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But seriously, we did. How bad was the Eagles game? So bad that we resorted to poetry to express how we felt. And we predicted that it would be a better and more enjoyable use of your time to check out The Color Fred and Paper Rival at the North Star Bar. But it seemed that many people didn't listen to us, which is a shame, because we were absolutely right. Not only were the Eagles bad, but The Color Fred and Paper Rival were good. (And in the case of Paper Rival, really good.)
Sometimes we catch relatively unknown bands that we just really, really want to see good things happen to. Paper Rival is one of those bands. First, their music is solid. We've been listening to their EP for the last couple weeks, and we really enjoy it. And their live performance delivers. Don't get us wrong. This is not the kind of band where you'll be jumping around and singing along (at least not very loudly) during their set. Rather, Paper Rival's music demands that you listen, absorb. We can't call the music catchy, but it certainly is melodic, thoughtful and earnest. And that's what comes across in their live performance. Paper Rival sounded a bit unpolished, and for the style of rock they play, that's perfect.
The other reason we're hoping to see good things happen for Paper Rival is that they're really a nice group of guys. After their set, we had the opportunity to chat a bit with three of the members of the band. They're trying to build up buzz before their full-length CD drops in March 2008, and the buzz is building slowly but, if the reaction of the crowd at North Star is indicative, surely. Guitarist Brent Coleman mentioned that the crowds on the tour were a bit smaller than they were expecting. We've seen a couple bands play these kind of shows where the small crowds affected their performances. That didn't seem to happen to Paper Rival. The sound mixing was a little off, but that's usually to be expected in small venues like North Star. And even so, we didn't have much trouble hearing any instrument or vocal. The whole band is tight. We can't really think of anything bad to say about Paper Rival at all. And they're at a stage where they appreciate every fan they get, and Paper Rival is a band well worth being a fan of. They'll apparently be back in town December 14. We're still waiting for confirmation on that, but if it's true, take our advice and check out that show.
Sunday night's headliner was The Color Fred, the new project of former Taking Back Sunday guitarist Fred Mascherino. The Color Fred's CD, Bend to Break just came out this past week, and it was clear that most of the audience who was there to see TCF hadn't yet heard, or at least really familiarized themselves, with the material. (To be fair, we haven't heard the full album either.) It was clear within about two songs that this was really a "tune-up" show for the band. We're not sure how the songs sound on the album, but with The Color Fred (unlike our thoughts on Paper Rival), we would have liked them to have sounded a little more polished. At times, the echoes of the confined space that is the North Star stage made the music sound fairly muddled. That being said, we're certainly not writing The Color Fred off. As we mentioned, this was really a tune-up round for the band, as they'll be back in town on December 13 at the Trocadero. They'll have had another month of playing live and a larger venue, so we expect that will be a show worth catching.
Photo of Paper Rival by author.
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I'm glad to see what I'm reading about Paper Rival. They are one of my favorite bands to exist. It's so refreshing to see a band that has a soul inside them. I was beginning to think those bands didn't exist anymore.