As a reviewer of the music, constantly exposed to all walks of bands, sometimes you just need to rock it out. Sometimes you just need that show that will leave you faceless, sweating from every crevass and ears blown. Now granted, having been a previous fan, I knew this show would be good. But I had NO idea it would be THAT good. Therefore, when the fellas of Manchester Orchestra recently took the stage in Kansas City they proceeded to fill the need – the need for Rock ‘n Roll.
Being that it was the first stop on their headlining tour, naturally there were a few – well – kinks, to work out. A touch of difficulty in the monitors and a dash of feedback from the mics were just minor hiccups in the night. But from the first song “April Fool,” the night was set at a high octane. The songs’ classic rock elements including: a lead guitar piercing through with its hip note progressions, a bass that keeps an ever-so-slight groove going and vocals full of raw energy – are the elements that got this crowd officially kicking.
The set list rolled through selections from not only the new album Simple Math, but also I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child and their previous success story Mean Everything To Nothing. A stand out from the “older” songs was “Now That You’re Home.” The brutal transitions between the soft melodic verses and the slashing guitar breaks that fell in the normal chorus slots, kept each head in that place methodically banging.
Another selection off the new album was the pep-fest found in “Pensacola.” The tone of this song almost sounded like a parody of an actual song. The eagerness in each musician was easy to see. And the vocals were similar to that of a cheerleader’s chant, while the repetitive chipper drum beats only furthered the slightly odd nature of the song.
After a pause or two to connect (individually) with the audience, the set shifted back to an “oldie-but-goodie.” Even though “Colly Strings” doesn’t initially come off as a song of the same potential that the rest of the night had, you simply have to give it a moment. Eventually a combination of dramatic drums beats and long, drawn out strums, gave the sense of tears shedding for the bands’ rock ballad. Sure the tempo gradually breaks out and vocals are grabbed from a little lower in the gut, but, in general, the song remains at some level of “ballad-ness,” and an excellent example of the pure talent on stage that night.
A few numbers off Mean Everything To Nothing finished off the traditional set. And after the “we’re-gonna-walk-off-stage-just-to-come-back-in-two-minutes” break, we were met with dance hit “Shake It Out.” Seriously, in the live environment, that’s what this song was. Similar to the energy found with Taking Back Sunday, this song is extremely quick and extremely fun. The lead guitar pretty much sticks to the same 3-4 notes, but those notes are done with such insanity, it begs the question why you’d need more. Complete with an angry scream in the latter half of the song, it was a perfect selection to keep the crowd awake.
“Are you guys ok if we don’t play ‘Friends’”? This question was met with a mixture of boos and hoots. Even the band couldn’t figure what the audience wanted to do. Regardless, if you’re a band at that level, you pretty much know you have to play your hit from your prior album, whether you really want to or not. And they did. It was awesome.
The set was supposed to end with “Simple Math” (per the setlist I snapped a shot of), but instead they ran out of time and left the evening with a cover and the song: “Where Have You Been?” Because of this, they left the sounds of my new favorite Manchester song ringing in my ears. As a fan of the slightly darker, more alternative bands, this song fit perfectly. From the eerie ween of the guitar in the beginning, to the harmonizing vocals set in the bass octave, the entire song was anything but cheery. But it was the predominant guitar part, with its chord progression set at the top of the neck, that carried the entire 4 min and 28 seconds. And still repeats in my head.
After this show I could only come to one conclusion – I’ve been listening to the wrong Manchester Orchestra songs this entire time!
