Tag: Live

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Concert Reviews

Passenger Pleases New York Crowd in Third U.S. Show

Though it was only Passenger’s third show in the U.S., you wouldn’t have been able to tell. The UK-based band had Mercury Lounge filled Wednesday night to an impressive set of solid acoustic guitar playing and even better vocals. The night included a six-song acoustic set with an unexpected, but highly enjoyable cover of Rihanna’s “Umbrella.”

Frontman Mike Rosenberg introduced New Yorkers to his band by saying, “We are two of Passenger,” before kicking off the night with “Things You’ve Never Done,” a slower ballad with simple guitar strumming and soft vocals.

“It’s been a crazy week and a half. Before now, we’ve been in Nashville and L.A. It’s a different world down in Nashville. A lot of haircuts . . . or lack of them,” Mike joked before beginning “What You Think,” a song he wrote while in Nashville. With quirky lyrics like, “My girlfriend says I’m a mess/I should call her my ex-girlfriend I guess,” he had the crowd laughing throughout Passenger’s performance.

While some have compared his voice to that of David Gray and his songwriting reminiscent of Damien Rice in that you really have to listen closely to truly appreciate the lyrics and understand the story behind the song, whatever it is, Passenger’s music is definitely catchy.

Although the majority of their 25-minute set featured mostly acoustic, slower numbers, Passenger’s impressive “Umbrella” cover had the crowd erupting in claps and laughter. “I was trying to do the rap in there as well, but English people don’t rap well,” Mike joked. Throughout the slower, softer songs played during the evening the room was so quiet and attentive to the two men on acoustic guitars on the stage that you could almost hear a pin drop. “Thank you for being so quiet,” Mike told the crowd.

Bandmate Steven’s deeper voice accented perfectly with Mike’s higher vocals while the two guitars blended well throughout each song, often assisting with the crescendos and decrescendos in Mike’s singing. Four of the songs played can be expected on their upcoming full-length album, Wicked Man’s Rest due out later this summer as well as a few on their EP due to hit stores June 24.

Perhaps crowd favorite of the night, a close tie with Rihanna’s cover, was their final song of the evening, “Night Vision Binoculars.” This song was the most upbeat of the night and you could tell Mike and Steven were having a blast onstage as the crowd thoroughly enjoyed it as well. Definitely a faster beat and quicker guitar playing and singing, the song ended the night on a high note.

Although this was Passenger’s last U.S. show for a while, be sure to check out their MySpace or Website for when they’ll be back!

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Concert Reviews

Amie Miriello Tells All at Intimate NYC Show

Singer-songwriter Amie Miriello is an intriguing storyteller. She seemingly effortlessly peaks curiosity leading up to each song with her onstage banter with the audience.

Before playing “Beauty of Goodbye” to a packed crowd at Pianos Tuesday night, she explained the song as being about “that beautiful moment when you realize you’re over someone and the second you stop thinking about him, he’ll start thinking of you. It’s tragic but it’s true.” Another song, “Grey” she told the crowd is about her fear of becoming an old lady singing at night clubs. With her debut album, I Came Around being released later this year, I don’t foresee that happening for Amie.

The night included a 40-minute, 9-song set, many of which will be released on her upcoming album as well as a solid cover of the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Disarmed.” While her voice seems somewhat familiar, possibly best described as being reminiscent of a mix between Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge and Alanis Morissette, Amie definitely has her own style. Whether it’s more of an up-tempo number with intricate guitar picking or a slower ballad-like feature, each song sounded entirely different from the previous. For most of the night both Amie and friend Jay Dmuchowski played acoustic guitars with Amie taking a break mid-show to sing guitarless.


Amie’s voice was powerful and soulful, almost folk-like at times when she sang with vibrato throughout certain parts of each song. Possibly the strongest song of the night was title track of her album, “I Came Around.” Definitely a catchy number, the chorus is one of those that stick in your head long after it’s over. “Brand New” was a bit of an edgier song with opening lyrics and guitar playing that definitely draw the listener into the rest of the song. She sings, “You look like the kind of a person who could have a conversation without making a sound/You look like the kind of a person instigating bad behavior when we’re hanging around/You look like the kind of a person who would take me to a party on the wrong side of town/You look like the kind of a person that’s down.”

