When My Dad Died the Worms Ate Out Both His Eyes

So Julio had this little contest where he offered up 2 tickets and a 7″ featuring Manchester Orchestra covering an Annuals song on one side, and Annuals covering a Manchester Orchestra song on the other. Two people responded, and neither of them sent Julio their name and address so, since Julio knew I knew one of the responders, he just put the tickets under my name and asked me if I could go and tell him how it was. I could, so I did, and it was awesome.

With my friend Dana tagging along, we arrived at the Hi-Dive a little after 7:15, just barely missing the end of Kevin Devine‘s set. I was personally rather bummed we missed it, but, surprisingly, I didn’t over hear anyone talking about how awesome he was. If you’d like to see for yourself, check out his myspace here, or, if his page isn’t working for you like it’s not working for me, check his purevolume page. His stuff is really rather great.

The New Frontiers was the next band on stage. They had a sort of alt. country (think Blitzen Trapper), feel good 90’s alt. rock (3 Doors Down), slightly orchestral indie (Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s), slightly Christian pop rock (think Switchfoot), minutely U2ish feeling to them. Yeah, I know that’s a lot of bands to kind of sound like, but, unfortunately, The New Frontiers weren’t really interesting enough to think of as their own entity. Really, the highlight of their set was when the guitar player started playing like Munaf Rayani (or is it Mark Smith?), which is admirable in one sense, but kind of sad in another. Maybe they’ll be more interesting next time.

So, for me, the show really started when Manchester Orchestra took the stage. I’ve been a big fan of Manchester Orchestra (in spirit) for a while. What I mean by that is every time I’ve come across one of their songs, I’ve promptly downloaded it, and rocked it in my earphones for a few minutes, listening and re-listening a few times, every so often returning to it. But other than that I didn’t find it necessary to track down more tunes. After this show, I find it necessary. The set started out with Andy Hull, lead singer, slowly plucking his guitar, each note ringing out over the (momentarily) silent crowd like a lost lamb in an empty field. Hull’s haunting voice breaks the spell only to cast another, his vocals evoking feelings of remorse and complete solitude, cracking in ways Daniel Johnston would be proud of. Hull, with this one song, displayed for all of the Hi-Dive an inner pain that he can’t seem to get rid of by singing his own therapeutic songs in bars every other night. His sunken eyes gazing off into the distance as the last note rings out, he turns around and retreats to the back of the stage. Then the band strikes up with a vicious ferocity, Hull surging back to the microphone, screaming lyrics at the ghosts that haunt him. From then on the band continued their musical onslaught, driving guitar riffs, coupled with some of the most intricate bass playing I’ve ever seen, charging the crowd to shake around Quaker style. It seemed as though everyone around me knew every lyric to every song. The climax of the set occurred when the main drummer and axillary drummer for Annuals came on stage, got out some of their drums, and started banging away to the beat. After an exhausting 40 or so minutes, everyone except for Hull left the stage, Hull closing the set much like he opened he opened it. Manchester Orchestra came to rock their demons out … I sure hope they had as much fun in their exercising as I did witnessing the exorcism.

Manchester Orchestra – Sleeper 1972
Manchester Orchestra – Slow to Learn
Manchester Orchestra – Now That You’re Home
Manchester Orchestra – Play It Again, Sam! You Don’t Have Any Feathers

After Hull left the stage, the complicated Annuals set up began. After an epoch, Annuals took the stage and, wasting no time, broke into song. This was the second time I’d seen the Annuals, and I honestly didn’t remember them being as fun as they were this night, which is not to say they were the most fun ever, but that they have certainly grown. Drumline style beats juxtaposed with feel good guitar rhythms and, again, rather complicated baselines, Annuals brought to mind various poetic images. Seeing them live is like watching spring turn to summer on the television. They play songs to coax late blooming flowers to finally wake up. Okay enough of that haha. The crowd didn’t seem to be as into Annuals as they were for Manchester, with people either filling the bar or filing out before or during Annuals set, or just standing around and attempting to talk over the sound of the band. Regardless, Annuals felt the love enough to say that we were the best crowd they’d had all tour, and, for that, we asked them to do an encore, which they happily did.

Annuals – Complete, or Completing
Annuals – Nah Keseyl
Annuals – Sewn to Kites

So yeah, seeing the Dave Matthews Band of indie rock (Annuals) for the second time wasn’t too bad, but definitely not as fun as seeing the powerhouse that is Manchester Orchestra.