Guitar Republic @ Tin Angel

Guitar Republic is the newly formed Italian trio consisting of Sergio Altamura, Stefano Barone and Pino Forastiere. All being world-renowned guitarists, these three have come together in the past 6 months, only practicing on weekends, to write and perform some of the most mind-blowing guitar pieces you will ever see and/or hear.

Conveniently, the trio (as well as the 3 individual artists) are under candyrat records (the same label as Andy McKee, Antoine Dufour, and a host of other amazing guitarists), so when they had the show in Philly, I was notified by candyrat. Otherwise, I would never have heard of them until they were done with their US tour and back in Italy. That being said, after I heard about them through candyrat, I looked them up and immediately cleared my schedule for the show.

The show took place in a tiny venue, the Tin Angel, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Though I’m sure you could pack like 100+ people into the venue, it could maybe seat 40-50 comfortably. Getting there on time meant a front row seat in the dimly lit room, at a candle-lit table. The main point: this was a tiny venue with an intimate performer-crowd setting. This is the sort of atmosphere where there isn’t a bad seat and it’s almost as if the performers are performing a private show for you – excellent for the type of act that Guitar Republic is.

The night started off with the song, “Ghetto Republic.” Sergio used a lap steel guitar in this song, starting the show off slowly, easing the audience into what we were about to be a part of. Throughout the rest of the night, the trio played the rest of the songs off of their 9 song debut, self-titled album, ending with, “Funky Sex Republic.”

What is truly unique about these guys is the variety that they throw into their songs. They had notable influences from rock to jazz to even having some Eastern influence. On top of that, they take their 3 guitar instrumentation to places uncomprehendable. Quite a few people know that I’ve been working with some percussive-fingerstyle lately, but I put my skill level with this right above novice (Yes, I am my own worst critic. Clearly, this is to make a point.). These guys, however, are all three well versed in percussive fingerstyle, easily being some of the best in the genre. In addition to percussive elements, a bow was used a few times, what looked like a computer fan with a string(?) attached to it was used, and some prepared guitar as well.

So what the heck is prepared guitar, you ask? If you’ve heard of prepared piano, you are familiar with the concept. It’s pencils, CDs, nuts, screws, paper, and anything else you can think of to wedge between the strings. Seem like a weird concept? Well, it is. However, it enables some truly unique sounds to be produced that, yes, are mostly created out of dumb luck, but cannot be produced by any “normal” means.

With a unique blend of all three styles, what I witnessed was rhythmic mastery, fretboard mastery, and a mastery of the absurd. This equates to a mastery of music and of sound. Do I believe there is even more out there that can be done with a guitar? Of course I do, but these guys are pushing what even I thought possible. It’s only once you realize how little you know about your instrument that you begin to appreciate its true potential. These guys have helped me to see over where I was as a musician to an entirely new dimension of guitar playing.

- Alex Brubaker

Show Review: Switchfoot

I arrived at The Fillmore at Irving Plaza at about four in the evening, the sky was cloudy, the sun was going down, and the temperature was freezing - so why was there a line of people outside three hours before doors? I was about to find out. Switchfoot is a multi platinum, Grammy nominated band from San Diego, California, but despite their mainstream success, they did something very independent and risky for this tour. The gigs were titled "An Evening with Switchfoot" - no opening acts, long meet and greets with their hardcore fans, and a band playing every song in order off of their latest album before playing one hit.

Although I saw a few kids, the show was a 16 plus show in a not-so-nice section of New York City on a Tuesday night. Despite these setbacks, the show was sold out, just like every other show of the tour. The Fillmore is a small concert room inside a large venue above a better known venue: Irving Plaza, which is in the basement of the building. Because of the size of the room, the bass was relatively louder than most shows. Bass can be tricky to work with in small rooms due to the fact that it easily overpowers the other instruments with more treble such as electric guitar and vocals, but that was not the case at The Fillmore. The band came out on time about an hour after doors, as stated before, the band played the entirety of their latest release "Hello Hurricane" in order. Even though the album was just released, a large part of the crowd seemed to know the words to every song.