Ballads “Snow,” a song about being on the road and touring, and “Cold Front” slowed the night down for a bit, but not too long as Amie’s quirky stories about her brothers and band dynamic with best friend of 10 years Jay, lightened the mood. “Snow” in particular is a softer song for Amie, emphasizing her strong singing ability and a voice that sounds much older and more sophisticated.

With her debut album out later this year and having been the opener for Teddy Geiger, Gavin DeGraw and Nick Lachey on previous tours, I’m certain that Amie won’t be the opening act for too much longer.

Get to know Amie as she talks about her new album and watch some of her performances.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQETaRboWIY]

For more on Amie and to listen to her music, check her out on MySpace or her Website.

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Concert Reviews

Lifehouse Have Sold-Out NYC Crowd ‘Hanging’ On Every Word

Shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday night Roseland Ballroom went dark and the crowd grew silent for mere seconds before screams erupted throughout the venue. The screams only grew louder as Lifehouse took the stage, playing the first chord of “Make Me Over.” As frontman Jason Wade leaned closer into the audience you could see his energy leap into the crowd as hands were thrown in the air and fans sang along to every word of the song.

Lifehouse’s 75-minute, 15-song set was full of nonstop energy. While most of the set included songs from their latest album, Who We Are, they also played some of their earlier work and radio hits, such as crowd favorite “Hanging by a Moment.”

The night featured solid guitar and drum features that accented Wade’s vocals well while each song blended right into the next, leaving no awkward pauses throughout their set. “Make Me Over” quickly transitioned right into “Spin,” which had a strong instrumental part towards the end of the song. After “Spin” the stage went dark before Wade came out, screaming “New York City!” then telling the crowd, “We’re gonna play some new songs and some old songs for you tonight” as a spotlight shown on him.

Next up was “Simon,” from their first album, No Name Face. “Simon” slowed down the night for a bit, but was an obvious old crowd favorite and screams were heard when Wade started singing the first verse. No matter how many times Lifehouse must have played “Hanging by a Moment” over the past few years, it still gets the most screams of any song played during their set. Literally every person around me was singing along, and I’m pretty sure that included at least 95% of the venue as well.

Wade started off “Storm” alone on vocals, as his voice echoed throughout the venue singing, “If I could just see you/Everything would be all right/If I’d see you/This darkness would turn to light/And I will walk on water/And you will catch me if I fall/And I will get lost into your eyes/I know everything will be alright/I know everything is alright” before he began playing acoustic guitar. Definitely a vocally driven song, his rendition of “Storm” live surpassed listening to it on their album.

The remainder of their set included the radio hit “You and Me” as well as “Disarray” and an encore performance of “The First Time” and high-energy closer “Broken.” Four albums and many tours later, Lifehouse proved to the crowd they still have the same energy as when they first began.

Matt Nathanson and HoneyHoney opened the night. HoneyHoney are a bit folk-sounding, with violin accompaniment. Their vocals were strong and they definitely had a solid collection of songs.

Matt Nathanson had a crowd-pleasing and comical set, with many in attendance singing along to his songs as well as Rick Springfield and Journey covers. First song of the night “Car Crash” seemed to be a crowd favorite, along with another song of his, of which he told the audience, “I like to think it’s a sequel to ‘Jessie’s Girl’ ” — a song that he soon after covered quite well. The prelude to his last song of the evening was Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” (with a dead-on guitar riff) to get the audience energized and singing along to his closer, “Answering Machine.”

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Concert Reviews

David Ford, Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace Play Mercury Lounge

Mercury Lounge was packed Monday night during its early show featuring a solo set from Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace and English singer/songwriter David Ford. I really wasn’t sure what to expect from either singer, being that I never saw them live before, but I walked out in awe of both performers.

David Ford took the stage shortly after 7 p.m., opening up the night with “Go to Hell” off of his latest album, Songs for the Road. A bit of a raspy voice, somewhat reminiscent of James Blunt, his songwriting has been compared to that of Damien Rice and Bright Eyes. His six-song set really impressed the crowd and as his set continued, the audience crept closer and closer to the stage, very attentive to his one-man band performance. Rotating from acoustic and electric guitar to piano, harmonica, tambourine, and maracas – all while singing throughout the song was definitely a sight to see. Below is a video for a better idea, but basically he played and recorded a few bars of the song with each instrument, then looped the recording throughout the remainder of the song. It was unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed before, but he definitely pulled it off.

