No More Phillies, So Now What?
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Asshole of the Week
Photoist
With so many amazing concerts in such a short period of time, it's inevitable that you'll run into a few doozies. Unfortunately for me, that doozy was Sunday night at North Star Bar. Earlier in the summer, I saw the band MAE open for Ok Go and The Fray at the Tweeter Center. Their six-song set was fun and enjoyable, but not completely engaging. I faulted the venue, crowd, and the fact that MAE had such a short set (hard to really get into). I passed it off as unfortunate, and believed they could pull off a much better show in a smaller venue with a crowd that specifically went to see them. Unfortunately, that didn't happen either.
Just so you know, I am a huge fan of MAE's music. The Everglow was one of my favorite albums in 2006. (I know it was released earlier, but I wasn't introduced to it until 2006.) I continue to listen to it quite regularly. I found the piano and vocals refreshing and a relief from the guitar-driven rock that you usually hear on the radio. It was a bit different than your usual rock group and seemed genuine. With their new CD, Singularity, which was released this week, they have produced a harder-rock that has a definite edge to it. Now, I haven't had the chance to listen to the entire CD (just bought it on iTunes) but I totally dug "Sometimes I Can't Make it Alone" and "Brink of Disaster" - hence the reason I decided to cover them (again).
Call me a vocals-whore, but Elkins continually sang out-of-tune throughout the night. High notes, low notes, in-between notes - it didn't matter. He has specific problems jumping from intervals over a P4. (In music terms - perfect 4th, Do to Fa; hum "The Bridal Chorus" in your head - that's a Perfect 4th!) I don't know if the blame lies in his earpiece, on the sound, or just "not-feeling-up-to-it." Maybe it's just that he needs to work on the vocals some more. I tried to not let it affect my overall experience, but it was a problem with basically every song. What is worse is that I absolutely love his voice on their CD's. It's clear, understandable (he has major problems enunciating live), and sounds pretty damn good. Bless modern day technology with the pitch-correcting, vocals enhancing software. Without it, we wouldn't have Ashlee Simpson or Britney Spears... oh never mind, eff that technology.
Now like I said, usually I can ignore it and enjoy the rest of the performance. Maybe it was my foul mood because of the lack of ventilation in the North Star Bar (I'm sure they were at capacity—never have seen it that crowded before—it was at least ninety degrees in there) but the rest of the performance wasn't that great either. I do have to give it up for the drummer, Jacob Marshall—the guy freaking rocks on the drums—as well as the pianist, Rob Sweitzer. Both are interesting and entertaining to watch. The music was good - enjoyed listening to the brand new tracks as they all seemed like very well-written songs but there was no connection between the band and the audience. Elkins never said anything to the audience except for cliche remarks like, "Hey, thanks for coming to our show. We are MAE!" or even worse, "We love this city. Philadelphia rocks!" Now I'm happy if the band genuinely loves this city (Arcade Fire's front-man, Win Butler, gave numerous examples of loving this city which included Ethiopian food and being able to "park-in-the-middle-of-the-fucking-street") but when someone just states they love Philly without any support, I find it pretentious and manipulative.
To summarize: Buy MAE's new CD, Singularity, or past CD, The Everglow. There are some very well written songs, with great vocals and better lyrics. If you aren't a vocals-whore like me, then go see them live. If you have an inkling of perfect pitch or absolute pitch than I wouldn't suggest seeing them. It will drive you perfectly mad.
Photo via Flickr user: maeband
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