The five members of Switchfoot proved they had a great ear for blending their instruments. Guitarist Andrew Shirley played more high end parts on his vintage Fender Telecaster while singer Jon Foreman made use of his PRS guitars endorsement by playing quieter, more low end parts on songs like "Meant to Live" and "Stars", which were both played that night as a bonus after the album was played through. Bassist Tim Foreman played with what appeared to be complete accuracy with drummer Chad Foreman holding down the beat in perfect timing. Jerome Fontamillas, who was staged more towards the back of the crowd, made a wide array of sounds by use of his keyboard, which sounded excellent in contrast to everything else.

By the end of the show, I found myself saying to myself "this was the best Switchfoot show I have ever seen". That means a lot figuring that it was my 16th Switchfoot show as of then.

-Phil Smith

[click here for video of him & his brother playing w/ Switchfoot @ the TLA]

Show Review: Zee Avi, The Backroad

Imagine that you're in college. You're stereotypically broke and trying to balance your time between studying for exams, playing Halo or playing ultimate frisbee. Your college thinks it best to bring options to you, in the form of a relatively unknown singer-songwriter, whose music sounds nice on the iTunes previews and who is at the level of popularity where you can pay $5 for a ticket. If you need a study break, or if it's too dark for disc golf, you go to the show. No problem. Imagine that you're an upcoming artist, who is getting paid to play gigs at a college. You are trying to establish a fan base, you are trying to perfect your musical abilities - you want the audience to leave and go buy a CD. The stage was set for such an experience on Saturday in Brubaker Auditorium at Messiah College, who hosted Zee Avi, a fledgling musician from Malaysia who, thanks to the world wide web, garnered some attention in the United States via YouTube. The show opened with opening act "The Backroad", an entertaining act of some college dudes who are skilled at their instruments and got the crowd involved [Edit: The Backroad is Kyle Morgan's band]. After wrapping up their set, the band cleared the stage for the headliner. Avi, joined by a drummer and a comatose bass player, opened her set with an a cappella number. The audience smiled and snapped along, totally into Avi's sound. That's when the proverbial shit hit the fan.

A monitor was rumbling, causing Avi to quit mid-song and ask for a new monitor. The sounds were driving her, and a few audience members, crazy. Fine. Weird, ill-timed, a bit bitchy, but fine. Some jokes from a Malaysian audience member eased the tension, but this ice breaker, as we would soon find out, was only temporary. As Avi began to play her first single, the audience scratched their heads, trying to figure out where this single had been played. Halfway through the song, the audience was taken off guard when we were put in the spotlight and asked to sing the chorus. We fumbled, we laughed nervously, we whispered rhymes that we thought might fill in the blanks. After closing her song, Avi stared at the audience and asked, blankly, "So how many of you out here actually know my songs?" Of course, most of us hadn't, so it was silent. Some girl and some guy probably whistled or cheered, but the rest of us sat stunned. A song or two later, some more technical problems arose, but this time it was the fault of the musician, not the tech crew. Avi gave a death glare to the sound booth throughout the rest of the number, determined to win the staring contest. She played a cover song, then addressed the audience abruptly by informing us she was about to end the show. The drummer left the stage and she crooned her final number, eyes-a-rollin, and then left the stage. There was hope for humanity when we thought she apologized for being bitchy; to our dismay, though, she just apologized for being pitchy - evidently, she couldn't hear herself for the last fifteen minutes.

[evidently she's always like that]

I realize that not much has been said about Avi's music, and this noticeable omission is no oversight. It's difficult to review the music of the show, because music took a backseat to her stage antics. Technically speaking though, Avi sounds brilliant. While her songwriting and guitar-picking skills are average, her voice is smooth and smoky, compensating for any other musical deficiencies she may have. The type of performance that Avi displayed was the type you would expect from a diva, someone not having anything to lose or prove, someone who could afford to be, for lack of a better word, rude. But Avi is quite the opposite - the crowd didn't sing along with her because we don't know her songs. She isn't familiar. We are looking for a good impression. Whether we know it or not, we are looking for an artist who can sail through a technical glitch without letting it ruin her evening. Her poor showmanship and eyerolls took center stage - not her music. Such a reality turned what could have otherwise been a pleasant, enjoyable concert into a painful, awkward spectacle that simultaneously alienated any pre-existing fans and snatched the possibility of any of us wanting to go buy her music. That's a mistake no musician can really afford these days, and Avi is no exception.

