Posted on 20 November 2012 by Bethany Smith
There are few bands who have aged as well as Motion City Soundtrack. Though their earlier songs have a wild energy to them that got all of Lawrence dancing, their newer material has maturity and hooks that had everyone singing along. Motion City Soundtrack’s Granada show was one of the best of the year and they had some great openers in piano rock trio Jukebox the Ghost and indie harmonies of Now, Now.
Posted on 16 October 2012 by Bethany Smith
Ten years ago,the pop punk debut record from a little Long Island band was released to the public. This record, Tell All Your Friends, would be one of those defining moments in music. For some, it meant falling in love and for others it meant falling apart. It would inspire new bands to form and for Taking Back Sunday’s own career it would help it to take off. Ten years later, some shifts in lineup, and the TAYF lineup is back; they’re still putting out influential music and packing clubs. It was a special moment in Lawrence, Kansas, to see a sold out show full of fans of all ages – x’s on the hands of many new TBS fans and beer bands on the older ones. And regardless of fan age or when people had discovered TBS andTAYF, everyone was united in this one thing Saturday night: a love of music.
Just because TAYF was the whole reason for this tour, TBS still treated everyone to some of their other hits. The first half of their set was performed in front of a backdrop to their 2011 self-titled album and featured songs from all their records. The club really got going for songs like “Error: Operator,” which got the mosh pit revved up, and “MakeDamnSure,” which brought out one of the biggest singalongs of the night. There were so many songs that the band could have still played, but they were saving up energy for the second half of their set.
Midway through the evening, the backdrop screen fell and revealed the iconic Exit 152 album cover art fromTAYF. The band proceeded to play this record straight plus they added the bonus of two songs written during that era. As one other unexpected treat, an additional touring musician joined for this portion of the set to add violin to these songs – something that really improved the qualify of some of the slower songs from this album. The band really came alive during this portion of the set. Singer Adam Lazzara shared guitarist John Nolan’s love story involving a Kansas gal before the band played “Great Romances of the 20th Century.” They alluded to some of the difficulties and rumors surrounding some of the drama of other lyrics. Toward the end of the set, Lazzara moved on top of a monitor and with a gleam in his eye and a sly smile, he slipped into the crowd. I think he only meant to sing just one song from the audience, but eager fans swarmed him and kept him out for another song. The entire time he kept smiling and moving as best he could to reach and embrace as many fans as possible. Meanwhile on stage, there were some even more hilarious antics occurring that many were missing with their eyes on Lazzara. As Nolan was concentrating on his call and response vocals to Lazarra’s main vocals, guitarist Eddie Reyes sneaked over to Nolan’s mike and bent it away toward the floor. Nolan looked incredulous, chuckled and fixed his mic…never missing a beat in his guitar line. It was great to see how at ease this group of musicians was with each other, but greater still to see how much they cared about their fans after all this time. After all, this anniversary tour wasn’t for the band or for the money; it was simply for the fans and it showed.
To quote the band’s Mr. Rogers intro music ‘It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood,’ but it was an even better night thanks to Taking Back Sunday.
Set List:
What’s It Feel Like to Be a Ghost
A Decade Under the Influence
Faith (When I Let You Down)
Liar (It Takes One to Know One)
One-Eighty by Summer
El Paso
Error: Operator
MakeDamnSure
//
You Know How I Do
Bike Scene
Cute Without The E
No ‘I’ in Team
Great Romances of the 20th Century
Ghost Man on Third
Timberwolves at New Jersey
The Blue Channel
You’re So Last Summer
Head Club
Your Own Disaster
The Ballad of Sal Villanueva
Posted on 01 October 2012 by Bethany Smith
“How to get obliviated every night, but still rock. That’s the name of my first book,” boasted Guided By Voices front man Robert Pollard. If the speed at which he was drinking from his liquor handle and beers were any indication, Pollard would have to prove that he could keep his word with the rocking part of his comment. There was little doubt that he could easily achieve obliviation and little doubt that he could rock, but together? That was the question.
Turns out he could and he would; this combination would make the show extra memorable for those in attendance. Pollard quipped before every song, sharing anecdotes about his family and explaining what “classic lineup” meant. In the case of this tour, it means the reunion of the 93-96 lineup, but Pollard pointed out that any of the band’s lineups could be labeled as “classic.” All that mattered was the music and that audiences got to hear their favorite tunes. He also promised that there would be not just one or two new albums and even more tours, but that he was in the music-making business for life. And as a rock star in his mid-50s, I think that statement is safe to assume as true.
