Show Review

When I saw Anathallo last, we drove a sweaty 3 hours late in the summer to see the band play a small ELKS club. Ordinarily, The ELKS is a white-collar gentleman’s club. My Grandfather is a member of this “prestigious” club, for example, and the fact that there was a show here alone seemed a bit skeptical. Thoughts like, “is this a real show?” and “are Anathallo REALLY coming?” went through my head as we finally pulled up to the dirty, shanty club. The parking lot was consumed with local kids who looked like they just got out of the tryouts for the next From First To Last, and the dusty, hole in the wall venue eventually made for an incredibly exquisite, perfect performance. Truly, Anathallo were meant to be seen in such a fashion—intimate and close, and with very few people there.

Anyways, back to the story. This night, Ticker Tape Parade, June, Anathallo, and The Format were playing my favorite venue The Troubadour. Admittedly, I couldn’t have been more excited for this show and even backed out on some other pressing activities for the weekend to attend it. So when Ticker Tape Parade came on and a cute drunken girl stumbled a few feet to ask me to buy her drinks I was a little confused and disturbed at the coincidence—I mean how many times had this happened before? It was almost ironic—I can’t count how many times I’d been utterly bored at seeing a band live and would’ve wished such a distraction on myself before, but the one time I wanted to watch the wonderful, mid-90’s style pop from Ticker Tape Parade I was, well, distracted.

Needless to say, this pleasant distraction didn’t take away from the wonderful melodies and energy of Ticker Tape Parade (I could hear out of one ear, right?). Playing methodical but wonderfully driven pop anthems from their first formal LP, which was being sold for the first time on this tour, I immediately cast aside the fact that they are friends with the Format (and with that the thought that the friendship was the only reason the band was on the tour). I’ve followed this band for some time now, and am a bit appalled at the fact that they are unsigned, but have to also admit that their lack of signage/availability (which prevented me from buying the record until that night) built up a bit of excitement. Needless to say, the LP is amazing, and if you are into any mid-to-late 90’s pop bands like early Jimmy Eat World, Solea, or Texas Is The Reason, you will love the smooth but edgy rock that is Ticker Tape Parade.

Anathallo was setting the stage for what would be another eerie, polyphonic jam session. With the expected barrage of instruments (xylophones, marching-band style bass drums, tambourines) was a surprise—a female singer was in attendance to broodingly chant with the band on the epic jams from their debut, “Floating World.” This band recently acquired some management with Nettwerk, an enormous management company—and their album which is the predecessor of several EP’s will be distributed under their own label, “Artist Friendship,” via Sony/BMG distribution. Needless to say, I think it’s expected that the multi-tasking of the many members of Anathallo blew many of the people in the crowd away, and once again the singer brought about a somber, delicate mood on the crowd, without restraining his voice once. The countless rhythm changes in tempo and brutal display of talent were vastly evident in the way each member of the band held their own part—whether it be clapping, stomping, playing the xylophone, or even just dancing along, Anathallo really have their sound down to a science. And it’s a beautiful thing to see a band who has refused multiple attempts to sign—especially at such a young age. Anathallo demonstrate the overwhelming talent of a band who are pioneers of the independent music whirlwind, and on stage have a way of presenting themselves that is truly their own.

Next up were Victory’s June (thanks Heather), who were playing an assortment of energetic, vibrant jams from their latest full-length, “If You Speak Any Faster.” Indisputably, they had their sound down, with simple dual-vocal attacks and booming bass and drums, and they sounded most like a little more jittery Fall Out Boy. Most reminiscent of some bands I dig like A Small Victory and even Panic! At The Disco, June’s set was admittedly lacking really anything accentuating. The two singers battled back and forth, and while their dancey energy was certainly interesting to watch (and the thumping of the drums in the title track of their album “If You Speak Any Faster”) it certainly also wasn’t anything to really remember. I’m certainly into their album but think that overall, the crowd tonight won’t be nearly as excited as the crowd will be on their upcoming tour with more in-tune bands with their nature Valencia, Just Surrender, and even The Junior Varsity. Quite simply put, it seemed most of the fans of this crowd were just running with a different crowd.

As The Format took the stage, a nervous excitement descended upon the crowd. I’m certainly a huge fan of their single, as well as a few scattered tracks on their now old record, “Interventions And Lullabies.” The last time I saw the Format, I was impressed with their performance, especially vocally—and tonight was no different. Their singer seemed to have a way of keeping the crowd interested and had a positive attitude, which is always something to appreciate, and key mentions of their set included the bouncy performance of “Tie The Rope” or the wonderfully somber “On Your Porch.” However, the highlight of their set was, as expected, the simultaneous clapping-along with “The First Single” and the overall excitement as the band played some songs for the first time ever from their upcoming full-length, “Dog Problems,” which it seemed many kids new the words to already.

Even despite the adventurous, random night I had meeting some new faces and truly having an encounter I won’t forget any time soon, musically, this tour is not one you will want to miss. Not like you will anyways—apparently there was a 3-hour line of people waiting to buy last minute tickets to the already sold out show.

review by Andrew Martin