2010 Concert Journals

[ewok20t3]

Here's the bands I saw at Ichthus yesterday:

Righteous Vendetta - Generic metalcore.

A Plea For Purging - One of the most entertaining bands in the scene. Then again, it's hard not to be entertaining when your vocalists is as hilarious as he looks. http://www.blogcdn.com/www.noisecreep.com/media/2009/11/plea-for-purging-200-110209.jpg

Corpus Christi - Generic metalcore.

My Children My Bride - The kids love these guys. Their music is nothing but one big long breakdown. It just doesn't do much for me.

Gwen Stacy - Formerly a decent band, now generic metalcore.

Impending Doom - The only deathcore band at the festival that I'm aware of. They put on a great show, and the crowd got together one very nice "wall of death". Here's a "wall of death" video for those unfamiliar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEnrbBUq8G8

The Showdown - I don't know if these guys have ever had a bad show in their life. They certainly know how to entertain. Their vocalist is one of my favorite live performers ever.

For Today - These guys always put on a good show, as well. It's very preachy metal/hardcore, but when it's done right, I like it that way. These guys do it right.

The Devil Wears Prada - Longest. Sound check. Ever. I know these guys are underground superstars now, but I got a very diva vibe from them. From the sound check, to them bringing their own merch tent, to mocking the name of the festival, it rubbed me the wrong way. They put on a decent show and the kids ate it up. After all, they are the trendy band of the moment in the scene.

Skillet - I heard a few of their songs from a distance, and watched them for a second. They usually put on a very entertaining show, and I'm sure they did this time, too. I just can't stand their newer music.

Ocean Is Theory - A very impressive young band I caught on one of the smaller stages. They had an ambient, indie rock sound. They reminded me a bit of Come Now Sleep era As Cities Burn. I bought both of their EP's and I like them both. http://www.facebook.com/#!/oceanistheory?v=info&ref=ts

Ravenna - Another band I caught on one of the small stages. They reminded me of a slightly more poppy Eisley. They had two female vocalists that complimented each other very well. I bought their EP, as well, and I enjoy it quite a bit. http://www.facebook.com/#!/RavennaMusic?v=info&ref=search

[ewok20t3]

Last day of Ichthus, here's who I saw:

Aaron Gillespie - Front man of The Almost and former drummer of Underoath played a stripped down version of some of his popular songs and then played a worship set. The whole thing gave off a tent revival type worship service and it was awesome.

Sleeping Giant - I saw these guys twice. The first time was during the day and they played mostly their heavier stuff and got the crowd into it and it was great. Anberlin's van broke down so they didn't make it. I wasn't too bummed because I knew it meant I would get to attend Sleeping Giant's worship set instead. There really isn't even words for what happened at this show. The Holy Spirit was moving and it was just so powerful. If you ever get a chance to worship with Sleeping Giant, don't miss it.

That was it for yesterday. I only went to the festival during the times that the bands I wanted to see were playing. I really didn't want to see Pillar or Casting Crowns. Overall, the festival was great as always! I'm thankful God allowed me to attend for the eleventh year in a row!

[murlough23]

Fulfilled a 14-year-old dream tonight by seeing Iona live in Loveland, Colorado. Amazing show, surprisingly heavy on Journey into the Morn and some surprise selections from their other 90's albums, light on Open Sky and bewilderingly not even acknowledging The Circling Hour's existence. Since all of their albums are sublime, I think it would be impossible for the band to put together a bad setlist, so I can't complain. I'll have the full report once I'm back home and well-rested... this has been an amazing but exhausting trip.

Oh, and the wife was able to take tomorrow off and come with me this weekend. Thank God. It would have been weird having no one to share this with. I had to ruin the surprise to convince her it was worth nagging her boss for the day off, but hey, it got her here.

[murlough23]

Full Concert Report:

Iona was amazing live. I expected this, since they are the only band whose live performances I regard highly enough to have bought two live albums. They're good at including surprises from their older albums, updated to reflect the current band lineup and sometimes re-imagined with new arrangements as a result of that. What I didn't expect was a setlist that spend a good portion of its generous two hours hearkening back to the material that got me into Iona in the first place. The opening number, a meditative performance of the hymn "Be Thou My Vision" with a bit of atmospheric soloing in between verses, should have been my first clue. Their album Journey into the Morn, the one that first got me into the band, was themed around that hymn, and the setlist would prove to be heavy on tracks from that album.

