11/16/2011 Manchester Orchestra @ The National

Venue: The National
Location: Richmond, VA
Time: 7:00pm (doors 6:30pm)
Tickets: 16.00 (+ fees), 19.00 (+ fees) day of show
Openers: The Dear Hunter and White Denim
Headliner: Manchester Orchestra

Overall, this was a fun show. Taken in parts, the evening resembled a good, meh, good sandwich.. with beards. A lot of beards. The band members and audience members sported facial hair that would bring out the jealous streak of Grizzly Adams himself. I realize November is "Noshavember/Novembeard" but something tells me these hairy men enjoy the bush year round (innuendo not intended, but funny none the less).

The Dear Hunter

Set List

Better late than never, The Dear Hunter, started up around 7:40pm and played through a short 6 song set primarily from the collection of EP's that make up The Color Spectrum. Bearded front man, Casey Crescenzo, started the night with "We've Got a Score to Settle" from Red EP and continued through other color EP's from the album including "Misplaced Devotion" and my favorite "This Body".

"He Said He Had a Story" from the the band's third full length album Act III:Life and Death told a brief story about a brief moment with a prostitute. I liked the building energy of this one but the lyrics and chiming in of the other members felt awkward.

If you like Manchester Orchestra, then you're likely to enjoy The Dear Hunter. Check out the newest release from The Dear Hunter: The Color Spectrum as well as the collector editions of each EP aptly named one of eight colors.

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White Denim

No Set List

The sound check should have given me a clue as to what awaited me over the next 45 minutes when

bassist Steven Terebecki motioned stage right to up something several times before being satisfied with a hair rattling bass chord. As the band started up I stood prepared to jot down a few lyrics, as I typically do, and take a few notes on crowd reaction. This lasted through what I think was either one very long song or a couple songs strung together. Drums, guitar, and bass sounds smashed together and screeched through the venue with little in the way of lyrics, but the lack of lyrics may have been due to the mics not working. I couldn't hear back up vocals from Terebecki and could barely make out singing from front man James Patralli.

I gave up on a set list and notes 20 minutes into the set. Loud music is a must, I agree, but loud for the sake of loud isn't. Any subtle rhythm changes or band flavor was lost for me in the hum and rattle of the bass and guitar. The crowd from the middle back appeared disinterested and talked amongst themselves.

However, I did check out a song or two from their MySpace (yes, it still exists) and I can see why fans love them. If you enjoy jam bands with songs that last for days, check them out. Newest release, D, can be found here.

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Manchester Orchestra

Set List

I've seen Manchester Orchestra once before and I'll just say it didn't go well. The music? Great. The tolerance for asshat fans? Not so great which lead to a dismissal of everyone. But moving on... I wanted to see them again to hopefully get the show I didn't get before. I think I did. Sort of.

Singer, Andy Hull, started the set with "Pride" and rolled into "April Fool". Fans jumped and danced near the front while fans further back bobbed their heads with stoic appreciation. A line of guys on the balcony danced with excited enthusiasm. Each song wrung out crisp and clean with keyboardists (and air drummer) Chris Freeman chair moshing. I'm always afraid he's going to bash his head on the keyboard.

A hilarious "50 Cent" may have started the evening on a path to destruction as just two songs later Hull lost his place in "I Can Barely Breathe" and brought the song to a halt mid word. After a few apologies and a few supportive shouts from fans, Hull picked up where he stopped and finished the song. Somewhere after their most recent hit "Simple Math", Hull announced there would be no encore as they'd already messed up the evening. He said they would just play until they were done and that would be it. The crowd applauded, but it felt like a sudden decision to get off the stage as quickly as possible.

The 17 song set (short for a headliner) ended with "Turn Out the Lights" in which each band member disappeared during the song. The somber lyrics wafted over the crowd who either didn't know the song or would rather not have ended with the evening with "I hope you die. I hope we both die..."

Anyone seen Manchester Orchestra before or elsewhere? Is there always something awkward or something that stops the flow of the show?

You can pick up the most recent release Simple Math here as well as past releases.