The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 306

For my metal peeps, somebody at work told me to check out a band called Avatar. Is it worth checking out ?

 

Yes

 

I'll do it ! They seem to be pretty influenced by Alice Cooper due to the face paint, so yeah I think I'll like it ha.

 

I'm not massively into their style, but for what they do, they seem better than most I have heard so I would say give them a go.

 

CMCS CONCERT REVIEW:

Last night I went to see Andrew McMahon on the Pen and the Piano Tour. He played at Anthology in Rochester, and I was lucky enough to meet up with @MegT585 and @disambigujason . The cool thing about the tour is that it’s billed as “an evening with” and there were no openers. However, he did play with 3 other musicians, Zac Clark, Bob Oxblood, and Allen Stone. They were all given opportunities to not only play with him, but also play their own original songs as well, sometimes accompanied by Andrew, sometimes not.

The show started with the Mister Rogers Theme Song being played as the lights were dim. The stage setup was setup like a living room, and Andrew came out by himself smiling, and reenacting the Mister Rogers opening, removing his sweater and smiling at the audience. He walked over to stage right and went into a fantastic version of “Love And Great Buildings” It was just his vocals, and the synth, which kicked off a very intimate night of music. He continued on playing some well-known songs for anyone who knows Andrew, “I’m Ready”(Jack’s Mannequin) and “Punk Rock Princess” He then said that he was going to play a song he doesn’t play often. I assumed he just says this every night, but he did indeed play a song he hadn’t played yet on this tour “Hammers and Strings” which is a top 5 Jacks Mannequin song for me.

After playing an intimate version of one of my favorite Jack’s Mannequin songs, the “doorbell” rang and he answered the door. Zac Clark then accompanied him on piano for a couple of songs off of the first Andrew and the Wilderness record. Then, Bob Oxblood joined them after a couple of songs as well. Bob Oxblood has been playing on and off with Andrew since Something Corporate, so it was cool to see him perform with Andrew still after all of these years. After a couple of Jack’s songs, and “As You Sleep” off of North(my favorite Andrew release) he gave the two of them and opportunity to play some of their original songs while he went to “walk the dog” which consisted of him taking a picture of a dog off of the wall, and walking out the door with it. Zac and Bob were both talented in their own way. Zac had more of a folky voice, whereas Bob had a softer more acoustic vibe to him similar to the likes of say Dashboard Confessional.

Andrew returned and played some more classics including “Swim” “Woke Up In A Car” and an incredible version of “Maps For The Getaway” where he came front and center, as Zac played the synth part. It was another incredible, stripped down intimate version of my favorite song he has done with the Wilderness moniker. It was at this point that Allen Stone made his first appearance on the stage, and it was clear from the start that this man had by far the most incredible voice in the show. He absolutely stunned the crowd as he went through some original songs, some by himself, some with Bob, and some with Zac too. When Andrew returned to the stage, he said “since we’re all here, should we do this” before going into the song that probably got the biggest reaction(predictably) from the crowd “Dark Blue” A couple of songs later he played “La La Lie” which also got a big response from the crowd with a lot of crowd participation in the chorus of the song. They then exited the stage prior to the encore.

The encore began with just Andrew and Bob coming out to play “Restless Dream” Before the song he gave the background of how he was asked to write the song for a Channing Tatum movie, but that it didn’t end up making the cut, when the director tried to get him to flip flop the chorus and bridge of the song. They then went into a cover of “Summer Breeze” before bringing Allen and Zac back to complete the set with “Cecilia and the Satellite” and “Holiday From Real” The version of “Holiday From Real” was one of the highlights with just Andrew on piano, and the other 3 singing harmonies in the background.

Andrew was very positive and open throughput the night, speaking optimistically and reflecting on his hard times with Leukemia, even making jokes about the time period, and telling hilarious stories. One of my favorite things he said last night that hit me hard was “no matter what you’re going through at this period in your life, whatever struggles you’re going through in your life, you were able to buy a ticket tonight and come sing songs with strangers in this room” I also loved how when he went from "The Resolution" to "As You Sleep" he said "the nice thing about going through a career defining night, is I can go from a song about surviving a weird time in my life, to a song about missing a girlfriend" If it hasn’t come through your town yet, go see this tour! @KidLightning , does this sound similar to your experience in Chicago?

 

Awesome review - I would have loved to have caught this show but Boston sold out so quickly I didn't have a chance to grab tickets. It's awesome to see someone else with North at the top of the heap as well.

 

Awesome review!!! It sounds like an incredible setlist and definitely a unique live experience :)

 

So so awesome. I've seen Andrew probably close to 10 times over the years, so I wasn't planning on going to this, but when I heard what a unique and career-spanning show it was I rushed to get tickets. Going this Sunday and I couldn't be more excited, especially after reading this review!

 

Amazing concert review and I am so envious I didn’t catch their Nashville date. Sounds like an amazing night!

 

Pretty much! Except no Hammers and Strings. Did Allen Stone do a weird bit through the window as the ghost of Babe Ruth?

 

Haha yes he did. It was funny, and extremely random. Babe Ruth convinced him to play "Ohio" haha because Babe Ruth "knows all about the hits"

 

I want to see Ohio live that song has become super personal to me

 

But you ditched Ohio, bro :/

 

I moved away out of necessity for a clean start and my mental health.

 

Just giving you a hard time ;)

 

I know I’m very behind on my reviews (I have about 6 if you count this week). Things got busy, but I WILL have them done by week’s end, including this week’s

 

Just a reminder to all active CMCS members that the catch up week is half over as of today. If you have outstanding reviews this is your chance to do them without added reviews

Active
@skurt
@jorbjorb
@Mary V
@iCarly Rae Jepsen
@skurt
@Kiana
@js977
@broken22
@Micool1
@Larry David
@JRGComedy
@AlwaysEvolving21
@Patterns in Traffic
@nickyeatworld
@broken22 @Nate_Johnson @teebs41 @SaveTheEarth @Colin Your Enthusiasm @cshadows2887 @Davjs @ugman_2000 @highfidelity203 @SamLevi11 @anonimito @mad @CSWAPPO @jorbjorb
@Night_Sky
@Mr. Serotonin

 

Been using my Discover Weekly today and yesterday and discovered some cool new bands, so that should help me with suggestions here!

 

I am also going to Post next week’s session a day or so early to allow for everyone to get used to coming back to the club full swing, and also to give you guys a day or two extra.

CMCS PAIRING
(06/11-06/18)

@Bad Frequencies // @Night_Sky

@Nate_Johnson // @Larry David

@bachna84 // @CSWAPPO

@JRGComedy // @skurt

@Micool1 // @nickyeatworld

@jorbjorb // @Patterns in Traffic

@anonimito // @Kiana

@cshadows2887 // @SamLevi11

@broken22 // @disambigujason

@Mary V // @ugman_2000

@Nate_Johnson // @highfidelity203

Did I forget you or you want in?? Let me know!

 

If anyone here doesn't know Microwave, expect to get them soon, on a major kick of their discography lately.

 

Hey Kev I’ll have to skip the next 2 weeks (after the one you just posted). I’m off on holiday for a bit so I won’t have time to listen to anything/have no idea if I’ll have the internet. I’ll remind you nearer the time but thought I’d give you a heads up.

 

Mine can wait if you’re wanting to prioritise mate, I still haven’t got round to listening to Conditions more than once yet as I’ve had a week from hell.

 

Can confirm this occurred as written. Can also confirm @Larry David is real. And a swell dude. Not quite how he appears on tv.

Who is this?

 

Finally giving this Stonefield album a listen. This ish rocks @Bad Frequencies @Mary V