Post by carkey on Dec 12, 2007 14:06:03 GMT -4
If anyone is interested in reading a show review... someone on ap.net went and wrote this up:
Cassino, Dear and the Headlights, The Color Fred, Straylight Run
Madison Theater – Covington, KY
December 8, 2007
On a cold, rainy night this past weekend, I made my way just across the Ohio River into Kentucky to head to the Madison Theater to see Straylight Run with The Color Fred, Dear and the Headlights, and Cassino (Taking Back Sunday refugee tour, anyone?). It is quite rare that I am stoked to see all of the bands on a 4-way bill, but this show definitely had the promise to be quite solid, so alas, the drive down was more than justified.
The concert started promptly at 8, and was relatively empty for a show at the Madison. Either the bad weather was keeping people away or the booking agents overestimated the draw of the bill – either way, it was pretty sparse, at least to start. The nice thing about the small-ish crowd was the fact that most everyone present was there to actually see Cassino play and give them the attention they were due. Personally, I had the privilege of seeing Nick and Tyler play a show this summer in Columbus, Ohio at a little bar called the Scarlet and Gray Café, and to this day it was one of the most resonant, intimate shows I have been to. So, when Cassino entered the stage as a five-piece (!), a lot of people were shocked, and did not know what to expect. In general, the extra personnel allowed the band to add more detail to songs – vocal harmonies, driving drums, harmonicas, egg shakers, finger cymbals – you know, all that good stuff. It all served to give Cassino a stronger alt-country style as opposed to the folkier tones on their record. The band played a nice set of many favorites from Sounds of Salvation, seeming more at ease than the last time I saw them, with Nick stopping a few times between songs to have some endearingly awkward banter with the crowd. Fans got a nice little treat as well when a bearded John Nolan came out to play keys on “Ice Factory” as well. Overall, Cassino sounded nice as expected, but the addition of three more players on stage takes away from the stripped-down charm of the band – personally, I would much prefer Nick and Tyler alone any day of the week.
It was then kind of strange to see Dear and the Headlights playing second, since it was quite obvious that fewer people knew their songs than Cassino’s. Their delightfully spastic brand of rock was a welcome change after the soothing drawl of Cassino, but the fans at this particular show did not seem to necessarily eat it up unfortunately. While a subset of the crowd could certainly appreciate this intriguing blend of folk, indie, and straight-up rock (myself included), the feeling was not universal and it visibly frustrated the band. The guys made little jokes and jabs at the crowd, saying they were sleeping and such – probably not the best way to win over a fickle mass. Vocally, Ian Metzger is an extremely dynamic frontman, as his biting wail stands out boldly from his band’s backdrop. This is not all the group has going for it, though. They showed off a strong mastery of the soft/loud contrast on “Run in the Front” and had plenty of cool breakdowns (including some rad shit with 2 tambourines). For some reason, the band reminds me of an off-kilter, more extroverted version of The Snake The Cross The Crown, which is certainly not a bad thing.
I was perhaps most interested to see The Color Fred on Saturday of all the bands on the bill, and not necessarily for just musical reasons. To be quite honest, I find Bend to Break an incredibly average record, but at the same time it sounds like it might hide some of the energy from the songs that might sound better live, if that makes sense. Well, this seemed to be the case, as Fred and company gave fans an extremely well-executed live performance. While the band started off a little stiff with Fred’s vocals a little too low in the mix (damn sound guy), the band loosened up after a few songs and caught its stride on “Complaintor.” While the songs The Color Fred plays are somewhat elementary in their construction, the band obviously enjoyed playing them, and the crowd seemed to be digging them a fair amount as well. Before leaving, Fred announced the band had just finished a video for “If I Surrender” and gave an incredibly humble, heartfelt thanks to the crowd for listening to his “new band” – a great gesture from a seemingly great guy.
Finally, Straylight Run came out to close off the evening. Having just been dropped by Universal Republic the day before, I was curious if they would discuss it, or if the bad news would affect their performance. Luckily, nothing seemed to be hampering the band’s performance in the least, as they crashed out of the gate with a lively rendition of “Soon We’ll Be Living in the Future.” Now, forgive my moment of male hormones here. I often find a lot of the affection and attention that female members of scene bands get misplaced, but I’ll be damned if Michelle Nolan (errr…DaRosa?) wasn’t just downright adorable. Definitely easy on the eyes, and between her looks and John’s gigantic stage presence, Straylight Run makes a great live band. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Straylight’s set was the fact that while fans loved older songs like “For the Best,” their set leaned rather heavily towards newer material from The Needles, The Space. Nevertheless, John so consistently just killed it on vocals and won over a lot of the crowd with some of the band’s less accessible new tunes. I had to leave a little bit before the end of SLR’s set, but I was elated that I got to see them play “Hands in the Sky (Big Shot)” although it left me with a bittersweet taste in my mouth since there is still a large part of me that wishes the band went more in that direction with new material.
All in all, this tour is a very solid lineup that gives fans almost for hours of diverse, likeable music. If you are at all considering seeing this, please do so – it is well worth it.
