This review only covers their Friday night show (International Day at CSM, aka “the tastiest day of the year” was Saturday, so that show was not covered). The concert had a rather odd lineup: the progressive rock Titan Courageous, the heavy metal To Be Eaten, and finally the indie-pop-with-a-horn-section Hearts of Palm. While the other groups had personal connections to the headliners, it certainly made for a bit of a weird lineup.As Hearts of Palm took the stage a fog machine began to fill the space with smoke; flood lights illuminated the stage and the 9-person band (which consisted of at least 3 Till brothers) filled the stage to capacity. Playing through a few of their more upbeat numbers at the beginning of the set, singer Nathan McGarvey kept saying, “Alright, we’ve got one more for you” (even just 2 songs in).

The crowd quickly warmed up and began to sing along with the classic H.o.P. tunes “No Water” and “Happier.” It was certainly a family affair as Stephen Till took the time to thank his parents, especially his mother, who “birthed about half of the people on stage.” Similar to the EAoD farewell a few weeks ago, Nathan&Stephen played through every song they had ever recorded and released. While they did not necessarily need to reunite for a farewell show, everyone on hand greatly appreciated the opportunity to see Hearts of Palm say a proper good-bye.

As a special treat and addendum to this review, Something Like Sound is proud to partner with KVDU to present a previously un-released acoustic session with Hearts of Palm, recorded in November of 2008. The radio-set even features a couple songs that were never formally released, so this is a must-download for any H.o.P. fan.

Download “Hearts of Palm – Live at KVDU – 11/13/2008″

Tracklist:

1. Like You Don’t Care

2. Give “em Hell

3. Be Okay

4. Happier

5. Tip Your Glasses

6. Little Squares of Paper

7. Tunnel of Love

Special thanks to Eric Peterson for hooking us up with that. Also, be sure to check out Lance’s recording from the second night over at The Flat Response.