Check out his video for “State of the Union” here for more of an idea of what his live performance is like. Let me know what you think!

Ford had the audience laughing during his song introductions, even jokingly dedicating one song – “State of the Union” – to Eliot Spitzer. “This song is about the government, philandering, politics, money, greed, music . . . all neatly compacted into a nice sing-along tune,” Ford said. He explained that “Song for the Road” was inspired by spending time away from home and those he loves while on tour. Being from Great Britain, he said, “I love to come to your great country. The land of the free . . . refill I like to call it,” he joked before beginning the slower, more mellow closer of his set.

Raine Maida took the stage soon after for a 70-minute, 15-song set. While his set mostly included songs from his latest solo album, The Hunters Lullaby, the night featured Our Lady Peace hit “Innocent” and cover songs by the Pixies and Neil Young. Maida had most of the crowd singing along throughout his entire performance.

Onstage, Maida is such a captivating performer. His voice is deep and dark, blending well with the band accompaniment and darker cello and guitar features. It’s hard to keep your eyes off of him – his energy is contagious, almost trance-like. Maida started off the night with “Careful What You Wish For.” The song began with a slow piano feature before Maida joined in with cello and guitar picking up the beat.

“This is cozy,” he said to the audience at the sold-out show. “I wish you all could fit on our bus. That’s not an offer,” he joked while screams could be heard throughout the room. Many of the songs from his album sound a bit dark and edgy, with him singing or talking along with the song.

“Yellow Brick Road” Maida started out talking, “I remember the days when we’d talk for hours/We were young we thought we had superpowers/We kissed the sky, expanding our minds, thought we could fly/We were dreamers, and we’d never die/We were young punks but we showed potential/It was us against the world, we weren’t sentimental/We weren’t our problems, our age or our paychecks/And we weren’t taking anybody’s shit” before the crowd joined him singing along during the chorus.

For the most part, he preceded each song with a story about the meaning behind the song, joking “I feel like this is fuckin’ story tellers or something.” Before covering Neil Young’s song, “Ohio” he said he was upset when he read Young’s recent quote about music not changing the world. Young told reporters earlier this year: “I think that the time when music could change the world is past. I think it would be very naive to think that in this day and age.”

Raide then covered Billy Talent’s, “Try Honesty” telling the audience, “this is one of the songs I wish I wrote.” Soon after, featured pianist of the night, (wife Chantal Kreviazuk) sang a vocally strong and powerful cover of the Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind” before Maida closed the night with crowd favorite, the night’s sing-along song and Our Lady Peace hit, “Innocent.”

For more on these artists check out their MySpace!
David Ford
Raine Maida
Chantal Kreviazuk

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Concert Reviews

The Hotel Cafe Tour Stops in NYC

The Hotel Cafe Tour hit New York City Monday night to a standing-room-only crowd at the Fillmore at Irving Plaza. The night featured 15- to 20-minute rotating performances from Ingrid Michaelson, Cary Brothers, Joshua Radin, Meiko and Priscilla Ahn.

While Michaelson may have been the main draw, with her MySpace success and songs featured on “Grey’s Anatomy,” all the musicians featured throughout the night impressed the crowd. Whether it was Ahn playing the kazoo during one of her songs or all the performers accompanying Brothers on backing vocals for his song “Blue Eyes,” they kept the audience attentive.

I’ve never been to a concert that rotated performers every 15 minutes or so, but surprisingly enough the show ran extremely smoothly. Each performer played three to four songs every time they were onstage, sometimes bringing out previous performers to sing with them. For the most part, the musicians were a bit mellow — many playing acoustic guitars — but Michaelson’s set as well as Brothers’ livened up the audience.

Michaelson started out her first set of the night by playing “Breakable” from her latest album, Girls and Boys. The piano accompaniment throughout the song was strong but never overpowered her vocals. “Overboard” featured Michaelson’s falsetto singing range as she sang “To fall” — lyrics from the song — repeatedly, hitting a higher note with each repetition.

She explained “The Hat” as being her hoedown song, and at the end of her first set she joked with the crowd, promising that she’d be back after “one more of the whole buffet of singer songwriters” took the stage. “We’re going to make you cry tonight,” she said, alluding to the mellower, down-tempo sets of songs.