This being the band's first US tour since... I don't even know when, I wasn't surprised that it initially had a sort of greatest hits/concert highlights sort of vibe to it. The one-two punch of "Treasure" (probably their best known song) and "Today", two upbeat "hits" (by Iona standards, anyway) from the mostly down-tempo album Beyond These Shores was received with great applause by an audience who had loved these songs for years, and then along came a set of instrumental jigs that they often play live (to which Joanne Hogg danced when not playing her keyboards, and urged a mostly older audience to do the same - not that the audience didn't appreciate the music, but they seemed to be mostly the type to enjoy it from their seats while clapping and applauding loudly but respectfully). From there, the set began to take a number of left turns that I couldn't have anticipated - I got the sense that this was not the typical Iona live set, and that they wanted to give their American audience some rarities alongside a few of their best-loved songs.

I would never have expected, for example, that the lovely violin instrumental "A Million Stars" would have led into the quiet prayer "Divine Presence", recreated here with piano instead of the acoustic guitar from the Journey into the Morn version, and totally throwing me for a loop as a result of it. Going back even further, the band dug up oldies-but-goodies from their debut album, with "Flight of the Wild Goose" sounding as vibrant as it did on their 1997 live album (and far superior to the studio version), and "The Island" still sounding vibrant despite being 20 years old and speaking of a much older struggle in Joanne's native Ireland. Only two of the same members (Joanne and guitarist Dave Bainbridge) were part of the group back when these songs were written and Iona was more of a loosely-defined improvisational-jazz-with-Celtic-leanings sort of project at the time, so it was great to hear how Frank Van Essen (who's only been their permanent drummer/violinist since the late 90's) and brand new member Martin Nolan (who replaced longtime fixture Troy Donockley on pipes and whistles last year) fit into the framework of these decades-old songs. The band performed them with the energy of a group 20 years younger than their actual age, and yet with the finesse of skilled professionals.

Another old surprise was "Revelation", one of my favorite tracks from The Book of Kells, which proved to be a highlight with Frank's thundering drums and the dramatic pauses and crescendoes that are part of the song's signature. This segued into the upbeat portion of "Heaven's Bright Sun", an almost tribal sort of instrumental that has long been a favorite of mine. The band commented at one point in between songs that if you'd never heard their music before, you'd probably note that they had a lot of very long songs (Martin remarked that they don't do three minute pop hits, which drew great applause). This introduced their longest one yet, the 11-minute battle prayer "Encircling", which is one of those things that is so heavy on the atmospherics and sudden segues that it's hard to imagine how it would work live. The band pulled it off brilliantly, and with Frank's violin thrown into the mix of Martin's flute and Joanne's keyboards during its calm final section, I just about thought I'd died and gone to Heaven. (It wasn't really Heaven... but judging from our exploration earlier that day, Colorado's pretty close.)

There was, of course, no one there who hadn't actually heard the band's music, unless perhaps a curious local or two showed up or a family dragged a few kids along (the theater being an all-ages venue, though honestly, a 2+ hour set with a lot of slow sections probably wouldn't be the most age-appropriate things for young kids, but then again, might as well expose 'em to good art at a young age!) The band asked at one point how many people were familiar with their music already - nearly every hand in the room went up. Then they asked how many had seen them in concert before - one hand went up. So finally they polled how many locals were there vs. people from out-of-town (about half the 450-capacity theater), and asked people to shout out what states they had come from. Turns out people came from as far as Canada. There was a guy from Edmonton sitting behind me who said he had traveled 1500 miles, this being closer than the band's one Canadian gig near Toronto. That sure beat my 1100 miles from Los Angeles! And it illustrated how fanatical folks can get about this band. The numbers may not be big enough to sustain a longer tour in several major cities, but give us a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the band at all, and we'll jump at it. It was a relief to know I wasn't the only crazy one there who had spent several hundred dollars on plane and hotel fares just to see these guys... though, it being Colorado, we sure as heck didn't spend the rest of the weekend twiddling our thumbs - so I'd really describe this trip as a mini-vacation that happened to have a concert as part of the agenda. Other folks used local friends/family as an excuse to justify their long journeys. Hey, whatever works.

One thing I didn't know about the band, having never seen them live, is that for such a serious group of musicians, they actually have quite a light sense of humor. Martin Nolan made his fair share of wisecracks from stage left when introducing various songs, and Joanne sprinkled bits of self-deprecating humor into her interaction with the audience, even when introducing deeply spiritual songs that obviously had profound meaning for her. Dave Bainbridge even spoke up with the occasional goofy bit of humor, most notably when Joanne sat down out of the spotlight during an instrumental number and Dave couldn't figure out where she had gone. This led to a comment that he was worried she had been taken up into the heavens in the midst of their performance and he had missed it, leaving the rest of the band to carry on without her. Maybe that sounds like a really dorky type of humor, but I always appreciate when fellow religious folks can have a good chuckle at themselves.