As much as the bantering and talk in between songs was a part of the show, the songs themselves were equally memorable. Much of the band’s music are short, lo-fi rock songs that last roughly two energetic moments before they’re over. But despite the brevity of the songs, the band packs as much as they can into those two minutes. During the songs, you’re treated to some great guitar riffs, somewhat silly but fun lyrics and lots and lots of high kicks. These guys put their full bodies into their music.
After a set list of 25+ songs, Lawrence Guided By Voices fans went home with a chuckle and some great memories.
Posted on 14 August 2012 by Bethany Smith
It was a hipster dance party in Lawrence, Kansas, as the recently returned KU college students filled the Granada for performances from Icky Blossoms and Washed Out.
I say ‘hipster’ dance party because it was more like the type of dancing you’d see on Charlie Brown than in ‘da club. No grinding (even though Icky Blossoms’ frequent repeats of the word ‘sex’ sort of asked for it). This was more like little sways and lots of legs jumping up and down.
Omaha’s Icky Blossoms was a perfect pairing with Washed Out. Both bands use lights to enhance the mood of their soundscapes and have a fun, but relaxed quality to their sounds. I was blown away by just how great Icky Blossoms were for such a new band with just a few shows under their belts. Though I shouldn’t have been surprised, many of the members have been playing for years in other Omaha bands such as Tilly and the Wall. Similar to Tilly, there was a lot of chanting in their songs and much of their music was just raucous build up of synth melody lines and big drum patterns. The bassist stole the show though with his theatrical facial expressions and wild dance moves. Icky Blossoms was devilishly entertaining. This is a band to watch:
Washed Out was a little less raucous than their opener, but the chill songs of this equally synth heavy were still a blast. They just brought a little less jumping and more swaying from the crowd. Synth layers swirled around hypnotizing lyrics. Though Washed Out is technically just musician Ernest Greene, he was joined by several other musicians (and lots of additional synths to the ones that he was already playing). The band stuck mostly to 2011′s Within and Without, but also treated the audience to several new surprises.
Posted on 13 June 2012 by Bethany Smith
Walk the Moon has a ridiculously catchy sound, an adorable video for lead single “Anna Sun” and a penchant for face paint. But those things are just enough for me to strongly like a band. Walk the Moon sounds great recorded, but if there’s anything that solidifies my love for a band it is a great live show. In regards to Walk the Moon, it’s impossible not to love them after seeing them on the stage. So full disclosure: I love Walk the Moon. I hope that this review will tell you why you should, too.
Ohio’s Walk the Moon finally landed in Kansas Tuesday night and played a delightfully fun and memorable set for Lawrence fans. Opening was UK act Morning Parade. I was a little slow to warm up to this band (their sound mix seemed a little off), but I was impressed by the end of the set. I was a bit surprised by how many of the songs I recognized — they’ve been getting some play on TV shows and one song I had heard previously, I had tremendously mistaken for a Snow Patrol song. Despite my Snow Patrol mistake, they reminded me of a less heavy, less moody Civil Twilight. Songs that really stood out included “Carousel,” “Headlights” and set closer “Born Alone.” With their charm and solid sound, these guys are set to go far. I’m excited to watch them continuing to grow. 
When Walk the Moon took the stage, it became a bubbly dance party with lots of clapping and singing along–though I don’t think Lawrence’s dancing had anything on bassist Kevin Ray’s moves; Kevin had this half bounce/half moon walk thing going on. If you didn’t know the words, it was easy enough to grab on to one of the big choruses and join in with the band. Walk the Moon even taught the audience some lyrics to “I Can Lift a Car” citing that they recently recorded it with the PS22 Choir and the kids only had 30 minutes to learn their harmonies (You can hear the album version with PS22 below). When not dancing or singing, it was easy to get hypnotized by what was occurring musically. The often 4-part harmonies made the songs fill full and big. Speaking of big, the drums were already big, but when singer Nicholas Petricca turned from his keyboard to his drum everything just got bigger: bigger sound, bigger audience’s eyes. For the most part, their set was upbeat songs with huge choruses; this is a band preparing for a future in arenas. Though there was a brief break in the middle of the set when the band switched around instruments for keytars and what not and slowed things down for “Iscariot.” This is a beautiful and emotional song…it’s the “break out the lighters moment” in the show. Yet despite this song’s seriousness, there seemed to be something funky going on with the keyboard. Some of the chords were a little off early in the song, but the audience was forgiving and cheered instead of jeered. Mistakes happen and the band turned it around even adding in a later, purposefully wrong chord with a sly wink. If they hadn’t already charmed the socks off of everyone present, this little hiccup could have ended up much differently, but it actually ended up being memorable and sweet.
