Friday, June 07, 2013

Concert Review: Farewell, My Love


Okay, we are starting with Farewell, My Love, and whether I finish covering the rest of the show next week, or require additional time, I will figure out as I go.
The first thing I need to acknowledge is that whoever is running the band's Twitter did a pretty good job. When they first followed me, and I followed back, I was sometimes a little irritated by the multiple rounds of messages encouraging me to follow each of the band's individual members and to check out their video, and to ask who was coming to what shows. Now I have to admit that it worked.
Obviously, I did end up seeing a show that I could go to, and getting a ticket. I did end up watching the video. More than any of that, though, even before I gave in and followed each member, I had each one connected with a name and a picture in my mind. Therefore, as I was on the floor waiting for them to come on, and they would wander around, I was having these flashes of recognition: Oh, that's Röbby. There's Logan.
It helps that they have such distinctive hairstyles (well, Charlee and Chad have kind of similar hair), but mainly it was those dramatic photos, sent out many times. Chomp Chomp Attack! followed me shortly after, so I have been following them for about the same amount of time, but I had no visual image of them. It may seem unimportant, but that kind of connection increases the fans' investment in the band.
That being said, the strongest impression from seeing them wandering around was how much younger and, well, maybe smaller isn't the right word. More vulnerable? Anyway, they definitely looked younger, which makes me wonder how young they would look without the hair and makeup.
The show itself was pretty good. The sets were all pretty short, so it was just a few songs and then they were gone, but it was nice seeing the interplay, and there were things that were interesting about it. For example, guitarist Logan Thayer walks and poses for pictures with the swagger of a frontman, but on stage he is all about the guitar, which is worth it. Fronting is left to vocalist Ryan Howell, whose regular charm is augmented by a South African accent.
Also on guitar, Röbby Creasey manage to be more of a ham, interacting with the audience via facial expressions and mouthed lyrics. With a fairly small stage to work with, we didn't get to see as much of bassist Charlee Conley and drummer Chad Kowal, but it was adorable when Charlee laid his head on Ryan's shoulder towards the end, and Chad did more interacting at the merch table than the others. Also, I learned some things about managing picks from watching both Röbby and Charlee, so that was cool.
Moving onto the music, their initial offering, A Dance You Won't Forget (2011), is pretty good, but I feel like 2013's Mirror, Mirror is superior. One of the things I admire about the band is the diversity within their songs. Starting off with the title track, "Mirror, Mirror" is frantic and anguished, the sound of tortured souls, and then they immediately go into the delicate bells and sweet beauty of "My Perfect Thing". That's different tones, and themes, but there is nothing incongruous about them being together. Farewell, My Love maintains its own sound without being monotonous; that's a band with a clear sense of identity, but also with ability.
On the earlier LP you can see the potential there -- I think "The Glamour" is a good example of that -- but it feels like they have blossomed into something more.
Sadly there is not much available in the way of video, but they have this tour going on now, and will be supporting Blood on the Dance Floor after that, so they're on the rise. Music is available through iTunes and Amazon.

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