I'll admit that there were a few drawbacks to this otherwise heavenly set. For one thing, one of their finest records, Open Sky, was underrepresented by only two songs (with the epic "Castlerigg" appearing in its purely instrumental form - no vocal break in the middle - and leading into "Reels" as it has for the better part of the last decade), while not a single song from The Circling Hour made an appearance. That's pretty weird, to go out on tour and completely ignore your most recent commercially available album. I know some Iona fans were polarized over that one, since it took them in more of an up-tempo jam-band sort of direction with perhaps their most intentionally vague lyrics thus far (the band's historically been very direct about their faith) and fewer of the ethereal instrumental breaks that were vital components of previous albums, so maybe the band's decided to set that one aside for a while. Which brings me to my second nitpick - some of the new material was a bit simplistic and repetitive on the lyrical front. Musically, it seemed similar to The Circling Hour in terms of its focus on the rhythm section and guitar instead of the airy keyboards and exotic instrumentation, which wasn't totally absent, but seemed to play more of a supporting role rather than a leading one. The first new song debuted, "Another Realm", quickly illustrated this shift with its urging for us to unlock the door to an unseen spiritual realm - a topic which would have probably been addressed with a bit more of an air of mystery in the past, still clear about its Christian origins, but piquing curiosity more so than just spelling it out. "Ancient Wells" was explained by Joanne as a reflection on a prayer prayed by St. Patrick in the 4th century, and turned out to be a bold, declarative song about needing to clear modern society of its fake religiosity and confused morals and such. "Clouds" has an interesting origin, inspired by the ash cloud that brought European air traffic to a screeching halt earlier this year, which to Joanne became a metaphor for exactly what you'd think the obvious approach would be for a Christian songwriter. None of this was bad per se, and maybe it just needed time to grow on me like other Iona songs that seemed stuffy when I first heard them but later came to strike me as sublime. But I found myself wondering if this had anything to do with the departure of former pipe/whistle player Troy Donockley, a creative cornerstone of the band whose influence was strongly felt on a song like "Open Sky" that was clearly based on the book of Revelation for those who knew the Scriptures, but simply played as a beautiful vision of the Earth and sky in harmony for those who didn't know the song's origins, or did but didn't agree. I go back and forth on the pros and cons of direct vs. interpretive lyrics by Christian bands - lately I've leaned more toward the interpretive because it feels like it wins over the folks who are really listening. Iona's European fanbase isn't all necessarily made up of Christians - many seem to simply be intelligent people (from whatever faith or no faith at all) who appreciate the work of good musicians. I figure, perform with the excellence God gave you and just be yourself, and folks will respect that. I still think the members of Iona are trying to be themselves, since I don't think there's any serious chance of them riding high on the CCM charts any time soon (given how limited that industry is in its understanding of the diversity of talent within the Church and the potential usefulness of that talent). I don't think this shift was done to please some potential listeners who currently listen to Jeremy Camp on an endless loop or anything. But it will take some getting used to.

One new song that won't take getting used to is "Let Your Glory Fall", a straight-up worship song with a pounding drum beat played by Frank in 7/8 time. It was 100% reverent and also 100% awesome. The two never had to be mutually exclusive, of course. I hope the studio version lives up to it!

The aforementioned "Castlerigg/Reels" medley did finally get a few brave audience members out of their seats and awkwardly imitating vaguely Celtic forms of dance in the aisles, and even those of us who weren't that brave at least finally got over our reserved tendency to not want to block the views of those behind us, and we stood up and clapped along and cheered the band on to a rousing finale. When they left the stage it was clear that we were not at all ready to let them go despite the concert having run over two hours, so they returned to firmly drive home the notion that this was a Journey into the Morn time capsule tour with the triumphant "Irish Day" and the dizzying off-kilter rhythm of "Bi-Sé I Mo Shuìl, Pt. 2", the Gaelic version of the very same hymn that began the show, "Be Thou My Vision". The bewildering flute and guitar solos here, matching each other in perfect lopsided time, must have been the gauntlet that Martin Nolan had to run to prove he was worthy of joining the band. This performance brought the house down and came crashing to a close more quickly than any of us probably wished it had to.

