Apparently the last time we reviewed Jack’s Mannequin, which was complete with pictures of Andrew McMahon‘s fresh ‘stache, we caused one of the worst days of his life. No, seriously, he actually said this during a pre-show set for the radio station, 96.5 The Buzz. Well, Andrew, no worries, this show review of the Night the Buzz Stole Christmas won’t call you a porn star again. Besides, McMahon’s just sporting a little grizzle right now, so that really isn’t enough to start any gossip. I guess we’ll just have to focus on the music for this review.
Since this was a radio show, there was a bit more of Everything in Transit than what has been done at other shows on the recent Hammers and Strings Tour. There were also more paper planes than what have been at recent shows. Perhaps, McMahon’s been getting into M.I.A. lately and this has created an urge to throw paper.
Kicking off with “Crashin” followed by “The Mixed Tape” it was clear that the band already had the crowd fired up. With their high energy, the crowd channeled it toward singing “Fuck Yeah” boisterously on “Holiday From Real”.
McMahon slowed things down for “Annie, Use Your Telescope”, a song he describes as “pure sex.” I must admit as he solidly held “oooh” in the word “scope,” that it was a little sexy. Following this number was “Spinning”, which just isn’t the same without Stacy Clark on backing vocals. Although, Bobby Raw really rocks the guitar on it live.
After all these new songs in a row, they went back to EIT and played “Kill the Messenger”. This is already an amazing song, but when McMahon went into the extended ending and started singing, “I watched it pour. Poured on Kansas City,” followed by a new piano variation that effortlessly led into “Dark Blue”, it was pure gold. I love how McMahon does these variations, so that no matter what, there is always something new at a Jack’s Mannequin show.
The electronic “Bloodshot” came next and with the freedom to stomp around to this number, McMahon took advantage of his time away from the piano to reach out to the audience and climb on the piano. As I watched McMahon bounce around the stage, I almost missed that the rest of the band had started cleverly warping other melodies into the ending jam of this song. I believe I caught hints of “Kill the Messenger”, “Dark Blue” and “Crashin”.
After the last few more raucous numbers, the set took a more serious turn as the band described life on the road in “Hammers and Strings”. They followed with a “I’m Ready” and “Bruised”, both of which seemed a little off in the harmonies, and then finally came one of the most moving songs in the set: “Swim”. This is the song that helped McMahon get through his struggles with leukemia. As he poured his heart into this song, much to my dismay, a few crowd surfers sprang up. Crowd surfing is fine, but this song was simply not the time to do it. A mildly shrieky “The Resolution” fittingly followed “Swim”. Jack’s Mannequin closed the set with the upbeat “La La Lie”. There’s nothing like a little harmonica action to end a set.
They weren’t planning an encore with this being a radio show, but the crowd wasn’t finished with the band, so they came out and played a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire”. After the rocking “La La Lie”, this song seemed stripped and I would have almost guessed it to be acoustic if I didn’t see the plugged in electric guitars right in front of my face. They finally ended the show with both parts of “Made For Each Other”. As a fun bonus, a little cover of U2‘s “With or Without You” was mixed into “Pt 2: You Can Breathe”. Even with all these variation loops he throws at the crowd, people were singing along every step of the way. McMahon has crowd control down to a science. With a toss of yet another paper airplane, the show was over.
So, there was no moustache and, for the first time that I’ve seen them live, there was no Something Corporate cover, but it was still a fun time and a great sounding set.
In fact, I’d almost venture saying that with a sold out venue and the line up of Jack’s Mannequin, Eagles of Death Metal, Anberlin, The Gaslight Anthem and The Airborne Toxic Event, that this was the best The Night the Buzz Stole Christmas to date.
Set list:
Crashin
Mixed Tape
Holiday From Real
Annie Use Your Telescope
Spinning
Kill the Messenger
Dark Blue
Bloodshot
Hammers and Strings
I’m Ready
Bruised
Swim
The Resolution
La La Lie
\\
I’m on Fire (Bruce Springsteen)
Made for Each Other: Pt 1 MFEO / Pt 2 You Can Breathe (with a little U2 “With or Without You”)
Jack’s Mannequin: website | myspace | interview with: pt 1 | interview with: pt 2 | Glass Passenger review | Omaha show review
Written by: Bethany
