absolutely awesome instrumental bridge, band got super into it), and "Goodbye Sky Harbor".
Now, "Goodbye Sky Harbor" is normally 16 minutes long, with extensive looping and jangly guitar/synth dialogues. With a live performance, the band did live looping and recorded playback with lead singer Jim Adkins doing a nerdy dance with the mic. This was absolutely priceless. Though, it wasn't quite comical. It was Jim Adkins, just as he is. It was honestly pretty cool. It was a marvelous rendition.
The band took a quick break and returned with a unique second set, starting out with "What Would I Say to You Now", a driving and angsty oldie from 1998. I was surprised at the choice, but it worked, especially followed by "No Sensitivity", a great lost song I hoped I would hear. They continued with some better known material, including "Pain" and "Work" from Futures. The best song of the night, hands down, was "23". After announcing that they had a request, and that they hadn't played this song in a while, Jimmy launched into one of their most beautiful songs. I was ecstatic. Listen to it and you'll see why. Maybe.
The band closed with "Sweetness", one of their most popular songs. As we belted out the last few words to this accessible anthem, I smiled with an inward satisfaction. I have never been to a better concert. Whether due to nostalgia, familiarity with the band, or the fact that they simply are excellent showmen, it doesn't really matter. Whatever it was, something special was in the atmosphere of that show, and I felt it, to be sure.
photo by my sister