I'd be remiss to describe this wonderful evening without a mention of opening act Dave Beegle, a guitarist formerly known for his work the the instrumental rock band Fourth Estate, who now primarily uses the acoustic guitar to demonstrate his tricks of the trade. Instrumental music is a tough medium with which to win over an audience unfamiliar with your work, but through clever use of an iPod (which mostly posed as a looping device, though it occasionally supplied a pre-recording backing track) and a band consisting of a lone percussionist on a djembe, he quickly won the audience over by oscillating between kinetic acoustic rock jams (most notably the drop-tuned, Middle Eastern bent of his opening number) and gently layered ballads that made interesting use of a whammy bar (or whatever you call that glass thing that draws an eerie alien sound out of the guitar strings, which I didn't think would work on an acoustic guitar). He even featured his wife on a song that called for flamenco handclaps at one point. These arrangements were all sublime, even if they occasionally lost a bit of steam due to looping experiments that didn't work as well as intended). He had personally befriended Iona many, many years ago when they last played in the States, and since he lived locally in Loveland, it was apparent that he had helped work the connection to get them a gig in his hometown. I'd have to give him props for that even if I didn't like his music - but there was no denying that the man had talent coming out of his ears. (Dave Bainbridge later commented that Dave Beegle had told him he hadn't played for six months before booking this gig. "Maybe I ought to try it", quipped Bainbridge.) His final piece - a reflection on joy which turned into an upbeat folk/rock jam riffing on "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" - was a thrilling note to go out on.

A cafe just down the street agreed to host the "after party" where merch was sold and meeting and greeting was done, so the wife and I stuck around nursing an Almond Joy steamer, waiting for the band to show up. The wait paid off. If nothing else, I had wanted to thank Joanne personally for the song "Murlough Bay" and ask her how the heck it was actually pronounced, since I've been using "Murlough" as a screen name all these years and it always leads to jokes inspired by the movie Sideways. (It's apparently "Mur-louchk". A little like "rough", a little like "luck", because you have to kind of hock a loogie Irish-style on that "gh".) She had written the song about a beautiful place that she and her husband liked to visit in Ireland, so I mentioned that we had the song played at our wedding, because it meant that much to me. It was great to meet some of the other guys in the band and similarly thank them for their work and for fulfilling a 14-year-old dream of mine. And then, after a full day of driving through the mountains of Colorado and several hours of being amped up at an amazing concert, it was time to make the hour drive back to our hotel and collapse into bed in search of newer, bigger dreams.

Finally, here's an odd one for the old-timers who remember the glory days of "Jesus music" before I was born: A bearded man walked up to Dave Bainbridge at the merch table and introduced himself as Don Francisco. You know, as in "He's Alive" Don Francisco. (I'm hoping you know. Because I don't. But a quick Google Image search confirms that it really was him, and he really does live in Colorado.)

[ewok20t3]

Fulfilled a 14-year-old dream tonight by seeing Iona live in Loveland, Colorado. Amazing show, surprisingly heavy on Journey into the Morn and some surprise selections from their other 90's albums, light on Open Sky and bewilderingly not even acknowledging The Circling Hour's existence. Since all of their albums are sublime, I think it would be impossible for the band to put together a bad setlist, so I can't complain. I'll have the full report once I'm back home and well-rested... this has been an amazing but exhausting trip.

Oh, and the wife was able to take tomorrow off and come with me this weekend. Thank God. It would have been weird having no one to share this with. I had to ruin the surprise to convince her it was worth nagging her boss for the day off, but hey, it got her here.

Sounds like an amazing concert and trip!

[ewok20t3]

Here's the setlist from the awesome Thrice concert I attended last week:

         1. All The World Is Mad
         2. The Weight
         3. The Artist In The Ambulance
         4. Of Dust And Nations
         5. The Earth Will Shake
         6. Firebreather
         7. The Messenger
         8. A Song For Milly Michaelson
         9. Circles
        10. Doublespeak
        11. Blood Clots And Black Holes
        12. Silhouette
        13. Come All You Weary
        14. In Exile
        15. Image Of The Invisible
        16. To Awake And Avenge The Dead
                      *ENCORE*
        17. Helter Skelter (The Beatles cover)
        18. Beggars

[murlough23]

15. Image Of The Invisible

Good to know they're still playing this one live.

17. Helter Skelter (The Beatles cover)

Bad to know they're playing this one.

[ewok20t3]

Bad to know they're playing this one.

Yeah, it's hard to pull off a decent Beatles cover.


I couldn't believe they played "To Awake and Avenge The Dead". I would've loved for them to play "Stare At The Sun" and "Open Water", but I really can't complain. The setlist was much better than many of the other sets they've played on tour this year.

