Show Review

Recently, a friend at their promotion company offered me the new disc from The Honorary Title called, “Scream And Light Up The Sky,” and since I got it I really can’t stop spinning it. It’s filled with so much melody and harmony—not to mention lyrical prowess—that it’s hard not to like. Needless to say, I was extremely excited to see them play, and knowing I’d seen Minus The Bear literally at least 8 times before tonight, I knew it was going to be a good night.

Every once in awhile, I’ll jam the Chin Up Chin Up record—and find myself liking it and almost getting to the point of loving it. I was pretty stoked to see them, and they put on a set that was pretty much what I was expecting—technically interesting but vocally pretty boring. I know that’s what they’re going for, but I’m just not sure it’s my sort of thing. They were really solid though, and really sounded tight despite their complex, mathy song structures.

As The Honorary Title took the stage, the crowd was noticeably indifferent—but I rushed as close as I could get and was immediately stoked to hear them open with one of my favorite songs from their upcoming LP. They played a ton of the new songs, in fact, and I was happy to see the singer was able to really hit some of the high ranging notes on point. Truly, the band was actually quite impressive, vocally, and the backups were almost as enticing as the main singer’s voice. They played a scattered few from their most recent release, “Anything Else But The Truth,” but unfortunately didn’t play my favorite “Frame By Frame.” Still, judging from the way the band composed and played the songs from the new record, I think people are really going to turn heads at these guys in 2007.

Finally, Minus The Bear took the stage and as expected, everyone went absolutely nuts. I think most of us had seen the band before, and when the band started playing a few select tracks from the forthcoming, soon-to-be epic “Planet Of Ice,” everyone started jumping for joy. As usual, something I love about Minus The Bear shows is the consistent energy coming from the crowd and the positive vibe everyone gets. It’s like a rave without the crappy music—everyone was dancing and singing along like they didn’t care if anyone was watching. I think at the end of every Minus The Bear show (and this one was no different) I leave with a resonating, “Yeah, that’s what this is all about” kind of vibe. And for that I love this band.

If you still have a chance to check out this tour, I strongly advise to do it. I had an amazing time.

review by Andrew Martin