Live Towson?: Say Anything/Manchester Orchestra @ The Recher Theatre

April 2, 2008 by stephanie  Send to a Friend

While living two years in Washington DC, I have only managed to trek up to Maryland once before, last year when I drove up to Baltimore with my best friend from high and two random girls from Craigslist to see Brand New at Rams Head Live. Somehow though, last week, I wound up in Baltimore twice and then on Sunday went back to Maryland to see Say Anything and company in Towson. How that happens, I have no idea. I do have a theory about Maryland though, after visiting it so much this week. It is the state of hot boys and ugly girls. I mean, really fugly. It made me think that I could pick up any guy I wanted in the room even if I was wearing no make-up and hadn’t shaved my legs in weeks. Thoughts anyone? (By the way, I don’t condone not shaving your legs, ladies. That is just fucking gross.)

Opening the show at Recher, which for those that haven’t been there is tinier than I would have thought for such a big show and looks pretty bare on the inside. Black Cat would be the equivalent in capacity, but is hands down a MUCH better venue. Anyways, so the first act was Weatherbox, an awkward indie-rock quartet from San Diego, CA. They debuted a new line-up at the show, although I do feel that they have a new lineup each time they play. More members of this band quit or left than I can keep track. New band name- Brian Warren and some temporary dudes. I am pleasantly surprised that the band got through their full set, especially since you can tell how fucked up most of them looked onstage (aka Brian). Remember, hugs not drugs kids. I used to work for the band’s label, Doghouse Records, and I will say that despite all the crap I can say about this band, such as the fact that the sole reason they are on the tour is because they are friends with Say Anything, they have a really tight live set (seeing them perform “Armed to the Teeth” will make you a converter) and are truly talented. It is hard for this band to fit just one type of mold. Weatherbox is just one of those bands that for reasons unknown, people should know who they are, but they never quite caught on no matter how many times Alternative Press praises them and spoon feeds them to those bruised and beaten emos. It was pretty funny at the end of their set list when the band continued to repeat “Weatherbox” over and over. They were probably trying to make the crowd remember the name of their band.

Next up was Biffy Clyro. The three piece outfit couldn’t fill the stage, but they had a big musical presence regardless of the strength of Recher’s speakers. As the singer opened his mouth, I instantly thought I was listening to Dave Grohl and Brandon Boyd’s love child… if the kid had fetal alcohol syndrome. At least the band is Scottish though, so they get a little more credit for the overseas factor. If they were American, you know they would still be jamming out in some type of storage garage. I can’t still quite wrap my finger around how they got on the tour, except the idea that the British end of their label bought in with pounds. A shitty American economy is helping bands. Go figure.

As their set progressed, the band started to grow on me, but they still aren’t anything too special. They might have been better suited for playing a smaller venue. If the publicist hadn’t jammed their album down my throat months prior, I most likely would have had a more positive first reaction, as hypocritical as that may sound. The only aspect of their live set that really stood out to me was a varying vocal harmony towards the end of their set. It was creepy, yet still quite beautiful, and caught my attention enough to look up from taking notes on my phone shitting on the band.

Then Manchester Orchestra hit the stage. Each time I see them perform (Sunday was the fourth time I believe) they put on a better live show. As singer Andy Hull struck the first chord to “Wolves at Night” the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I began to prepare for the typical patented “indie sway” I was about to break into. Last year, this band was one of the most buzzed about up and coming acts and their emotional driven melodic rock warrants the attention. Mix one part Color Revolt, a pinch of Brand New and a few heaping servings of Credence Clearwater and you got the musical equivalence of Atlanta’s Manchester Orchestra. My favorite part about this band, however, is sadly, not the music, but the boys themselves. They are some of the nicest guys I have ever met and have the best facial hair. Hull’s beard could put any Amish man’s, possibly named Yohan, in Lancaster to shame. It makes all the ladies go crazy down at the yard.

I was surprised to hear a good amount singing along to the songs with me in the crowd. You could tell that the crowd had gotten hooked on the band after being blown away from their performances opening up Brand New and Saves the Day as well as their solo show in DC at The Hotel a few months ago. It just proves that another band on the bill brought out kids to the show and that not everyone in attendance was there to worship at the Jewish altar of Max Bemis and Say Anything.

As the band played the breathy and powerful “Where Have You Been?” you cannot help but feel put under a spell that is so utterly captivating it is impossible to look away or stop listening. It truly is a definitive song for the band and for the genre as simple as it may sound. As the final chorus is repeated at the end of the song, the stage lights turn down and Hull screams into the crowd sounding as if he is about to break down. This is one band that are musicians first and foremost and don’t need stupid gimmicks to grasp people’s attention.

As Manchester began to break down their setup, kids bum rushed the stage to get as close as possible to the front. Don’t you remember doing that at shows? Ha, how endearing these youngins are.

Once Say Anything took the stage, I swear kids just shit themselves. NSYNC could have been onstage for all I knew. I haven’t seen such excitement from a crowd in awhile. I didn’t even know this band had become such a big deal. When the fuck did this happen? I bet a lot of you reading this don’t even know who the hell Say Anything.

Once the intro of their latest album, In Defense of the Genre, stopped playing, the band broke out in “Skinny Mean Man” the original first single off the successful major label debut of the California. For a band that has a rock edge mixed with hooks comparable to hooks I couldn’t help but laugh to see singer Max Bemis get into a power stance as he began to sing. From that point on it was pretty difficult to take him seriously since he looks about as un-metal as physically possible. The band then broke out into their new single “Shiksa,” which they just shot the music video for a few days before. For a band that seemed to have matured their sound with the new album, this really is the most utterly ridiculous song they have written. It’s even worse that “Wow, I’m Sexual Too” (which I will make fun of later on) due to the overly simplistic middle school lyrical repetition of “I have a girlfriend now/No way no how” along with garage band worthy riffs. It is the type of song that sounds like they dusted it off from their early days and slapped it onto the album as a quick filler.

Reading my notes I can’t help but laugh. I wrote down “Jeff = way hott.” How embarrassing, although he really is.

The band then tried to slow things down with a cover of the Smashing Pumpkins song, “Stand Inside Your Love.” It was a pretty shitty cover. You could barely hear Bemis and the crowd of tweens and bros couldn’t get into it because they obviously didn’t know the words. Word of advice guys- try covering something that has already been ruined by a far shittier band.

Right afterwards they played THE song. The ringing telephone intro signaled a tumultuous roar from the crowd as they anticipated the ultimate drunk sing along, “Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too.” I really cannot even begin to describe what is wrong with this song. From the nonsensical lyrics to the fact that 14 year old girls are screaming and dancing along to a song about a female having fun with herself boggles my mind. Do they even know what the words “masturbate” and “the rabbit” mean at that age? At least, I hope they don’t.

At that point, I really had to get out of there. Towson is a lot farther out from the city than I originally though and I was spent (probably from the intense orgasm I received from the last song. Yeah, ok) so I left. Maybe the rest of the show was better, although I doubt it.

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