[...music...]: underoath + thursday @ metropolis

2011-02-15

about a month or two ago, i saw the show listing for underoath playing at the metropolis, with thursday as one of the guests, but i did not plan on going to the show for an opening band. then, two weeks ago, i noticed the finer print on the tour poster indicating that thursday were playing "full collapse" in its entirety in celebration of its tenth anniversary. this is one of my favourite albums of all time, so there was no way i'd miss this.

i went to the show last night. it was immediately apparent that this was not my scene. while waiting in line before the show, people around me were young, and talking about all these bands i'd never heard of, but sound like emo/screamo/hardcore stuff, judging by the band names.

first openers were animals as leaders. wow. a math-y instrumental prog band, without the wankery. they played eight-string guitars, showing off technique. at one point, guitarist tosin abasi played on the neck of the instrument, and it sounded like keyboards; cool effect. as a new listener, it was slightly hard to follow, with all the mid-song switching and unusual time signatures. to me, they sounded like a heavier version of all the post-rock stuff i listen to, so i really enjoyed this set.

next band was a skylit drive. ugh, a skinny-white-boy band, with more style than substance. they were like a boy band (there was the blonde, the dirty blonde, the redhead, the light brunette, the dark brunette, and the dyed black-haired crazy one), with their carefully slashed jeans, the perfectly rehearsed posturing and synchronized jumping. i wondered who their target audience was. oh right, the 14-year-old girls standing behind me who sang along to all the songs. i definitely felt too old for that.

then, it was thursday. their show about a year ago at the foufs was pretty good, so i was really excited to hear "full collapse" played live. it turned out slightly disappointing; i must have been standing at a bad spot for sound, because the vocals were completely drowned out. the energy level was high, and the band really gave their all on stage, but i did not hear any of the vocals. the guy standing next to me made fun of the fact that we saw rickly's lips move, but with no sound. damn.

at least, i heard when he introduced "standing on the edge of summer" as "easy listening". well, i guess it qualifies; it is the "ballad" of the album.

after playing "full collapse", they played a new song, "turnpike divides", from the upcoming album. hard to judge if it sounded good. even though i'm not a super big thursday fan, i always find a couple of songs to like on each album, so i'll probably end up getting the new one.

i stuck around to hear what underoath is about. their sound was meh, and their lights were blinding me. i left after the second song.

~~~

Labels: a skylit drive, animals as leaders, metropolis, shows, thursday, underoath

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