-Jeff Waters (music)

Show Review: Zappa Plays Zappa

Let’s go back in time between the late 50s through the early 90s. Through this time we see the influential works of bands like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and many others who have helped to shape today’s music. Our younger generation, not being around for most of that time, has missed one of the most potentially influential artists of that time. You won’t hear Frank Zappa’s name commonly throughout much of the under 30 crowd, but if you look a bit later, your parents probably listened to Zappa’s music or at least had heard of him.

So Frank was this crazy crazy guy. He and Captain Beefheart worked together on occasion, just to give you an idea. Anyway, so from the 50s through when he died, he was a guitarist and composer. His music basically takes the idea of experimental rock and adds another “experimental” to it, or something like that. Back in the day, this was one of the first bands Steve Vai was in (also, another testament to his craziness) And if you can get a hold of any of his orchestral works, they’re pretty nuts as well.

How is this a show review, though? I mean, the guy has been dead for 17 years and I would’ve been 4 at that time! This show was actually only in mid-January, this year. Turns out Frank’s son, Dweezil, (Yeah, Dweezil. His sister’s name: Moon Unit… Told ya’ he was crazy…) made a tribute band to his father in ’05, appropriately name: Zappa Plays Zappa. Since then, ZPZ has been on tour a few times, playing old Zappa songs, nearly note-for-note. Last summer I got the chance to see them 5th row, opening for Dream Theater. It was the best live show I’ve ever seen, so when I saw ZPZ was going to be in Baltimore, at Ram’s Head Live, I had to go.

As I said before, this is some crazy experimental rock. ZPZ is a 7 piece: guitar, guiar, bass, drums, percussion, keyboard/sax/flute, and vocals. In addition, everyone else also does vocal things and Dweezil actually plays his dad’s old Gibson SG – the same one Frank played at his shows. Since it was just ZPZ, with no openers, they played a nearly 3 hour set. It featured a wide variety of Frank’s work, including a few pieces from the Joe’s Garage album that they’ve just started to play on this tour. I’d say my favorite songs of the night were probably “Catholic Girl” and “Crew Slut.” Yes, moderately offensive, but in a rather comical way.

Now on to how this show was mind-blowing. First, I think the instrumentation is amazing. Not only is there an extreme variety between songs because of this, but then they throw in these crazy instrumental interludes. These are a little beyond just “solos” because it’s not just one feature at a time (most of the time). There is also a lot of call and response between instruments, which is pretty awesome.

So in addition to the instrumentals, there’s also these crazy vocal things they do. With everyone capable of singing and whatnot, the possibilities are endless. Quite a few of Zappa’s songs tell stories. In that instance, usually everyone will have a character and dialogue within the song. There are even times when multiple conversations are going on at once, so you have to listen to bits and pieces of each to get the idea of what’s going around. That’s probably the craziest it gets vocally. A handful of weird vocal sound effects are used throughout the performance as well.
Basically, this is the sort of show that everyone should be required to go to at some point in their life. There’s a little bit of everything thrown in, so if you are even remotely musically inclined, you should be able to appreciate it. Those of us who fancy more experimental sounds, music that keeps you guessing, will likely be able to appreciate ZPZ the most. For me, this completely changes my outlook on music. I have no idea what that means for the future of my own writing/listening/etc, but for now I’m sorta just left scratching my head and wondering how it’s possible to do what they do.

-Alex Brubaker

Show Review: Regina Spektor by Jeff Waters

Each of the two-thousand fans sandwiched into Philadelphia’s Electric Factory are smitten by Regina Spektor’s charm. And who can blame them? The Russian songstress has such a bizarre presence on the stage; one second, she’s giving Tchaikovsky a run for his money, and the next, she’s whacking a chair with a drumstick. Such a wide range of dripping talent has certainly not gotten to the head of the 29-year-old, who seemed unbelievably flattered and, at some points, utterly surprised at the number of voices singing along or the amount of applause received after her songs. Whether she believes it or not, each handclap is entirely deserved. Spektor’s obvious command of the piano, her flawless voice and her quirky and creative lyrics make for quite the show.

