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It is past two in the morning and I just got back from a concert in Boston. One of my goals this year was to go see either Pedro the Lion, or Starflyer 59. When I went to look them up on the internet, to see if they had any shows coming up, I realized that not only were they both going to be playing in Boston, but that they were touring together. For the price of one ticket, I got to see two of the bands that I have always wanted to see. Even better, the tickets were only 12 dollars.
So tonight was the big night, I piled in a van with some other random people whom I had met through someone that knew someone that knew that they were going to the concert and had room to take me. We arrived early, as to get a nice spot close to the stage, but we arrived (as far as I am concerned) way to early, because the concert started over half an hour late so we were standing around for over an hour. Once the concert got underway everything was fine.
Starflyer opened for Pedro. They were actually better than expected. Dont get me wrong, on CD (except for their last one ) they are phenomenal. However, half their fun is their intimate feel, with Jason Martin's whisper singing. Another thing that I wondered how he would accomplish was the use of synthesizers and layering that he usually has on his albums. Despite all of that, he pulled off a decent show. He played guitar and sang in typical "shoegazer" fashion, no kinetic emotion.... with eyes closed or staring (as the music style name implies) at the floor. Meanwhile the drummer went crazy, mixing and melding with the dirty distorted or echoic clean guitar. And that was it. Yep, a guitar and a drum set. Then they had some loops and tracks that played over their music. That is not only hard to do, but it limits your improvisation, and therefore chance for self expression. Considering all that, and the fact that they are more of a studio band anyway, I think they did a killer job.
Then came Pedro, whom everyone had really gone to see. David Bazan and his band came on and began playing their stuff, mostly new songs from the "Achilles Heel" CD. That was cool except that strangely I had not listened to it much, and knew more of their older stuff from CDs like "control" and "It's hard to find a friend." I had heard a lot of hype about them live, and I have to admit for the most part they did not live up to it. As the concert went on the did much better though, especially when they started doing their older stuff (which is more driven and less upbeat than their new CD). What was amazing was how together they were. They sounded much like the CD, and David Bazan's voice works really well on stage.
One funny thing was that in the middle of the concert the fire alarm went off. The clubs up here in the north are very strict about the fire stuff, because two years ago 20 people died in a fire in at a concert in Rhode Island. So right as Pedro was in the middle of a song, lights started flashing and we could hear a loud "beeeep, beeeeep" resonating through the hall. Then we all filed out onto the street. We waited there for a while and then went back inside. I think that everyone was actually more refreshed with that little intermission, including the band. They played well after that.
I think what I enjoyed as much as anything was seeing how real the guys were though. Both bands were very cool, and the band members were very very down to earth, always talking to people and being very "real." It was rewarding to see that the honesty that comes through on Pedro's CDs is a real thing. Jason Martin, from starflyer, was also a really cool guy, who didnt mind talking to fans and joking around with them outside the concert. That made me happy. I will keep buying their stuff and listening to their music for a while to come.
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