Show Review

I've seen The Juliana Theory and Anberlin before, and I was excited to see them again as well as uprising Bayside and Number One Fan, two bands who are destined for increased attention this year. The lineup was pretty solid, and I wasn't disappointed in the least.

Number One Fan took the stage and rocked out, playing favorites like "It's Happening" and "Come On" from their CD that is going to be re-released with new art soon, "Compromises." Their music was pretty mellow for the most part, but the band had consistent energy and accuracy to meet up with it. They also seemed to impress the crowd, who were all either singing along or at least enjoying themselves.

Bayside's latest release has been opening ears everywhere, and while it took a few releases for them to catch on, I think they've finally found their sound. They had a solid live sound, minus the guitarist/singer's guitar problems. I was impressed with his consistent riffage and vocal combination, which looked complex. He did a great job and despite his troubles made up for it with a solid set of mostly new material (that's what we all wanted to hear anyways).

Though I'd seen Anberlin headline and, to be honest, wasn't very impressed, I figured I'd give them a second chance. They didn't regain my interest this time either, however, and I was equally disappointed. Though the guitars and stage energy were right on, the singer just had a crapload of trouble hitting higher notes and he just didn't pull it off as well as it sounds recorded. Oh well. There are a ton of bands who are more consistent in the studio, so I could understand; just wasn't impressed with their live performance.

Finally, The Juliana Theory took the stage. I was similarly disappointed with them last time, just because the singer had a little trouble it seemed, but my worries were erased the second they started rocking out. They played a suprisingly limited setlist of new material, and while they played a couple old songs, I wanted to hear more of Emotion Is Dead and even their Music From Another Room EP (from which they played no songs). I think those two releases were easily their strongest, and was just a little confused at their choice of songs. Even their closer, which I wasn't even sure I recognized, was almost dull. I wanted to hear "White Days," "Understand The Dream Is Over," "This Is The End Of Your Life," "Moments," or even "Everything," all of which were skipped. I don't think it was smart of them to ignore their EP, but that's just me. And regardless, the singer did an awesome job this time, hitting all the notes and not pulling the mic away (*cough, Anberlin). They had an intense performance that me and some dudes made more interesting by screaming along and really starting the crowd energy that night; so that might've contributed some to my fun as well.

All it goes to show: the more fun you make out of something, the more fun it is. Even so, this show would've been a great one no matter what; so go check it out.

review by Andrew Martin