Opening with tracks from her new album, “Far”, it was immediately evident that this show would be different from past Spektor shows. Regina was not alone on stage, and was musically supported by a drummer, a cellist and a violin. The show belonged to Spektor, though, and the band was simply an added bonus. Within the first fifteen minutes, Spektor sang about a macaroni computer (The Calculation), barked like a dolphin (Folding Chair), and sang as a heartbroken divorcee who sees her ex involved with another woman while watching from his mouth (Ode to Divorce). Obviously, any worries that Regina’s newfound commercial success would ruin her appeal were immediately tossed out of the window. It was clear that Regina was in top form, and she had the crowd eating out of her hands and singing along at the top of their lungs.

As is the case with all of Spektor’s concerts, the show is driven by her subtle yet undeniably infectious personality. Interestingly enough, some of the most crowd pleasers were ones played away from the Steinway. Bobbing for Apple”, one of Spektor’s signature performance tunes, and That Time were played from her guitar. When Spektor messed up the lyrics during one of the numbers, she said “you all just witnessed the biggest fuckup of the American tour so far. Congratulations!”, which was met with thunderous applause.

Despite the intensity of her guitar numbers, and the enjoyment of her songs with the band, Spektor is at the top of her game when it’s just her and the keys. The crowd responded positively to On The Radio, clapping and singing along to every word. Deep in her set, Spektor peaked during her performance of Apres Moi, a haunting piano number that features a stanza in Russian from a Boris Pasternak poem. Spektor showcased a new song, Carefully Laid Plans, much to the delight of the crowd. After closing her set with Man of A Thousand Faces, Spektor returned to perform a star-studded, greatest-hits encore, featuring Samson, radio hit Fidelity, a riveting performance of Us, complete with the violin and cello), Hotel Song, which featured a beatboxer, and a self-penned, self-proclaimed “country song” called Love You’re A Whore.

During the closing number, Spektor sang “'Cuz they've been there before/And they've come back again/And they always go right back for more”, which sent the crowd into a frenzy. We’ll all be back for more.
- Jeff Waters (his blog is here)

Here's a video of her performing "Us":

Show Review: Drop Dead Gorgeous, He Is Legend, Before Their Eyes, And Then There Were None

Back in June I went with some friends to a hardcore show featuring And Then There Were None, Before Their Eyes, He Is Legend, and Drop Dead, Gorgeous . Though we were mostly there for ATTWN, a hardcore-turned-techno outfit on Tooth and Nail Records, we were still able to have a great time with the more aggressive bands in the lineup. It was my friends' first hardcore show and our first time at the venue. The Note, a bar in West Chester, PA, seemed a bit incongruous to its surroundings. While West Chester has a bit of charm, the Note has a bit of grunge, with attitude to spare. Wrought iron railings and light fixtures gave it a Gothic atmosphere, and the balcony had leather couches that seemed well used…but still, it’s about the music.

And Then There Were None took the stage first, surrounded by pre-pubescent girls with dyed black hair, TWLOHA tees and Converses. The band only performed five songs, the best of which (“Hospital”) soon had me dancing in my usual nerdy way. With a surprisingly clear and earnest vocalist and melody driven lines, their switchover to the pop side of things was complete. They had a lot of energy, jumping along to bright synth beats and driving guitar riffs. However, the crowd was not impressed. Apparently, dancing is still a sin in West Chester, and my friends and I were the only ones to make an attempt to shake things up. We had a great time, and continued to cheer on the very loud, very computerized ATTWN. To give you an idea of their sound, here's a fan video of their cover of Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek":



After our favorite band left the stage, we were treated to Before Their Eyes, a seemingly inexperienced screamo band in the vein of Hawthorne Heights and the like. I found it humorous that they opened with the dialogue from Willy Wonka during the steamboat scene (“There’s no earthly way of knowing, what direction we are going” etc). They compensated for their youth and inexperience with energy and unexpectedly powerful vocals from their “compact” frontman, and shared the mic with a rabid young fan in the audience who gave the vocalist a run for his money. NOTE: during this time, a circle pit started to form, but it was promptly broken up by security members who take their job entirely too seriously.