Ahn took the stage shortly after, with her light, airy singing style and guitar and strings accompaniment. She introduced her song “Astronauts” by saying, “This song is called ‘Astronauts’ and it’s about astronauts.” Another song, “Leave the Light On,” she told the audience, was inspired and written when she was 18 and living in Pennsylvania with her parents, practically in the middle of the woods. Coming home late at night, her parents would never leave the lights on and she was constantly scared that she was surrounded by “cougars, bears and rapists” in the dark.

Radin took the stage next with his guitar, and later Ahn came back out to accompany him as well as Allie Moss from Michaelson’s band. Solid and soothing vocally, Radin joked about one of his songs, which was inspired by falling in love on a train while in France. “This song gets tons and tons of airplay … on my mom’s iPod.” He had the audience singing along to “What If You,” a beautiful vocally driven song with his light guitar playing blending well with his soft vocals.

Michaelson took the stage again awhile later, playing a few more from her latest album. “Die Alone,” she told the crowd, was inspired by her constant fear of dying alone. “I know everyone feels that way sometimes,” she said. While her voice in the song sounds pretty lighthearted, the guitar accompaniment portrayed a feeling of anxiousness and fear.

Crowd favorite of the night seemed to be Michaelson and her radio hit, “The Way I Am.” With classic lines such as “I’d buy you Rogaine when you start losing all your hair/Sew on patches to all you tear/‘Cuz I love you more than I could ever promise,” she had practically all in attendance singing along. At times she seemed like a choir teacher directing those in the audience who helped her out by clapping along during certain points in the song.

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Concert Reviews

Sia Plays Sold-Out NYC Show

Webster Hall was packed with a sold-out crowd Saturday night, those in attendance anxiously awaiting for Australian singer/songwriter Sia to take the stage. And she did, shortly after 9 p.m., with the “Rocky” theme song blaring through the speakers. Sia and her band came out in bright, neon cartoon-character-type outfits for her first song of the evening, “Buttons.” She had the crowd singing and dancing along to the fun, up-tempo song, a hidden track on her latest album, Some People Have Real Problems.

(Check out her performance of “Buttons” on Jimmy Kimmel Live here for more of an idea.)

Sia is by far the most energetic singer I’ve ever seen in concert. In between songs she’d be dancing with so much energy, always with a bright smile on her face. Her concert was very interactive, whether she was asking the crowd if it needed anything, taking notes from fans with song requests or reading messages from fans on her message board while dedicating a song to them. She even traded her own scarf — one she bought in Chinatown, she told the audience — for a fan’s scarf.

Sia played a 90-minute set of 15 songs, mostly tracks off of her new album, as well as a few old fan favorites, such as “Broken Biscuit” and the infamous “Breathe Me” — her hit from the final episode of “Six Feet Under” that “totally resuscitated my dying career,” she told the audience.

I was blown away by Sia’s voice on many songs. “Lentil,” one of her more emotional songs, was powerful, with her voice building up into a crescendo in the middle of the song and then falling to a whisper by the end. On many numbers, audience members would break into screams after one of her more powerful chords.

What was interesting to me is that Sia’s songs are a bit more down-tempo than you would think a performer with her amount of energy would perform, possibly even falling into the category of easy listening. She told the crowd that her next album will be more poppy and performed a song from her “future album” titled “The Codependent,” which was definitely more upbeat and seemed more of Sia’s style.

Possibly one of her strongest songs of the night, Sia dedicated “You Have Been Loved,” to “all the losers in love.” She preceded the song by telling the audience of how she and a friend were calculating the statistics of all the single people in the world. “I’d like to assure you that there are 1.2 million people you can find a soul mate in and not to worry,” she told the crowd.

Although she couldn’t perform every song shouted out to her, she encouraged fans to write requests on her message board a week and a half before the show so the band can practice them. “I try to make dreams come true,” she joked.

Sia had many in attendance singing along to her choir-y song “Death by Chocolate” while the crowd favorite of the night seemed to be her vocally powerful song “Breathe Me,” as screams and claps from the audience could be heard well after she finished the song.

The night ended with an encore performance of “Somersault,” definitely a crowd pleaser. Sia preceded the song by telling the audience that she hated the idea of an encore. “I used to have a non-encore rule, but management told me I have to do it,” she joked.

