Something Like Sound

Walking into the Fillmore Auditorium for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised at the elegant and spacious interior of the venue that is in stark contrast to its modest exterior.  My awe at the sheer size and sophistication of the Fillmore was the first of many that would come in what can only be described as a superb night of music.

Opening the night was the Austin, Texas based group Brazos.  Full of sweeping lyrics, upbeat rhythms, and at times, African sounding drums and maracas, the group entertained the audience throughout its whole set list of original sounding tunes.

After a grueling 45 minute sound check, The National finally took the stage to the erupting applause of the packed auditorium.  Led by vocalist Matt Berninger, who is a natural baritone, the music produced by The National was refreshing to say the least.  With the band accompanied by a duet brass section composed of a trumpet and a trombone, each song was musically stuffed with sounds that put the recorded music to shame.  The fan following of The National was incredibly apparent by the sound of a thousand voices singing along to every song, with “Mr. November” being the climax of the night.  The set list was nearly perfect and concluded with a profound acoustic, unplugged version of “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks” with much audience participation.  The night was summed up for me in the words of an exiting fan: “just a brilliant show.”

Long Island-based Brand New is one of those groups that cannot be easily described in words or photos. Rather than simply putting on a concert, a Brand New show is more of a full-body experience. Hardcore fans scream every lyric as they push and claw their way to be near the stage. The music pounding out of the speakers is not quite the same as the emo-tinged anthems of years gone by, it is more raw, it is more free, it is brand new.

With their newest record, Daisy, Brand New toured the U.S. this past fall with the support of Atlanta-based Manchester Orchestra. Unfortunately for concertgoers in Salt Lake City and Denver those dates were postponed due to illness. Saturday night, nearly four months after the original date, Brand New returned to Denver.

The momentum of the evening really began to pick up when Manchester Orchestra took the stage. For a brief moment I thought I had been transported back to the early 90’s, to a Nirvana concert. However, the lyrics I heard were not reminiscent of nihilistic teenage angst, but rather turned out to be deep and thought-provoking. “Where Have You Been” is always the highlight of a M.O. set, and that night’s performance was no exception. Toward the end of the song (on the big build-up part) they had 4 drummers going simultaneously; it was a sight to see and a sound to (literally) feel.

I was unsure what to expect from Brand New. This particular show was my third time seeing them, and I anticipated they would play heavily from Daisy. Much to my surprise front-man Jesse Lacey started the set with “Soco Amaretto Lime,” a soft number from 2001’s Your Favorite Weapon.

From then on they pulled out all the stops. With each song the crowd never appeared to grow weary despite singing/yelling along and a generous amount of “rocking out.” Highlights included “Sic Transit Gloria (Glory Fades)” going straight in to “The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows” and set closers “Jude Law and a Semester Abroad” and “Seventy Times 7.”

Looking back on the night as a whole I can say confidently that this was the best performance I have seen from Brand New. While they did showcase quite a bit of their new material (“Vices” was my personal favorite from that bunch), the group stayed true to their roots and fan base. For anyone who is unfamiliar with Brand New, go out listen to 2003’s Deja Entendu, the record that introduced me to their unique style and caused me to fall in love with their live set.

To see the full sets of photos from the show check out these two galleries: Set 1 | Set 2

Photo courtesy Joe McCabe from Kreative Kontrol / Denver Post Reverb

“I don’t blog about dates,” said Tim to start off our night. In his stead, I get to tell you guys about the Plain White T’s and Snow Patrol and the show they played last night at the Fillmore. In addition to not blogging about dates, he also doesn’t take pictures at dates. Therefore, I’ll keep this short since there are no pics to keep your interest.

First up was the Plain White T’s. The most memorable part of their set was that it wasn’t memorable at all, with the exception of the always popular “Hey There Delilah.” The only group of people more motionless than the band was the crowd. They played as energetically as they could while staring at their shoes. The set was a hit with the middle school crowd, which was not so prevalent at this 16+ show. After hitting every radio single from the last 4 years, they quietly left without much hesitation from the crowd.

Quickly shifting gears from the unremarkable set, Snow Patrol came out to the excited crowd with “If There’s a Rocket Tie Me To It.” However, thanks to some several technical problems that completely cut out the bass guitarist, they apologized and walked off stage, promising to come back out as if nothing happened. A few minutes later, they continued their show without glitch. About half the show came from A Hundred Million Suns, an album we rated here as the 9th best album of 2008. They managed to play all the songs I was hoping for, including “Chasing Cars” and “Crack the Shutters.” Finally, for their encore, they played the three-song combination of “Lightning Strike,” followed by another song that I forgot. They played an extra 20 minutes on top of their 50 minute set. In all, Snow Patrol put on a lively show with brilliant lighting and kept the crowd energetic through the end. Remember Snow Patrol on your next date night.