SWITCHFOOT + ATHLETE

Okay, here is the concert review you've been waiting for. Last Friday at the House of Blues on Decatur Street in New Orleans, my friends and I had our faces rocked off by the bands Athlete and Switchfoot.

I had heard very little music by Athlete, so I didn't know what to expect. I was shocked at how much I enjoyed this Brit-pop quartet. Ingenious. I almost enjoyed the opening act they put on than the later Switchfoot gig, which is what I came to see. They sound like the bands Keane and Coldplay intertwined with an added kiss of electronica to spice things up. Lots of piano, synthesizers, turntables, and this weird tube like thing that you can rub your hands around and it makes squeaky noises. (A poor description I know). The singer's voice was incredible; it has at times an almost stubborn sound to it that usually blends into a sort of crooning in the choruses. There were moments of guitar frenzy and more mellow riffs. All-in-all it was beautiful rock n' roll, and I missed these guys as soon as they left the stage. (They even called a security guard up to "play" the "squeaky" thing to show the audience how easy it was!) They played about a 30-45 minute set.

Enter Switchfoot to deafening cheers. I had been waiting a LOOOONG time for this moment. My friend and I were convinced they would open the gig with "Stars," the rock monster single from their latest album Nothing is Sound. Surprisingly they open with none other than the soft, beautiful and barely audible ballad "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine." It was amazing, because Jon Foreman started off strumming his acoustic and of course the song builds to a crescendo. That way he worked the crowd into a frenzy into the next song, none other than "Stars." The setlist went something like this:

The Shadow Proves the Sunshine
Stars
This is Your Life
More Than Fine
Happy is a Yuppie Word
Lonely Nation
The Blues
Easier Than Love
Politicians
Awakening (new song)
Dare You to Move
Bob Dylan song
On Fire
24
Gone
We Are One Tonight
Ammunition

Daisy
Meant to Live

What can I say, other than the band lived up to its much hyped-up live performance I've always heard so much about and salivated over. They go between moments of great tenderness and extreme frenzy, i.e. Jon jumping off the bass drum and Tim jumping around with his bass. Jerome alternated often between the keyboard on the side to joining his brothers armed with guitars to rock out to the likes of a "Meant to Live" or "Politicians." Jon is a much more soft-spoken guy than I anticipated but does his fair share of yelling, joke-telling, and crowd-walking. Very emotional live performance without the stigma of "emo." It's what I expected from listening to all 5 of their albums, which I own: music and lyrics without fluff, that get to the heart of deep-seated thinking, theological and philosophical. Good music you can close your eyes and feel surging through your veins.

I jumped around and pumped my fist a lot, bumping into the irritated guy behind me a lot. I, like all the other fans, did my best to drown out the band by faithfully singing the lyrics I knew so well. One awesome thing is the way the guys both achieve effects from the album in a live setting and rework the songs live, as well. For example, in "This is Your Life," Jon bent over and sang into his electric guitar to create a weird voice-effect in-between verses. "Lonely" Nation had an extended atmospheric intro. "Awakening," a new song, included lyrics like "I want to wake up kicking and screaming...bleeding", it sounded like a comparison of natural birth to a "new birth" Christian experience. This song had a "The Setting Sun" country feel to it, as Jon played electric guitar and blew his harmonica simultaneously. "Dare You to Move" was all acoustic until the second verse. "On Fire" was a little more "rock-ish" than the album version. "We Are One Tonight" was probably the best song they did...very impressive. "Ammunition" had the most rock n' roll quality to it. "Daisy" was beautiful in the encore, followed by the mandatory "Meant to Live," which ended with Jon coaxing the audience to softly sing "We were meant to live..." as Jerome played the keyboard.

An amazing show, two great bands. I must say the House of Blues' ambiance was nice as well. The light show was brilliant. Hooray.