Har Mar Superstar opened the night and definitely put on an interesting performance, as the singer stripped down to his underwear. Screams could be heard throughout Webster Hall, either of pure shock or excitement I’m not too sure. Lead singer, Har Mar, jumped into the crowd, dancing with some concertgoers throughout part of his set, definitely getting the crowd energized while a few concert-goers seemed a bit disturbed, screaming, “Put your clothes back on!”

Either way, the mix of Har Mar’s pop/club music livened up the audience, and as the house lights rose throughout the venue at the end of the night and concert-goers were ushered out the doors, they definitely could not forget Har Mar Superstar’s intriguing performance or the sheer energy and amazing vocals of Sia.

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Concert Reviews

The Ataris’ “Blue Skies, Broken Hearts” Acoustic Tour Hits New Jersey

Marking almost the ninth-year anniversary of the release of album Blue Skies, Broken Hearts . . . Next 12 Exits, frontman Kris Roe of the Ataris has embarked on a massive tour playing the album in it’s entirety as well as fan favorites from previous albums. Having recently finished up touring the West Coast, Kris is touring everywhere from New Jersey down to Florida back Midwest to Michigan and Illinois before traveling to South America and Japan.

His almost one-hour set began at 11:30 p.m. with first track on the album, “Losing Streak.” “This is a sing along show so I hope you all sing along,” Roe told the audience at Maxwell’s in Hoboken Friday night.

I’ve been to many concerts over the years, but none quite like Roe’s acoustic set Friday. He had practically every person in the room singing along word for word to each song played that night, something I’ve never witnessed at a concert before. Granted, those in attendance seemed to be die-hard fans, making up the standing-room only crowd. With such a good crowd, for hit “So Long, Astoria” off of the album of the same name, Roe got off the stage and walked into the crowd while playing the song on guitar. Instead of singing it himself on stage with his microphone, he let the audience take over singing the song. Possibly the highlight of the night, those in attendance demonstrated that the Ataris’ fans are far from extinct.

Playing a 17-song set, Roe had so much energy and you could truly tell that he was having just as much fun as his fans in the audience, joking along with them and playing any song they screamed out to him. Crowd favorite seemed to be “San Dimas High School Football Rules,” as loud screams from the audience could be heard when he started playing the first chord of the song. A solid guitar sound, Roe helped peak the crowd’s energy.

Afterwards he told the audience, “This is a really sappy album I wrote 11 years ago,” before beginning song, “I Won’t Spend Another Night Alone.” With classic lyrics like, “The things you make me wanna do/I’d rob a quick-e-mart for you/I’d go to the pound and let all the cats go free/Just as long as you’d be with me” he got the point across. Roe sang part of the chorus, then told the crowd, “Alright now, just you guys. Ready? Sing aloud” as all in Maxwell’s sung in unison “I won’t spend another night alone.”

He introduced the next track, “The Last Song I Will Ever Write About A Girl” as being “a complete fuckin’ lie, which I’m sure you all realized by now.” He ended the song explaining that he was 19 and angry when he originally wrote it. “Broken Promise Ring” Roe wrote when he was 14, while joking to the audience, “If it sucks don’t blame me.”

Roe explained that many of the songs he’s been performing on this tour from the album, Blue Skies, Broken Hearts . . . Next 12 Exits have never been performed live before, like last song on the album, “In Spite of the World.”

The last few songs played were from previous albums. He played “I.O.U. One Galaxy” as well as “In This Diary,” “So Long Astoria” and last song of the night, “Summer Wind Was Always Our Song.” Roe’s solid guitar and vocals throughout the night blew me away and sounded even better than on his albums, a feat not many musicians can accomplish.

Half of D.C. based band Army of Me opened the night with a 40-minute acoustic set with frontman Vince Scheuerman alternating between guitar and piano and Brad Tursi on guitar. They played nine songs, mostly off their debut album, Citizen.

“Meet You at the Mouth” opened the night with strong vocals and guitar while second song of the night, “Saved Your Life” slowed down their set a bit. Vince and Brad played to a packed room, combining solid vocals and guitar features throughout their set.

