Thursday, April 18, 2013

Concert Review: Westchester United Football Club and Matt Mays

I read something recently about a fan tweeting a musician upset that they were playing new songs instead of songs from the album, which offended the musician greatly, because he felt they were lucky to be hearing new things. (It wasn’t someone I listen to, and I have forgotten the name.)
As exciting as hearing new things is, I kind of get where the fan was coming from, because processing the previously unheard in a concert, with all of the distractions, is kind of hard. Live versions of the songs you know sound different, but there is still a familiarity that helps you comprehend what you are hearing.
That is a big part of why I have been trying to prep on opening bands too, lately, and I really did try for this show. The Gaslight Anthem had re-tweeted something from Westchester United Football Club, so I knew it was them, and they didn’t have a lot of songs available, but hey, that made it easy, and then seeing them live combined with the two songs on Facebook would give me enough for a decent review. It did not work out at all the way I expected.
First of all, from listening two the two songs on Facebook, Westchester seemed like a good match with Gaslight Anthem. I’ll call it chord-rich blue collar rock. “Pillow Talk” reminds me a bit of the Clash version of “I Fought the Law”.
When I walked in, though, it was one guy with a guitar doing an acoustic set, and it sounded nothing like what I had been listening to. I thought perhaps it had been a mistake, but no, the name was right. I was able to talk to him after the show, and something came up where they couldn’t get everyone’s schedules together, so he was improvising.
I was hoping I could pick up a CD, and have more to go on, but they don’t have one. They will be releasing more songs in July, as a free download, and so that’s something to look forward to, but for now, I can’t tell you a lot about their music really. As a band, I can tell you that if they are supposed to put on a show, they will put on a show, even if that requires significant restructuring, and I admire that. I hope they do well.
I will make one criticism, in that I think there name is overly complicated, and brings up a lot of wrong results in searches, so that may be something to think about.
In some ways it may have been good that they did not have the entire football club, because that stage was small, and pretty full with the equipment for just two bands. There was another band.
Matt Mays actually has a fairly extensive discography on Spotify, so I could have prepped a lot there, but I did not know about him. Opening bands are often changed around at the last minute, and that’s just how it goes, but I try to give them their due. So, I have not listened to everything by him, but a sampling, and I have seen him play. “Take It On Faith” is probably my favorite. Overall, I would say there is a sort of a 70’s rock influence as it was coming into the 80’s, with maybe some Blue Oyster Cult Influence, but kind of with 38 Special. I could be way off.
So, my first impression when they came on is that they didn’t seem like a band. Okay, it is a vocalist with a band supporting him, but they did not seem cohesive. In the center, Matt himself seemed a little grungy. On the right, two guitar players seemed a little more rockabilly, and then on the left a keyboard player and drummer, were maybe more indie rock. Actually, I didn’t get a good look at the drummer until they were clearing off, as the cymbal was blocking his face. It was a nice face though. And the keyboardist looked really familiar, but I could never place him.
Anyway, the initial impression was that they didn’t really belong together perhaps, and Mays was explaining that they keep trying to find a name for the band, but nothing sticks. That night they were The Burger Family, but the night before it was Chewbacca’s Sash. Well, that just confirmed the lack of cohesion to me, but they played really well, and they seemed to be enjoying themselves for all that, and this is despite issues like a cable coming out of the keyboard three times. So I was curious about that, and did some more research, and found out that they just lost their guitar player less than a month ago.
If something happens with my family or me, I have time off I can pull from. I have people who can cover my work load, and supervisors who will make sure that it happens. Musicians don’t get that. Things can go catastrophically wrong, and you can disappoint people, and you can lose pay, and you can run into penalties for defaulting on contracts. And you could decide to just deal with that to take time to grieve, or you can decide to take the proceeds and donate it to his children, which is what they’re doing. I really want them to do well too.
 “The show must go on!” We hear that so often that it feels like just a cliché, but Tuesday night it was remarkably real and vital. Two acts had to reconfigure and make it work, and they did. I find it inspiring.
https://twitter.com/MattMays

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