[murlough23]

Their setlists seem to vary from show to show. That's a sign of a band with a rich enough back catalogue that, even though you may not hear your favorites at a given show, the set also won't be totally predictable. I hate it when you go to a concert and the only old songs you hear are the predictable hits.

NP: "Cry for Love", Michael W. Smith

[ewok20t3]

I saw Explosions In The Sky for the first time last night. It was at Headliner's in Louisville, Ky. I knew it would be awesome, and it was. They play with so much passion and the songs are so beautiful that it definitely makes for one of my favorite concert experiences. They played the whole The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place album, which is my favorite by them, which only makes the concert even better.

Setlist:

         1. First Breath After Coma
         2. Six Days at the Bottom of the Ocean
         3. The Birth and Death of the Day
         4. ?
         5. Memorial
         6. ?
         7. Your Hand in Mine
         8. Greet Death
         9. The Only Moment We Were Alone

[murlough23]

Just got my tickets for Mae's "Goodbye, Goodnight" tour at the Glasshouse in Pomona, CA. One of my favorite venues, and probably my last chance to see the band ever.

Anybody know anything about the bands Terrible Things and Windsor Drive? They're opening.

[ewok20t3]

Just got my tickets for Mae's "Goodbye, Goodnight" tour at the Glasshouse in Pomona, CA. One of my favorite venues, and probably my last chance to see the band ever.

Anybody know anything about the bands Terrible Things and Windsor Drive? They're opening.

I've got my ticket for the show in Newport, KY on Oct. 13. What a bittersweet day that's gonna be.

Terrible Things features former members of Taking Back Sunday and Coheed & Cambria. I've not listened to them yet, but I think TBS and Coheed are both decent bands, so I expect Terrible Things will also be decent. I've not heard Windsor Drive, but I'm sure I'll look them up sometime before the date of the show.

[murlough23]

I've got my ticket for the show in Newport, KY on Oct. 13. What a bittersweet day that's gonna be.

The first show that sells out will get The Everglow played in its entirety. Now that's bittersweet.

(This makes me wonder if the show that sells the least tickets will get Singularity played in its entirety. Just kidding. I still like that album, but it's pretty clear that The Everglow is the almost universal favorite.)

[ewok20t3]

The first show that sells out will get The Everglow played in its entirety. Now that's bittersweet.

(This makes me wonder if the show that sells the least tickets will get Singularity played in its entirety. Just kidding. I still like that album, but it's pretty clear that The Everglow is the almost universal favorite.)

Yeah, I seriously doubt Newport, KY will be the first one to sell out, so I'm trying to not to get too excited about the possibility of hearing The Everglow in it's entirety, but it would be amazing if it happened.

You're right about The Everglow being considered the favorite and best Mae album, but there is a whole lot of people who prefer Destination: Beautiful for some reason. I see it most on absolutepunk.net's forum's, but there's a large amount of people who seem to feel that way. I love Destination: Beautiful, but I found the whole thing very surprising when I first noticed it.

Here's my rankings:
1. The Everglow
2. (m)orning
3. Destination: Beautiful
4. Singularity
5. (a)fternoon
6. Destination: B-Sides

[murlough23]

I could never get into D:B. I like some of the songs, but production-wise, it really suffers.

Aside from D:B and its companion B-sides disc (which I've never heard), I'd rank their recordings exactly as you did.

[ewok20t3]

I could never get into D:B. I like some of the songs, but production-wise, it really suffers.

I can understand that, but the production on it doesn't bother me. I think they had more of a second wave emo sound at the time, and that type of production fits that style. Jimmy Eat World's Clarity and Further Seems Forever's The Moon Is Down are two of my favorite second wave emo albums, and the production on those are very similar to Destination: Beautiful.

[murlough23]

I can understand that, but the production on it doesn't bother me. I think they had more of a second wave emo sound at the time, and that type of production fits that style. Jimmy Eat World's Clarity and Further Seems Forever's The Moon Is Down are two of my favorite second wave emo albums, and the production on those are very similar to Destination: Beautiful.

I had a similar reaction to Clarity, I think. It's probably just one of those "not my thing" kind of things. I never got into most of the emo acts except for some who added more color to their sound or otherwise experimented. (I know this is sacrilege if you're an old-school JEW fan, but I prefer their retroactively self-titled record. I don't think being poppy is an automatically bad thing, but for me it depends on how much the lyrics and musical inventiveness take a hit to support the pop appeal.)