He Is Legend took to the stage about 20 minutes later, with flippant and erratic frontman Schuylar Croom making his presence known. The unique “stoner-metal” quality that emanates from the band is simultaneously laughable and respectable. The flannel and long hair of all members contributed to such a label, but their music sets them apart from the other acts that evening. Playing songs from “Suck Out the Poison” and newest release “It Hates You” (ignoring their first, more hardcore album "I Am Hollywood"?), the crowd moshed (as much as security would allow) and screamed their approval in harmony to the powerfully driven metal guitar. It was clear that they were the crowd favorite.
Here's a video of them from the show:


The final band of the evening, Drop Dead, Gorgeous, had a sound that was almost entirely too loud for me to decode. Yes, I understand that hardcore shows are raucous, loud, and rightfully so; however, when volume prevents even basic comprehension of what the heck is being played, there may be a problem. This post-hardcore act was not as energetic or definitive as the other acts on the tour, but they were clearly engaged in their music, with focused performances from a skillful drummer, and pounding guitars. The front man took an arrogant stance on the stage, demanding the audience’s attention with deep guttural vocals, and the audience responded semi-positively. However , with not-so-remarkable breakdowns and an audience clearly more interested in the bands that preceded, Drop Dead, Gorgeous marked the end of the evening well.
With all hardcore shows, a key element is the audience experience. I was extremely put off by the needless insistence of security on ruining the night for so many members of the crowd. Though the crowd was small, and the number of people who actually started to mosh was smaller, they were denied their right to such expression. I enjoyed myself, and my friends did too, but I was not impressed with the management of the venue. As a bar, I thought The Note served its purpose, but as a music venue, especially for hardcore shows, it was not very hospitable. The music was still excellent, but the venue needs to loosen up a bit-it's rock'n'roll.

-Brittany Eltman

Show Review: August Burns Red, Bless the Fall, Enter Shikari, Iwrestledabearonce

If you’re ever having a bad day, week, month, or entire summer, then you’re clearly in need of a good hardcore show. To say this show was good, however, is like saying that the sun is warm - it’s a gross understatement. This was one of the best hardcore shows I’ve ever seen, and I was once one of those kids who went to a show each week, so I’ve seen quite a few.

The show started off with this band, iwrestledabearonce. Having never heard them before, I wasn’t sure what to expect. When a girl stepped on stage, I figured it’d either be something absolutely terrible, or something along the liens of Flee the Seen, being not nearly as heavy as ABR. So yeah, I was pretty wrong about that one. Frontwoman Krysta Cameron is brutal. She did all of the vocals, ranging from a death metal growl that would make small children cry to singing both very powerful melodies to extremely timid ones. She would switch back and forth on the slightest whim as well. Now being a guitarist, you’ve gotta do a good job at wowing me instrumentally as well. Not only did iwrestledabearonce have some crazy vocals, but they kept things extremely interesting with lots of genre changes, similar to what you’d see with some Between the Buried and Me songs, but slightly more frequent. Basically if I could be in a band, it would be something extremely reminiscent of these guys. I was impressed enough to actually go and buy their CD after the show (perhaps I’ll have a later segment in this blog on my view of piracy, coming from an artist). For the opening act, I don’t know that you can do much better.

With such an incredible first band, I expected to be slightly disappointed by the other two leading up to ABR. However, hailing from the UK, Enter Shikari was yet another wow experience. I really enjoy when people experiment with their music and come up with sounds that you haven’t heard before or, at the very least, don’t hear often. These guys did that with some strange mixture of techno-esque beats and synth sounds with a healthy mix of screaming and singing. It was unique, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was kinda strange at times, when within a single song you couldn’t decide whether you were supposed to be dancing or moshing. Jumping around in a more jovial manner would turn into a pit with the little scene kids and their windmill kicks and whatnot almost instantaneously. It’d also be interesting to note that they have an extremely different sound live than they do on their recorded material. In listening to them online just now, they are much more reserved in their recording. Live they seem to have a lot more raw vocal power than the processed sound of the studio. If I was going to buy a second CD at this show, it would have probably been theirs.