In addition to songs from their latest album, they covered a song by Detroit-based singer Brendan Benson as well as played a new song of their own. Before playing piano-based song, “Better Run,” Vince explained that while Army of Me is a rock band, they recently started playing piano at their gigs. Vince started out the song solo on piano while Brad accompanied him with light guitar picking soon after. Army of Me had the audience helping out with their next song, a new one for the guys, clapping along to keep the beat of the song. Brad kept telling the audience, “This is a rock song, you guys are the rock.”

Vince explained their second to last song, “2 into 1” as being “a song about unity and love” and then ended their set solidly with emotional song, “Rise” a little after 11 p.m.


Be sure to catch Kris Roe on the rest of his “Blue Skies, Broken Hearts” acoustic tour. Check his MySpace for future tour dates.
For more on Army of Me check out their website.

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Concert Reviews

Sparky’s Flaw Impress at The Knitting Factory

The Tap Room of the Knitting Factory was packed by the time Sparky’s Flaw took the stage shortly after 9:30 p.m. Friday night. Those in attendance could feel the energy coming off the stage as it permeated throughout the crowd, having many dancing or singing along to their songs. Playing a 40-minute set, Sparky’s Flaw showcased songs from their current EP as well as a few new tunes which will be featured on their first full-length album, due out this summer on Mercury Records.

If Maroon 5 were to have younger brothers, Sparky’s Flaw epitomizes them. A mix of Maroon 5’s catchy beats and strong vocals with a little bit of The Fray’s keyboard style combined with smooth sounding saxophone features encompasses the five-piece band, Sparky’s Flaw. Their songs have strong keyboard and saxophone features as well as catchy hooks in practically every song that it’s hard not to have them stuck in your head long after their performance is over. Frontman Will Anderson leads the band alternating between vocals, keyboards and guitar.

Friday night was just a brief introduction to NYC as to who Sparky’s Flaw is. With their recent record deal and their album being recorded on the band’s winter and spring breaks (three are seniors in college) the world is sure to hear much more from this up-and-coming band in the near future.

Sparky’s Flaw started off their set with catchy pop song “Under Control.” With lyrics like, “Because I’ve kept my heart under control/But lately all this time has taken its toll/I said I tried to but I can’t hold back what’s deep in my soul/So darling please forgive me I want you and you’ll just have to know” they sure know how to make a girl’s heart swoon. What’s great about most of their songs is the saxophone feature. A lot of the time it’s so soft you don’t pay attention to it right away because the drums and guitar sound are a bit stronger, but the saxophone definitely adds to their music tremendously.

“All That I Am,” another song featured from their self titled EP, slowed down the night for a bit while Will started out on keyboards and alone on vocals. You could definitely feel the emotion in every note he sang. “Words Meet Heartbeats” as well as a new song, “Give It Up” had a strong guitar feel to it while extra keyboards and drums helped the strength of the song.

Crowd favorite of the night was their last song, “The New Year.” Interestingly enough, this song was a featured song during the Rose Bowl in January and I could see why as they performed it. The energy just leapt off the stage into the crowd while practically everyone in front of the stage was singing along with Will at the top of their lungs. It was probably the most solid song, both instrumentally and vocally, of their set, definitely a great way to end the night.

First performer of the night was Phil Bensen, playing a 35-minute set. Bensen started out his performance with “High Heels and a Miniskirt,” a soulful number with impeccable vocals and solid guitar and drum accompaniment for a two-piece band.

Bensen’s voice really blew me away. His high falsetto vocals are very soulful, reminiscent of the Jackson Five with a blend of John Mayer or Jason Mraz. He definitely is a musician to be on the look out for, having toured with the Jonas Brothers as well as being featured in New Jersey’s Bamboozle Festival for the third year in a row.

His set included eight songs, some featured on his MySpace such as “Not Good Enough,” and “Bruised”as well as a few songs that will be on his upcoming album and his soulful closer, the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.”

The Scott Harris Project followed Bensen with a nine song set. Their set was a bit more heavy than Phil’s, and was a four-man band made up of guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard. Scott introduced his song, “Hit” as a song being about the wrong girl. The band’s music revolves around Scott’s vocals, definitely strong and catchy. “Level” had a solid instrumental feature in the middle of the song while he had many fans in attendance singing along to “Live It Up,” a song somewhat reminiscent of a combination of Third Eye Blind and Jason Mraz.

