Saltair Pavilion - Magna, UT - 11/01/11
On this magical night at The Great Saltair Pavilion I think I saw two of the best sounding and solid performances I have seen in a long time. The first being Manchester Orchestra and the next being the almighty Thrice. I guess there was some sort of mega-show that night with the Pac Tour (Manchester Orchestra , The Dear Hunter and White Denim) combining forces with Thrice's tour featuring Moving Mountains, La Dispute, O'Brother. So for the price of $27 at the door I basically got two shows for the price of one. It was kind of like the Wapred Tour except cold and with less annoying bands and the show was indoors (so actually nothing like the Warped Tour).
I arrived a bit late and in the middle of some bands set, not knowing who exactly was playing yet. There were a shit load of openers on the line up so I was not quite sure who I was watching. After observing a few songs I decided that the bass player was cool and he had an awesome beard, the band did some cool sound effects but they lacked intensity in their performance. Come to find out it was The Dear Hunter a band which I thought I hated, but after their set I realized I could tolerate them.
I guess I also missed the first two band sets. The first being Moving Mountains, which I was I glad I missed because after reviewing their newest album I have pretty much decided that they are weak (see review here). I did miss O'Brother and according to all accounts I missed a good performance and their drummer was bad (upon further research I am bummed that I missed them, maybe next time).
Next up after Dear Hunter was La Dispute and they were fucking terrible. If Fugazi and The Hanson Brothers had an intense group orgy it would spawn these scrawny blonde headed junior high looking dudes. The were two main problem with these guys: the first being the bland ass post hardcore music, the second was the singer that spent every song doing this strange Geoff Rickley / Against Me! type bark. But there was one entertaining aspect about their set which was the strange Micro Machine Man type mumbling the singer did in between songs. So ridiculous.
After the post-hardcore Hansons were done up came White Denim. These dudes were nuts. They're basically this strange mutation of The Mars Votla mixed with Creedence Clearwater with the shredding prowess of Maps & Atlases. Apparently this is the band that all the other bands admire because at some point during their four song jammed out set at least one member form the other six bands could be seen standing at the side of the stage admiring their proged out country roots action.
Second to last was Manchester Orchestra which everyone in the crowd seemed extremely stoked about. This is a band that everyone is always bugging me to check out but I have never got around to listening to. After seeing them live I am now a converted follower and I curse myself for not having listened to the advice given to me by my peers. The are a few simple and important things I feel like I need to share about Manchester Orchestra's live show and they are: great intensity, superb mix with really low end bass and kick drum and the front man is super dynamic and engaging. Amazing performance.
Finally last up was Thrice. This is a band I haven't seen live since they opened up for Deftones in 2003. Having not seen them in a while is not from lack of effort. I have tried several times and either had something come up last minute or shown up to late into their set. These guys are badass live and after all the years they have spent together as a band they still bring energy, if you look at each individual member you can tell that they really believe in and enjoy the music they play. Bodacious set. Plus they played my favorite two songs "Firebreather" and "The Earth Will Shake".
The night was definitely worth the $27 and I even found some new bands to check out which is always a good time. All the bad ass video clips were taken by my buddy Isaac. Go to his youtube channel or else.
Pic source: http://thechordprogression.wordpress.com/2011/11/
On this magical night at The Great Saltair Pavilion I think I saw two of the best sounding and solid performances I have seen in a long time. The first being Manchester Orchestra and the next being the almighty Thrice. I guess there was some sort of mega-show that night with the Pac Tour (Manchester Orchestra , The Dear Hunter and White Denim) combining forces with Thrice's tour featuring Moving Mountains, La Dispute, O'Brother. So for the price of $27 at the door I basically got two shows for the price of one. It was kind of like the Wapred Tour except cold and with less annoying bands and the show was indoors (so actually nothing like the Warped Tour).
I arrived a bit late and in the middle of some bands set, not knowing who exactly was playing yet. There were a shit load of openers on the line up so I was not quite sure who I was watching. After observing a few songs I decided that the bass player was cool and he had an awesome beard, the band did some cool sound effects but they lacked intensity in their performance. Come to find out it was The Dear Hunter a band which I thought I hated, but after their set I realized I could tolerate them.
I guess I also missed the first two band sets. The first being Moving Mountains, which I was I glad I missed because after reviewing their newest album I have pretty much decided that they are weak (see review here). I did miss O'Brother and according to all accounts I missed a good performance and their drummer was bad (upon further research I am bummed that I missed them, maybe next time).
Next up after Dear Hunter was La Dispute and they were fucking terrible. If Fugazi and The Hanson Brothers had an intense group orgy it would spawn these scrawny blonde headed junior high looking dudes. The were two main problem with these guys: the first being the bland ass post hardcore music, the second was the singer that spent every song doing this strange Geoff Rickley / Against Me! type bark. But there was one entertaining aspect about their set which was the strange Micro Machine Man type mumbling the singer did in between songs. So ridiculous.
After the post-hardcore Hansons were done up came White Denim. These dudes were nuts. They're basically this strange mutation of The Mars Votla mixed with Creedence Clearwater with the shredding prowess of Maps & Atlases. Apparently this is the band that all the other bands admire because at some point during their four song jammed out set at least one member form the other six bands could be seen standing at the side of the stage admiring their proged out country roots action.
Second to last was Manchester Orchestra which everyone in the crowd seemed extremely stoked about. This is a band that everyone is always bugging me to check out but I have never got around to listening to. After seeing them live I am now a converted follower and I curse myself for not having listened to the advice given to me by my peers. The are a few simple and important things I feel like I need to share about Manchester Orchestra's live show and they are: great intensity, superb mix with really low end bass and kick drum and the front man is super dynamic and engaging. Amazing performance.
Finally last up was Thrice. This is a band I haven't seen live since they opened up for Deftones in 2003. Having not seen them in a while is not from lack of effort. I have tried several times and either had something come up last minute or shown up to late into their set. These guys are badass live and after all the years they have spent together as a band they still bring energy, if you look at each individual member you can tell that they really believe in and enjoy the music they play. Bodacious set. Plus they played my favorite two songs "Firebreather" and "The Earth Will Shake".
Pic source: http://thechordprogression.wordpress.com/2011/11/