[ewok20t3]

I had a similar reaction to Clarity, I think. It's probably just one of those "not my thing" kind of things. I never got into most of the emo acts except for some who added more color to their sound or otherwise experimented. (I know this is sacrilege if you're an old-school JEW fan, but I prefer their retroactively self-titled record. I don't think being poppy is an automatically bad thing, but for me it depends on how much the lyrics and musical inventiveness take a hit to support the pop appeal.)

I understand where you're coming from. I prefer Clarity over the self-titled, but I don't think it's because it's more poppy, I just find the self-titled release hit-or-miss from song to song. The Jimmy Eat World I like best is a combination of Clarity and the self-titled, which is what I think Futures is. 1. Futures 2. Clarity 3. Self-Titled (Bleed American) 4. Chase This Light 5. Static Prevails. Not sure why I'm feeling the need to rank everything today...

[murlough23]

I just find the self-titled release hit-or-miss from song to song.

I do too. But more so for Futures. Chase This Light just bored me outside of one or two songs.

[Aaron]

Clarity is one of the most important albums to be released in the past 20 years.  It's brilliant.

[ewok20t3]

Just got my tickets for Mae's "Goodbye, Goodnight" tour at the Glasshouse in Pomona, CA. One of my favorite venues, and probably my last chance to see the band ever.

Anybody know anything about the bands Terrible Things and Windsor Drive? They're opening.

Mae just said on Twitter that the Nashville show is very close to selling out, and if it does they will have The Everglow played in it's entirety, and there will be another Nashville show the next night. Since Nashville is only a few hours away from me, I went ahead and bought tickets for that show even though I already have tickets for the Newport, KY show. Heck, I may end up seeing Mae three times in four days.

[murlough23]

I thought about it, and I actually don't want us to get the Everglow show. Love the album, but it would be dreadfully predictable to get the whole thing in order. I'd rather hear highlights from it as part of a less predictable setlist highlighting all of their albums.

[ewok20t3]

I thought about it, and I actually don't want us to get the Everglow show. Love the album, but it would be dreadfully predictable to get the whole thing in order. I'd rather hear highlights from it as part of a less predictable setlist highlighting all of their albums.

I thought about that, too. My questions were quieted when they said they would play another Nashville show the next night. So, if all goes well, I'll get to hear The Everglow one night, and many other favorites the next with a normal setlist.

[murlough23]

I thought about that, too. My questions were quieted when they said they would play another Nashville show the next night. So, if all goes well, I'll get to hear The Everglow one night, and many other favorites the next with a normal setlist.

I'm not going to more than one concert. And I've already bought my tickets. So I hope my show isn't as close to selling out. (I have no huge reason to expect that it would be aside from L.A. having a friggin' lot of people in it.)

[ewok20t3]

I'm not going to more than one concert. And I've already bought my tickets. So I hope my show isn't as close to selling out. (I have no huge reason to expect that it would be aside from L.A. having a friggin' lot of people in it.)

Well, Nashville just sold out! I'm excited! Hopefully that means you'll get the show in L.A. that you're hoping for, as well!

[murlough23]

Well, Nashville just sold out! I'm excited! Hopefully that means you'll get the show in L.A. that you're hoping for, as well!

I think this is win/win for both of us.

[ajyouthguy]

i am a HUGE Cool Hand Luke fan, and a few weeks ago sent an email to Mark, the singer (and only current band member really), just telling him what they've meant to me and to my youth group over the past few years.  my email was long, and he wrote back yesterday, twice as long, and after being really personalized, at the end, he mentioned the possibility of us booking him at our church/in our area.  i don't know what will happen with that, but just the idea alone is exciting.

[ewok20t3]

I spent the weekend in Nashville watching Mae play two concerts. The first night they played The Everglow from front to back, and it was fantastic. The band were having a blast on stage and the crowd sang along to every word. The Everglow is my favorite album, so I enjoyed every minute of it and barely had a voice left after the show. After they finished playing the album they played "Bloom", "Tisbury Lane", and "The Fisherman Song".

We had to check out of our hotel quite awhile before the concert the second night, so we found ourselves waiting outside of the venue a few hours early. My wife, my cousin, and I are sitting outside of the venue as Mae arrives to unload their equipment. I guess they saw that we were the only people there, so Jacob (Drums) and Rob (Keys) sat out on the ground in front of the venue and talked with us for half an hour. We talked about many things and it was an experience I'll never forget. As they were about to go into the venue to soundcheck Jacob said, 'I've got the perfect thing for you guys', and he came back out with a drum head that the whole band had autographed. He said the drum head was used when they recorded the song "Bloom" for (e)vening. I was blown away with how friendly and generous the guys were. It was an experience that I'll always cherish.

