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Tooth & Nail Tour
Emery
Anberlin
The Classic Crime
Jonezetta
Far Less
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Door
Dallas, TX
3/18/2006
By: Caz* Bevan
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Emery and Anberlin star as the headlining bands to the
Tooth & Nail Records tour. Tooth & Nail Records, harboring
several Christian rock and metal bands, have created a tour
lineup that just may be the answer to your
prayers.
First to grace the stage was Far Less. Filled to the brim with
bearded boys, Far Less seems to take pride in their
technically savvy music. It's rare to find a rock band whose
bass players play with the intensity that creates what is
known as "bass face." I'm so use to the bass players that
play one deep note at a time, never using anything but their
top string. However, Far Less is a band with unique style
both vocally and musically, without having a high and
mighty, I'm-the-real-deal attitude. They seemed to love their
Texas crowd, breaking out in a grand Texas sing-along - well
appreciated by their fans.
Next in line was Jonezetta. Jonezetta was the answer to
my recent prayers while browsing the iTunes
music store exclaiming I needed something all dance-rock,
not just one strut-worthy song. Now here is Jonezetta, the
answer to everything I've been looking for, strutting their
stuff and causing a dance-rock-riot among the crowd. I
stood in a corner and danced alone assured that I would go
unnoticed. But then again, it's my own personal breed of
what I now call strut-rock, and who cares who's watching
anyway.
Third up was The Classic Crime. This band made me nervous
in a way that I couldn't say their name right for the entire
night. I was mumbling madness. It's all because I had been
caught probably three times prior to their set somewhat
mesmerized by their bass player not realizing, until they
were on stage, just who he was. The real question is, can I
have my bass player gift-wrapped? I'm kidding. Sort
of.
The Classic Crime had a bold, strong rock sound. Prior to
their performance, they should have displayed warnings for
those with heart conditions. Standing next to the speakers
and particularly in front of the subwoofer - I thought my
heart would rupture. However, I didn't care to move as I
would have died happy. I hadn't even seen the headliners
yet, and the night seemed complete.
The band's performance was enticing and the entire band is
an endless supply of eye-candy. So whether you are the
type that moshes and crowd surfs or goes just to watch (and
quite possibly dream) then The Classic Crime will please you
indefinitely. Despite not being one of the headlining bands,
they win the award for most crowd-surfers and loudest sing
along - "Desperate! Stronger! Freedom!" Shout it with
me.
Anberlin helped pack 1,000 fans into The Door here in
Dallas, but their performance was lacking. They made up for
it, to an extent, with a lot of talk, "Dallas, you're beautiful!
Such beautiful people here in Dallas..." They also tried their
best, it seems, to cover every inch of the stage and continue
enticing the crowd. The vocals were barely understandable
and slightly flat the entire time - not in an awful, noticeable
way but in a way that made you contemplate during their
entire set just what it was that seemed off. Their
performance was not bad, just less then anticipated after all
the hype. This is after all, Anberlin. Better luck next time I
suppose.
Finally, there came Emery. At this point, I was feeling the
lack of energy drinks or perhaps the result of an energy
drink overdose when coming down. Who cares about hearing
loss or heart conditions - I was leaning against the sub
woofer, ear-to-metal in a daze.
Emery's keyboardist snapped me out of my half-awake daze
- rocking out and storming the stage while screaming.
I-heart-rocking-keyboardists so much! I think every band,
regardless of genre, should have a keyboardist who has to
overcompensate for not having a hand-held instrument and
therefore rocks out in a way that would make Amadeus
proud. And have you ever noticed all rocking keyboardists
have the same crazed hair? Yes, this is my kind of Music
Appreciation 101.
I do have to admit I zoned out for about two songs (fault:
The Classic Crime, yet again, dismantling my concentration
by standing next to me). I dare say I'm a professional
(bound to be a professional groupie at this point - think,
Sex And The City journalism meets
NowOnTour.com).
Back on subject and back to my concentration, I saw in
Emery another technically savvy band that still writes
incredibly catchy tunes. A catchy band with talent is not
always a shoe-in, but here they are ladies and gentlemen.
Emery indulge themselves in several time changes (which
always make me laugh because if you watch the
head-bobbing crowd you can tell who is a die hard fan and
who has never heard the band before because they either
bob along to the time change happily or they get caught,
every time, with a look on their face like, "What? What are
we doing now?" People watching, it's what I do.)
Emery made me beam with giddy happiness as I held my
friends' jackets, watches, cell phones, etc., while they all
took flight into their crowd-surfing wonderland. I was
surrounded by the happy sing-along crowd. It appears that
everyone loves Emery, as they should.
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