It’s all crazy! It’s all a dream! It’s alright and it’s all in a concert that made yet another amazing night in Lawrence, Ks. If you couldn’t figure out from that terrible attempt at a pun in my lede, the concert was MeWithoutYou’s tour with the Dear Hunter and Kay Kay and the Weathered Underground.
Seattle’s Kay Kay and the Weathered Underground just appeared on my radar that day. Early in the morning, I heard one of the radio DJs talking about how this was one of her favorite bands and I was surprised that the local radio was able to talk about a band of which even I had never heard. Then to my pleasant surprise, that same band happened to be playing the show I was attending. With nine people on stage all on unique instruments such as tuba, cello, trumpet, bass, violin and more, they reminded me of Broken Social Scene, at least in appearance. Yet, once the collective started playing, they made it apparent that they harken more toward a rock group like Queen than an experimental rock group like BSS. That isn’t to say they weren’t adventurous musically, because they were, but I think the Queen comparison was just more of their component. At one point half the members even started doing a clap, clap, hop, which I viewed as their equivalent of the same action matching “We will, we will, rock you.” Their sound is kind of like that vaudevillian rock that Panic! At the Disco was striving for, but Kay Kay accomplished with a bit more grace.
Continuing a very theatrical evening, Dear Hunter followed with their big Act project telling the story of a man from birth to death. In the story, after his mother’s death, the boy attempts to learn more about her by going to a whore house like one she used to work in. There he falls in love with a prostitute, but can’t come to terms with her way of life. The next act follows more tough decisions as the world is ravaged by a World War and the man must decide what his role must be. It is a big project, and when it comes to concept work, it can be difficult to do justice to the piece as a whole when you are limited by time constraints, but Casey Crescenzo was more than up to the challenge. The cinematic music reminded me of Explosions in the Sky, and it alone was more than expressive enough to tell the story, but fortunately the band isn’t simply instrumental because then we’d miss out on Crescenzo’s passionate vocals and the story in his lyrics. Many of the songs came from the band’s newest album that came out just over a week ago, Act III: Life and Death.
MeWithoutYou also told stories in their set, but their presentation was quite different from the other acts. Their most recent release has a bit more of a singer songwriter sort of vibe and with a set that featured hanging laundry, they had a bit more of a gentler vibe. But once Aaron Weiss and company actually took to the stage, they exploded into a fit of energy and jumped around and violently struck their chords in a passionate fit that you wouldn’t expect from a group inspired by Bob Dylan. Weiss’s distinctive voice blended with the audience in a harmony that is rare because it depends on the audience knowing all your songs as perfectly as this crowd did. The band delivered a lengthy set, which may be common from the group when they’re acting as a headliner, but it may also be them acting obligingly since they are taking a sort of “hiatus” after this tour. With their witty metaphors, lessons and passion, hopefully the break won’t last too long. At least the Weiss brothers will keep the music alive in some smaller tours of their own.
Set List:
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Goodbye I
Tie Me Up Untie Me
Every Thought a Thought of You
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Son of a Widow
The Fox, the Crow and the Cookie
C-Minor
Timothy Hay
January 1979
The King Beetle on a Coconut Estate
O’ Porcupine
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Cattail Down
Allah Allah Allah
In a Sweater Poorly Knit
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