This past two
weeks I have had the pleasure of seeing four amazing bands live: Opeth, Relient
K, Foals, and Of Monsters and Men. The usually concert has me reviewing one
concert all the way including the openers. However this week I’m not going to
do that mostly because I couldn’t decide which one or even two I wanted to
cover so this week I’m going to cover all four bands. That’s right, you heard
correctly. I won’t talk about the openers, just the headliners all four of
them.
First off Opeth,
the metal band from Sweden. I saw them May 15th at Wooly’s in Des
Moines. Opeth played close to two hours and only twelve songs so that should
already show you what kind of show this was. They are a metal band but they
spent a large portion of the show showing off their musical diversity playing
several ballads, psychedelic jams, and acoustic instrumentals. When they
brought the metal though they really brought it. There were mosh pits all
around through the show, and some of the friendliest pits I’ve ever been apart
of. The energy was through the roof,
whenever the singer wasn’t singing he was interacting with the crowd and being
the late night host of the evening. The crowd was one of the best and most
responsive crowds I have ever seen with people coming from all over the state
of Iowa to see Opeth first ever Iowa show. The band is a group of excellent
musicians that show off their talents, with their expertise of their genre and
instruments. I highly recommend that any metal fan check this band out.
Opeth- Blackwater Park Live
Next up Relient K, the Christian rock main
staple. I was Relient K at Wooly’s on May 18th. This is just one of
those shows where the fans just suck., you feel like you have to go home and
wash yourself of the fan base, that by liking them you have unfortunately
become a part of. The band finally comes on after several bad openers and
reminds me of why I was there in the first place blasting out three hits in a
row. The band gave all they had energy
wise and the singer throws out some crazy high range yelling that sounds great.
The music was fun and the band was good, but the crowd sucked. They looked so
bored during it, you could have easily forgot that they had paid to go to the
show. They are a light Christian rock staple with a lot of hits to their name.
They play them well to a terribly unresponsive crowd chalked full of pre teens
who only know “Be My Escape”. Go see them for the music, but be warned that is
what the crowd is like.
Relient K- Be My Escape Live
Then we have
Foals, the hipster up and coming math rock sensation. I saw Foals on the 20th
of May in Minneapolis at First Avenue. This is one of those bands that is way
less popular then they should be. They are fun on CD but live they are a
monstrous epic spectacular event. That’s right three adjectives you know I mean
business. I dare you to find a more energetic in your face edgy band. They jump
into the crowd and start dance pits, they jump off the second floor balcony on
to the stage. The lead singer is a true rock star more upset by his hair
getting touched then his legs from jumping down off the second story balcony.
They give the music such a life that it doesn’t have on CD, bringing out a drum
to play along with the drummer and the whole band goes into percussion
breakdown mode, before the singer dives into the crowd. This was one of the
best shows I have seen in a very long time. I would consider this band a must
see.
Foals- Inhaler Live
Lastly we have Of
Monsters and Men, a band from Iceland that is destined to become the next
Mumford and Sons. I saw Of Monsters and Men in Kansas City at the Crossroads on
May 21st. This was a different kind of show then I have ever seen
before. I have seen folk bands before but those bands had taken the approach to
make the songs louder, livelier, and bigger. This band didn’t do that at all.
They played 1920’sesqe European music while they were setting the stage. It
lulled everyone into a sleepy time tea mood. Then they came on and played the
music exactly like it is on CD. It was more of a sit back and sway, or sit on a
carpet and drink wine type of show. The music was beautifully performed and
they played the whole CD live plus a couple extras and that was it. It was
short, sweet, and straight to the point. I liked the show it just wasn’t what I
expected. I had never been to a show that was quite that laid back before. The
closest I had come was Spoon at Lollapalooza. It was music just for the music
nothing else, and I liked it.
Of Monsters and Men- Little Talks Live
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