The setlist for the second show was loaded with songs from Destination: Beautiful. I believe they played more than half of that album, actually. They again played "Tisbury Lane" from Destination: B-Sides. "Just Let Go" was the lone track played from Singularity. They played "Anything", "Someone Else's Arms", and "Suspension" from The Everglow. "Bloom", "I Just Needed You To Know", and "Sleep Well" from (e)vening were all played. Surprisingly, they didn't perform anything from (m)orning or (a)fternoon. Although it was not the ideal setlist for me, I can't complain. The band was tight, and obviously having a blast, and the singer (Dave Elkins) sounded better than I have ever heard him.

On to the opening bands (which all played both nights):

Evolett - This band had not been listed for this tour, but I'm pretty sure they're playing all of the dates. I must say they were a very pleasant surprise. They sound like Paramore, if Paramore were ten times better. The singer had the "sexy rocker chick" thing going on, but it seemed to actually work well for this band. She has a very excellent voice and stage presence. The band, which takes a backseat to their show stealing vocalist, were very tight and skilled.

Windsor Drive - It's possible that my perception of them is flawed, because they had to play after an opening band that seemed to really win me (and everyone else in the crowd) over with their high energy style. Windsor Drive were a little too much on the adult contemporary style of piano-rock. Mae said in an intervew that they reminded them of Copeland, but I don't see it. They were much closer to The Fray, Augustana, and Five For Fighting than they were to Copeland. They weren't bad, by any means, but they were the worst band on the bill. They had one or two decent songs, but other than that, they just weren't anything special.

Terrible Things - They played a high energy style of punk influenced rock and roll. They reminded me of a less angsty Rise Against. The singer/guitarist is formerly Taking Back Sunday, the guitarist is formerly of Hot Rod Circuit, and the drummer is formerly of Coheed & Cambria. The whole band played very skillfully, and the songs were pretty catchy. The singer had a great stage presence and had some very impressive guitar skills. I definitely wouldn't be opposed to seeing them again sometime.


Overall, the whole experience was incredible.

[murlough23]

Sounds like I need to brush up on D:B before this tour hits L.A. a month from now.

I really hope Singularity and the two EPs preceding (e)vening don't get the shaft at our show.

[ewok20t3]

Sounds like I need to brush up on D:B before this tour hits L.A. a month from now.

I really hope Singularity and the two EPs preceding (e)vening don't get the shaft at our show.

I assume they'll play "The Fisherman Song", at least. They said it was the most requested song for this tour on the Mae website. They also said they'll be playing "Mistakes We Knew We Were Making" on almost every date. Considering they played "Tisbury Lane" at both shows this weekend, I'd say there's a good chance they're playing it on most dates, as well.

[murlough23]

Considering they played "Tisbury Lane" at both shows this weekend, I'd say there's a good chance they're playing it on most dates, as well.

I don't even know what that song is.

[ewok20t3]

I don't even know what that song is.

It's on Destination: B-sides. I think I've seen Mae five times, and they've played this song at 3 or 4 of the shows. It seems to be a crowd favorite.

[ewok20t3]

I saw Mae again tonight. Here's what they played (in no order):

Night/Day
Tisbury Lane
Bloom
Sleep Well
I Just Needed You To Know
We're So Far Away
Someone Else's Arms
Suspension
The Everglow
Mistakes We Knew We Were Making
Anything
The Ocean
Goodbye, Goodnight
Summertime
Embers and Envelopes
Skyline Drive
Soundtrack For Our Movie
Giving It Away


Once again, lots of stuff from The Everglow, (e)vening, and Destination: Beautiful.

[plvarona]

I saw Switchfoot at the Varsity Theatre just outside of the LSU campus this past Friday, and this might have been the best I've ever seen them.  Instrumentally, they were very crisp, and the sound balance was excellent.  I was able to hear every instrument, and except for one or two songs, I could understand just about every word Jon Foreman was singing.  This set was more of a "greatest hits" and "fan favorites" set, as opposed to the shameless Hello Hurricane promotion that I saw last time, and even then it was fun to see how the guys re-did both newer songs and older favorites alike.  Highlights included a bass drum closing sequence of "Free" with Jon Foreman and Jerome Fontamillas, a crowd-pleasing cover of the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage", and the band's building up of "Only Hope"  at the beginning of the encore.  On the latter, Jon started the song on an acoustic guitar by himself, with the band walking on stage towards the end of the song and joining him on the final chorus.  (For the record, the last time I had heard them play that song live was in 2003.)  They also continued the "On Fire"/"Awakening" sequence that they've done many times, and it still works well today.  If you haven't seen this before, basically they play "On Fire" with all the lights out, and then at the end of the song, Jon goes into the crowd and starts "Awakening" from the crowd before heading back on the stage.  The band also previewed a new song from the upcoming Vice Verses CD, "Dark Horses", and I like what I heard there.  So overall, this turned out to be a very strong set, and it's a contender for my "Concert of the Year."