-carla
Cassino, Dear and the Headlights, The Color Fred, Straylight Run
Madison Theater – Covington, KY
December 8, 2007
On a cold, rainy night this past weekend, I made my way just across the Ohio River into Kentucky to head to the Madison Theater to see Straylight Run with The Color Fred, Dear and the Headlights, and Cassino (Taking Back Sunday refugee tour, anyone?). It is quite rare that I am stoked to see all of the bands on a 4-way bill, but this show definitely had the promise to be quite solid, so alas, the drive down was more than justified.
The concert started promptly at 8, and was relatively empty for a show at the Madison. Either the bad weather was keeping people away or the booking agents overestimated the draw of the bill – either way, it was pretty sparse, at least to start. The nice thing about the small-ish crowd was the fact that most everyone present was there to actually see Cassino play and give them the attention they were due. Personally, I had the privilege of seeing Nick and Tyler play a show this summer in Columbus, Ohio at a little bar called the Scarlet and Gray Café, and to this day it was one of the most resonant, intimate shows I have been to. So, when Cassino entered the stage as a five-piece (!), a lot of people were shocked, and did not know what to expect. In general, the extra personnel allowed the band to add more detail to songs – vocal harmonies, driving drums, harmonicas, egg shakers, finger cymbals – you know, all that good stuff. It all served to give Cassino a stronger alt-country style as opposed to the folkier tones on their record. The band played a nice set of many favorites from Sounds of Salvation, seeming more at ease than the last time I saw them, with Nick stopping a few times between songs to have some endearingly awkward banter with the crowd. Fans got a nice little treat as well when a bearded John Nolan came out to play keys on “Ice Factory” as well. Overall, Cassino sounded nice as expected, but the addition of three more players on stage takes away from the stripped-down charm of the band – personally, I would much prefer Nick and Tyler alone any day of the week.
It was then kind of strange to see Dear and the Headlights playing second, since it was quite obvious that fewer people knew their songs than Cassino’s. Their delightfully spastic brand of rock was a welcome change after the soothing drawl of Cassino, but the fans at this particular show did not seem to necessarily eat it up unfortunately. While a subset of the crowd could certainly appreciate this intriguing blend of folk, indie, and straight-up rock (myself included), the feeling was not universal and it visibly frustrated the band. The guys made little jokes and jabs at the crowd, saying they were sleeping and such – probably not the best way to win over a fickle mass. Vocally, Ian Metzger is an extremely dynamic frontman, as his biting wail stands out boldly from his band’s backdrop. This is not all the group has going for it, though. They showed off a strong mastery of the soft/loud contrast on “Run in the Front” and had plenty of cool breakdowns (including some rad shit with 2 tambourines). For some reason, the band reminds me of an off-kilter, more extroverted version of The Snake The Cross The Crown, which is certainly not a bad thing.
I was perhaps most interested to see The Color Fred on Saturday of all the bands on the bill, and not necessarily for just musical reasons. To be quite honest, I find Bend to Break an incredibly average record, but at the same time it sounds like it might hide some of the energy from the songs that might sound better live, if that makes sense. Well, this seemed to be the case, as Fred and company gave fans an extremely well-executed live performance. While the band started off a little stiff with Fred’s vocals a little too low in the mix (damn sound guy), the band loosened up after a few songs and caught its stride on “Complaintor.” While the songs The Color Fred plays are somewhat elementary in their construction, the band obviously enjoyed playing them, and the crowd seemed to be digging them a fair amount as well. Before leaving, Fred announced the band had just finished a video for “If I Surrender” and gave an incredibly humble, heartfelt thanks to the crowd for listening to his “new band” – a great gesture from a seemingly great guy.
Finally, Straylight Run came out to close off the evening. Having just been dropped by Universal Republic the day before, I was curious if they would discuss it, or if the bad news would affect their performance. Luckily, nothing seemed to be hampering the band’s performance in the least, as they crashed out of the gate with a lively rendition of “Soon We’ll Be Living in the Future.” Now, forgive my moment of male hormones here. I often find a lot of the affection and attention that female members of scene bands get misplaced, but I’ll be damned if Michelle Nolan (errr…DaRosa?) wasn’t just downright adorable. Definitely easy on the eyes, and between her looks and John’s gigantic stage presence, Straylight Run makes a great live band. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Straylight’s set was the fact that while fans loved older songs like “For the Best,” their set leaned rather heavily towards newer material from The Needles, The Space. Nevertheless, John so consistently just killed it on vocals and won over a lot of the crowd with some of the band’s less accessible new tunes. I had to leave a little bit before the end of SLR’s set, but I was elated that I got to see them play “Hands in the Sky (Big Shot)” although it left me with a bittersweet taste in my mouth since there is still a large part of me that wishes the band went more in that direction with new material.
All in all, this tour is a very solid lineup that gives fans almost for hours of diverse, likeable music. If you are at all considering seeing this, please do so – it is well worth it.
-carla