Be sure to check out these three bands on their MySpace pages for a better feel of their sound.
Sparky’s Flaw
Phil Bensen
Scott Harris Project

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Concert Reviews

Happy Anarchy Rocks The Bowery Poetry Club

I loved the way Jesse Blum (keyboards, trumpet) explained his band’s music. “I think it’s just a great, rockin’, good old-fashioned American rock band. We sound like America rock.” What’s most interesting about Staten Island based band Happy Anarchy is that each band member describes their sound completely differently and they leave it up to the listener to decide for themselves. Their website refers to their first album, Reset, as being “an emotional album, but far from ’emo.’ It’s Indie without being Scene, and Rock without the hair.” I’ll post my full interview with the band and pictures later this week, but if you’re curious to what they sound like check them out on MySpace. Or, if you’re in Texas for the South by Southwest festival in March, be sure to check them out there for yourselves. In the mean time, read my review of their concert below and let me know what you think!

Happy Anarchy played a 45 minute set Saturday night at The Bowery Poetry Club in NYC. When first walking inside The Bowery Poetry Club, it seemed like a typical cafe-esque place where tables and chairs are set up amongst colorful walls, but once walking past that area towards the back room where the stage and bar are set up, it’s an entirely different environment. The room, dimly lit with rows of tables and chairs set up in front of the stage, was packed for Happy Anarchy’s set, which began shortly after 9 p.m.

The audience seemed to be big fans of Happy Anarchy, dancing in the aisles and singing along with lead singer/guitarist Joe Pecora for most of their performance. “Personal Judas” was the first song played in their 10-song set and one of the many songs featured throughout the night from their first album Reset, released in November. Happy Anarchy is made up of a strong guitar sound, with three guitars as well as bass, keyboards, drums, and trombone and trumpet features. At times, however, the guitar sound seemed to overpower the vocals a bit. While every band has their own technical issues, if the microphone was a little louder accentuating the vocals, some of the songs would have been a bit stronger.

Being a writer, I love to listen to music while deciphering the lyrics behind each song and see how it all relates together. Happy Anarchy’s lyrics are often deep, disguised under the heavy guitar sound that encompasses the band. If you listen closely to the lyrics and each track on their album, Reset, each song tells its own story, whether it’s about struggling through life or hope for the future. One song in particular, “Bomp” is comprised with lyrics like “Just wait a second, now, cause there’s always hope/Said the man with the necktie of a rope/Watching the clock as he waits for the trap door to swing.” Drummer Pete Smith explained the song as being “a guy under a tremendous amount of pressure trying not to lose it.”

“Bomp” had a nice trombone feature as well as a strong guitar sound accompanying frontman Joe on vocals. In the middle of the song a solid instrumental feature livened up the stage and the audience in the room while their song, “Mud,” showcased much faster and louder vocals from Joe. The song was definitely upbeat and energetic.

“Hamlet with a Reset” slowed down the night a bit with Joe singing the intro while a soft guitar sound provided accompaniment in the background of the song. What’s so great about Happy Anarchy’s set and music in general is that every song is completely different from the previous. Some songs have trombone and trumpet features or a heavy guitar and drum sound while others are slower, showcasing the band’s strong vocals.

Crowd favorite of the night may have been a tie with their last two songs, “Doin It Over” and “At the Bottom of the Sea.” “Doin It Over” was a heavy, guitar-driven song with a fast beat to it, having many in attendance dancing along while practically the entire room was singing with Joe during the chorus of “At the Bottom of the Sea.” The band’s overall performance was definitely made up of strong guitar riffs as well as keyboard, trumpet, and trombone features. Be sure to check out their website, happyanarchy.com for more information on the band and future tour dates.

Categories
Concert Reviews

Jon Foreman’s One-night NYC Tour

Whether it’s performing to 3,000+ fans in a packed arena or an after show performance to 30 or so people waiting outside the venue, Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman is able to connect with the audience, no small feat for a musician.

Jon entered the small stage at Joe’s Pub last Wednesday shortly after 7:30 with his guitar and harmonica while friend and fellow musician, Keith Tutt, accompanied him for the night on cello. I’ve never been to such an intimate performance before, and Joe’s Pub is definitely a great place to get that up close and personal feel. The room was dimly lit by candles provided on each table throughout the venue as well as soft lighting on the performers. The stage at Joe’s Pub is surrounded by tables and red plush couches on the lower level as well as more seating a level above where those in attendance can order dinner and drinks while listening to the night’s performance.