Opening for Switchfoot was The Almost.  They got off to a rough start as their first few songs sounded grabled.  Fortunately, they got better as the set went on, and they sounded quite good on their last few songs.  The guys also had plenty of energy, which made for a number of entertaining moments.

As for a few side notes, Jon did mention right before he started "Only Hope" that he had overheard a conversation about them at a local restaurant earlier that day.  The people at the table next to them were talking about who will be playing at the Varisty Theatre that night, and apparently one of the guys was not familiar with Switchfoot's music.  So when he asked his friend what their music was like, his friend said, "They're folky, but with electronics."  First, when Jon told the story, the guy who said that happened to be in the crowd and he let everyone know it was him.  Secondly, Jon said, "We've been trying to figure out how to describe our music ourselves, so thank you."

I also had something amusing happen while I was waiting in line to get into the show.  I had arrived at the venue 45 minutes before showtime, and I already saw the line to get in wrapping around a few street corners.  This made me glad I bought my ticket the previous day, and in fact, the show did eventually sell out.  As I was waiting line, I noticed there was a group of friends a few feet in front of me, and one of them happened to be this loud and obnoxious guy.  While we were waiting, the guy happened to tell his friends about getting probation for accidentally blowing up a gas truck, and to top of it, this guy sounded like he was bragging about it.  Some of these Louisiana folk really do scare me.   

On that note, here are the set lists:

Set Lists

Switchfoot: "Stars", "Oh!  Gravity.", "Meant to Live", "Hello Hurricane", "Sabotage" (Beastie Boys cover), "This is Your Life", verse of "Happy is a Yuppie Word"/"Free", "Dark Horses", "Your Love is a Song", "Gone", "Mess of Me", "On Fire", "Awakening", "The Sound (John M. Perkins' Blues)"
Encore: "Only Hope", "Dare You to Move"

The Almost: "Lonely Wheel", "Monster, Monster", "Southern Weather", "No I Don't", "Young Again", "Free Fallin'" (Tom Petty cover), "Hands", "Say This Sooner"

[murlough23]

We got "Only Hope" as part of a setlist in 2007, with a string section as special guests. I got the impression it wasn't part of the regular setlist on the Oh! Gravity tour.

Interestingly, neither "Only Hope" nor "I Dare You to Move" were commonly part of their sets when the albums those songs came from were new. At least, not at the Switchfoot shows I attended in '99 (opening for Delirious?) and '01 (opening for the Supertones).

[plvarona]

We got "Only Hope" as part of a setlist in 2007, with a string section as special guests. I got the impression it wasn't part of the regular setlist on the Oh! Gravity tour.

Interestingly, neither "Only Hope" nor "I Dare You to Move" were commonly part of their sets when the albums those songs came from were new. At least, not at the Switchfoot shows I attended in '99 (opening for Delirious?) and '01 (opening for the Supertones).

I don't remember hearing "Only Hope" during the Oh! Gravity tour, so at least it wasn't part of the set list for the East Coast or Gulf Coast shows.  Also, if I remember correctly I didn't hear "Only Hope" the first time I saw Switchfoot, which was during Atlanta Fest 2000.  I didn't catch Switchfoot during the Supertones' tour, although I did see them the same week The Beautiful Letdown was released and that set list was still heavy on songs from Learning to Breathe.  I did hear "I Dare You to Move", and "Only Hope" was also on the set list then.  In fact, those songs might have been played back-to-back.

[murlough23]

I think "Hope" and "Dare" became regular fixtures for a while after A Walk to Remember got them "discovered".

[murlough23]

Over the Rhine is touring the West Coast! They're playing the Troubador on November 12... the same night I already have tickets to see Mae at the Glass House. Damn that luck.

[ajyouthguy]

Going to see Jars of Clay for I think the 11th time Thursday night...with just my wife..that hasn't happened in a LOOOOOOOONG time.

[murlough23]

Going to see Jars of Clay for I think the 11th time Thursday night...with just my wife..that hasn't happened in a LOOOOOOOONG time.

A few more and you'll be caught up to how many times I've seen them.