Now if I am going to pick any sort of beef with Walk the Moon, it’s going to be over “Tete a Tete.” This song was one of my favorites of the night, but the band announced that it wasn’t going to be the upcoming album and they don’t currently have plans to record it. What teases! Dangling this awesomeness in front of us and then only leaving us to have our memories and YouTube bootlegs. Hopefully they eventually record it or find a way to release it. I guess when you have so many consistently catchy songs, you have to draw the line somewhere.
After the summer anthem (and if it isn’t your summer anthem, it should be) “Anna Sun” ended, our voices properly raw from trying to match Nicholas’ little “Suuuun”-yowls, we pushed our vocal chords even further hoping for an encore. However, with a band that only has an EP officially released and the upcoming album all covered, I wasn’t sure what they had left. When the band returned, they played it cool acting like they weren’t even sure what was about to happen. As they talked and thanked everyone for coming, they integrated some big drum hits in between their thank yous. Well those big drums turned into a very hilarious and awesome cover of “Burning Down the House” by the Talking Heads. After we all chuckled, about the surprise, we immediately joined the band in singing and acted out a mash of jumping up and down and dancing.
As if the set hadn’t already impressed me enough musically, Walk the Moon then impressed upon Lawrence what great guys they are in general. They all came out and took photos and chatted with literally every person in attendance. They seemed to genuinely enjoy talking to fans, too. They weren’t going through any motions. These guys know a surefire way to make fans for life. Walk the Moon’s set to blow up big and I hope they never lose their grounded attitudes and general joy with music and touring.
So if you get the chance, do yourself a favor and see these guys live. The only reason not to love these guys is if you’re a house (These guys are clearly apartment people what with the “Burning Down the House” cover and “Anna Sun” lyrics talking about the “house is falling apart”). Paint your face with pink “warrior” lines, embrace your inner wild child and let loose at one of Walk the Moon’s shows. You won’t regret it.
Posted on 29 May 2012 by Patrice
The southern Californian lo-fi band Best Coast played The Granada in Lawrence, KS on Sunday night, with Nashville’s JEFF the Brotherhood as their openers. For a Sunday night, the show was rather packed. JEFF opened the show with a beyond stellar set, almost making you wish they were the headlining band. Jake Orrall with his three-stringed guitar with his brother Jamin Orrall playing ferociously on drums, the sibling duo ripped through their set without apologies. Even with the time constriction of an opening slot, the two were still able to hit some of the highlights off their previous albums Heavy Days and We Are The Champions. Songs like “Hey Friend”, “The Tropics” and “Heavy Days” were crowd pleasers, meanwhile still introducing us to new songs from their forthcoming album Hypnotic Nights, which is schedule to be released July 24 on Warner Records. The highlight of their set was the final song that lasted nearly 10 minutes. To say the song was epic is a serious understatement. The crowd was completely transfixed watching the Orrall brothers play off one another’s cues and enter their own world. By the end of their set, JEFF the Brotherhood left the crowd wanting more, proving yet again that they are a force to be reckoned with and that we have a lot to look forward to from these two brothers in the future.
Next was Best Coast. The band’s sun drenched, melodic tunes seemed to win over the crowd for the most part. Yet, 20 minutes into their 90-minute set, the audience seemed to start to wane. Best Coast played their new album The Only Place in its entirety which was ambitious and tiring. After a while, one song seemed to blend into another and the set began to lose its luster. It’s not to say that Bethany Cosentino hasn’t grown as a songwriter but choosing to play as much of the new material that they did back to back seemed a bit overwhelming and lacked variety. Yet, just when you thought you were about to give up hope, Best Coast came back for an encore with songs from 2010’s Crazy For You. Crowd favorites like ‘The Sun Was High’, ‘When I’m With You’ and ‘Boyfriend’ quickly rejuvenated the audience by transporting us back to those lazy summers, being wild and free with your friends. But what the audience wasn’t prepared for was their cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Storms’. This truly showcased Costenino’s vocal abilities.
At the end of the night Bethany Costenino has become somewhat of a heroine for teens and the twenty-something’s age range. She’s the every-girl. Lyrics about pinning away for boys, feelings of alienation and insecurities about one’s looks and intelligence resonates deep with a lot of Best Coast fans. It seems the band is trying to move beyond their catchy innocuous bedroom pop sounds that made them popular to begin with and move towards a more mature sound. Yet unfortunately, The Only Place seems to leave the listeners feeling a bit underwhelmed.