Still waiting for the almost inevitable flop that far too many shows seem to have, the third band, Bless the Fall, took the stage and I took a pessimistic stand. Perhaps I’ve just seen too many really exceptional bands with really unexceptional bands. Though I wasn’t quite as wowed with these guys, they still had a great sound and put on a great show. Their sound was a little bit more commonplace, and not as experimental, but still really solid and thoroughly enjoyable. They were really good, honestly, but at this point in writing this review, I’m just more anxious to get to ABR’s set, so this is getting cut short. Seriously, look all of these guys up online if you’ve never heard of them before.

So then comes the set change for ABR… With such anticipation for what everyone knew would be pure insanity, the set change took forever. I guess a few people couldn’t wait for things to go crazy, so they started a bit early. There were two girls who went into an all-out brawl prior to ABR taking the stage. I saw very little of it, but the few seconds I caught when I turned around to see what the commotion was were pretty intense. ABR finally took the stage shortly thereafter and everyone else got to go crazy. They started out with a few of their new songs, then played a few older ones and continued with a very healthy mix of old and new. Having not listened to the new songs too much, I was less familiar with them, but thoroughly impressed. Usually when a band first goes on tour with a new set list, it takes a while until the new songs are played as well as the old ones, but, as I gave an extremely critical ear to the new material, everything seemed to be dead on. A while back I had read some of the comments on their myspace saying that the new material wasn’t as brutal and whatnot, but it still is very much so, at least live.Despite it being an amazing show and ABR’s performance being pretty insane, there were a few things that I wasn’t too pleased about. In the midst of playing their new material they announced that they had the new album for sale at the show, even though the release date is the 14th. Sure that’s great and all, but being one of the people who preordered it, I was a little upset to find out that I would have to continue to wait while other people did not. Also, they didn’t play The Seventh Trumpet. If anyone has seen them live, The Seventh Trumpet pretty much redefines epic. It’s probably one of the best songs ever written by a person. To see them and not have that show in their set was troubling. However, I still got my mosh on, got to crowd surf, and saw one of the best lineups ever.

-Alex Brubaker

Show Review: Margot and the Nuclear So and So's (by Alex Brubaker)

Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s first appeared in at the V sometime in the spring of ’08. They were in with the new music and had some neat little description for themselves, so I gave them a try. Instantly I was blown away by a whimsical soundscape of awesome. They reminded me of a slightly less timid, more folksy Anathallo, whom I had seen around that time at a B-Sides.
Needless to say, when I heard that they were going to be playing B-Sides this spring, I was ecstatic. When the day finally arrived, I showed up early and further put off studying for a rather important final. They were a little slow to get to the stage, but it was well worth the wait once they walked on.
Not doing my research prior to seeing them, I was rather surprised to see that they were an 8 piece including a separate guy on percussion, a brass player, and a guy who played both lap steel guitar and violin. Many times you see these sorts of additions as gimmicks, but these were extremely talented musicians who tastefully added to the songs with every note both played and omitted. Despite having so many members, it’s not like there was so much going on in the music that it was hard to follow.
Afterwards I got the pleasure of talking to the brass player for a little bit. We discussed the band’s sound and imaginative writing as well as touching on a few of the oddities of the band’s sound. For instance, the suitcase used by the percussion guy. Inside the suitcase is a trigger. The trigger goes to the percussion guy’s drum pad. When triggered, the drum pad samples a recording of the suitcase… A rather round-about way of getting things done, but if it’s more reliable, why not?
This was an extremely strong ending to an excellent year of B-Sides provided by Margeaux. Ryan will definitely have a lot to live up to as next years B-Sides director, but I’ve got faith in him. Anyone who missed the B-Sides this year, especially Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s, definitely missed out.
Here's a video of them performing on Conan:


Interesting Side Note: In their contract, the band states that they can be paid in alcohol if money is a problem. Messiah just opted for the cash…
-Alex Brubaker

Show Review: Jimmy Eat World’s Clarity Tour (by Brittany Eltman)

On February 25^th 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 10^th 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.

Picture links:

http://sotsdisc.smugmug.com/gallery/7458968_MAPgE/1/481166369_mK6wj#481166369_mK6wj

- Brittany Eltman