Jon’s set opened up with a question, which later seemed to be the theme of the night, on the topic of cereal from Spencer, a young boy from New Jersey who was eating with his family right in front of the stage. Spencer asked what each performer’s favorite cereal was while Jon later joked, “I’m going to have a great time tonight because I love cereal too.”

First song of Jon’s set was “Southbound Train” from his EP, Fall. Keith began the song on cello while Jon joined on guitar and later harmonica. From the very beginning, Jon’s vocals were strong and well-blended with Keith’s accompaniment on cello. I couldn’t get over how rich and full Jon’s voice was throughout the night, never fluctuating or getting lost in the guitar or cello sound.

Jon joked that he wanted to start off the night with three songs in the key of D so he could get all of his head gear (aka harmonica) out of the way. While a few of the songs I didn’t recognize, they seemed to be a preview of what is to be expected from his future EP’s, Winter, which will be released Jan. 15 while Spring and Summer will be out later this year. Throughout a little over an hour set and 15 songs, Jon sang most of the songs from his latest EP, Fall, as well as some classic Switchfoot hits such as “Dare You to Move” with guest singer Anthony from Bayside and an encore performance of “Only Hope,” which ended the night.

One song performed, “Learning How To Die” from his upcoming EP Winter, was explained as being about death and how a lot of us aren’t learning how to live, we’re learning how to die. Another song, “War in My Blood” is a song he’s written with Sean of Nickel Creek, a project they call The Real SeanJon. “I’ve got some things going on with my friend Sean from Nickel Creek,” Jon said. “Our goal is to get sued by Puffy. Puffy, if you’re here tonight please sue us,” he joked.

Perhaps the most emotional song of the night was “Somebody’s Baby,” which Jon explained is about a homeless woman that lives by his house whom he saw one day brushing her teeth outside. The lyrics and tone of the song are very somber when listening, especially after hearing the story behind the song beforehand. When listening to the lyrics during his performance and realizing the woman dies in the song, the mood is definitely a little heavy throughout the room. After he performed “Somebody’s Baby,” Jon told the audience, “I warned you it’s sad,” and then began playing Hank Williams’ song, “Your Cheating Heart” – not entirely a happy song either. This song had a very simple guitar rhythm to it as well as a nice harmonica feature.

“‘The Moon is a Magnet” is kind of a tongue twister for your fingers,” Jon said before playing it and I definitely could see that while watching him play. He then played two songs, the first song being “Let Your Love Be Strong,” from Switchfoot’s latest album Oh! Gravity, which he described as being the question in the pair of songs while the second song played is the sequel to that song, or the answer to it.

Anthony from Bayside came out towards the end of the night to share the stage with Jon and Keith, helping out with vocals on “Dare You To Move.” He said that Jon called him at 5:30 to see if he would sing the song with him. Anthony seemed a little nervous at first to help out with the song, but overall, his vocals were really strong and meshed well with Jon and Keith’s performance. Jon then covered his favorite Bad Religion song, “Sorrow” and then segued nicely into “The Cure For Pain” as his voice resonated throughout the venue before his encore performance and one of my favorite songs, “Only Hope.”

Opening act for the evening was Dawn Landes. Playing seven songs for about a 45 minute set, she definitely wowed the crowd with her strong vocals and guitar playing as well as the rest of her band on drums, cello and bass. I especially liked one of their songs, played completely acoustic, adding a tambourine to the mix. It was very simple, but well played with a cameo from the cellist. “Picture Show” was definitely an entertaining number, sounding very circus-esque with funny quips sung throughout. Last song of her set was the “Kissing Song,” which encompassed a strong vocal sound as well as a beautiful strings feature. Her voice and performance definitely has a folk sound to it, somewhat comparable to Feist and Regina Spektor. Her album, Fireproof is due out in stores in March. Check out her MySpace here.

Extremely appreciative the entire night for everyone who came out for his performance, Jon told the crowd that he has been looking forward to Wednesday night for a long time. “This whole project has been a real dream for me. Thanks for being a part of it.”

Be sure to check out Jon’s new EP due out Jan. 15. For more info check out his MySpace.