Best Coast has a tour filled summer covering a majority of the US, a few dates in Canada and even a leg of shows overseas. (see tour dates below)
May 30 St Louis Firebird
June 1 Dallas Granada
June 2 Houston Free Press Fest
June 3 Austin Chaos in Tejas
June 16 Glasgow Garage
June 17 Manchester HMV Ritz
June 18 Birmingham Academy
June 20 London SBE
June 21 Brighton Coalition
June 22 Isle of Wight Festival
June 24 Orion Music Festival with Metallica, Bader Field Atlantic City NJ
July 9 Orlando The Social
July 10 Miami Grand Central
July 12 Atlanta Variety
July 13 Carrboro Cats Cradle
July 14 Wash DC 9:30 Club
July 16 Philly Union Transfer
July 17 New York Terminal 5
July 18 Boston Royale
July 20 Montreal Le National
July 21 Toronto Phoenix
July 23 Columbus Newport Music Hall
July 24 Cleveland Beachland Ballroom
July 25 Madison Majestic Theater
July 27 Chicago Vic Theatre
July 28 Minneapolis Sound Town Festival
Posted on 12 October 2011 by Bethany Smith
It’s been ages since Taking Back Sunday has been through Kansas, so it was little surprise that Taking Back Sunday‘s Saturday show at the Granada Theater in Lawrence was a big party. A really big homecoming party. Though Taking Back Sunday is generally recognized as a New York band, guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist John Nolan spent many years calling Lawrence home and there is just something extra special about hometown and local shows.
Starting this party of a show off was Boston’s Bad Rabbits. They’re a bit of a wild card for this tour. While tourmates Taking Back Sunday and The Maine fall into the alternative rock genre, Bad Rabbits perform soulful hip hop…wild cards. Long lines kept Midcoast Station from hearing the full set (and getting photos), but despite the unexpected Michael Jackson-esque sound we walked in on, we had fun. There were a few confused faces that seemed unsure what to do with this surprise transportation to a disco club when rock was expected, but there were also plenty of people dancing along.
Arizona five-piece The Maine kept up the party atmosphere, but transitioned The Granada back into a rock club. Like Bad Rabbits, the Maine made sure people kept on dancing, but to a different genre. The Maine kicked the energy up another notch as they enthusiastically ran around the stage and bantered with the audience. Many of their tunes were upbeat, fast tempo rock songs similar to bands such as All Time Low and The Summer Set. The fast tempos kept the audience amped for the headliners, but it was the slower ballads that allowed The Maine to excel: “Into Your Arms” and newer song “Don’t Give Up on Us” were some of the most captivating moments of the set.
Taking Back Sunday’s return to the original Tell All Your Friends line-up could have been a disaster – after all, different guys wrote and performed three albums after Nolan and Shaun Cooper’s departure. What would this line-up mean for those songs? Would the band’s charisma be what it was? How would this sound? Fortunately, any anxieties were swept away with the first note. From the time that Taking Back Sunday finally took to the stage with “El Paso” until the encore of “There’s No ‘I’ in Team,” Lawrence was in non-stop singalong mode. Even some older, lesser performed numbers such as “Your Own Disaster,” “Ghost Man on Third” and “Bike Scene” had plenty of people singing along. Tell All Your Friends was rightfully spotlighted during this show, but the band still played plenty of songs from the other albums to keep later fans happy (though fans of New Again might have been a little disappointed). The band must have been feeling confident in Lawrence because they ventured to test out a few songs they hadn’t really been planning on performing. “Existentialism on Prom Night” was replaced at last second to surprise the audience with a special acoustic performance “Your Own Disaster” from just Adam (guitar/vocals) and John (keyboard/vocals). “Ghost Man on Third” was later added as a surprise dedication to Taking Back Sunday’s merch guy, Chris.
The music sounded great, but what really made this show was the band’s interactions. Singer Adam Lazarra tried to share an anecdote with the audience, but drummer Mark O’Connell kept joking around and playing over him. We never found out where Adam was going with the story, but it was fun to see the whole band breakdown in laughter. Taking Back Sunday looked like they were having a genuinely good time on stage that night. It’s really special to see guys that have been performing in various respects since 1999 still having fun on stage.
These might have been old faces, but there was a new breath of life to them. This show was a refreshing good revisit to the music and musicians we all fell in love with ten years ago. A perfect homecoming.
The Maine Set List:
Ice Cave
My Heroine
Right Girl
Listen to Your Heart
Into Your Arms
Every Road
We’ll All Be
Don’t Give Up on Us
We All Roll Along
Inside of You
Taking Back Sunday Set List:
El Paso
Error Operator
You Know How I Do
Faith (When I Let You Down)
Liar (It Takes One to Know One)
Bike Scene
One-Eighty by Summer
(Existentialism on Prom Night) Your Own Disaster
What’s It Feel Like to Be a Ghost
A Decade Under the Influence
This Is All Now
You’re So Last Summer
(Timberwolves at New Jersey) Ghost Man on Third
You Got Me
MakeDamnSure
Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut from the Team)
///
There’s No ‘I’ in Team
Copyright © Midcoast Station.Original News Theme by 
.
