Review-apalooza Part 1: Hush Sound/Straylight Run

If there was any doubt before, it is official: I hate the Lincoln Theatre. The four worst shows I have ever seen have been the only four I saw there, and it was not because of the bands, but rather because of my fellow attendees.

I'm a strong believer of the idea that when you pay to see a concert/show, you owe it to the performer and the people around you to pay attention to the music and shut up. If you came to be social, you came for the wrong reason, but at least do everyone else a favor and talk with your annoying friends at the bar area so you don't ruin the show.

Now I will step down from my soapbox.

That being said, I enjoyed seeing these two shows this weekend. Though they were only two days apart, the difference between the atmosphere of the two is unbelievable. There was a modest crowd at the Pablo/Spitalfield/The Hush Sound/Straylight Run show, many of which were waiting in the cold out front for the doors to be opened when I showed up.

Pablo came out (surprisingly on time) and played a quick, soft acoustic set that sounded something like what would happen if Conor Oberst grew some balls or made a love child with Ray LaMontagne. Shortly after, the slightly out-of-place Spitalfield stormed onto the stage in matching zip-up hoodies, playing that tired pop-punk-rock that Good Charlotte and Simple Plan made me hate a long time ago. Even my 14-year-old sister (and former fan of GC and SP) noticed that "every song sounded the same." That's not a good sign.

Finally The Hush Sound, the reason I came, took the stage and played a great, albeit slightly boring and far too short, set of songs that were mostly from their newest album. I love this band to death and every song they played sounded great, but any energy the band had during th songs was counter-balanced by a disappointing lack of stage presence and crowd interaction. Nothing too much to complain about, and it was fun to have the 70 or 80 people there all sing "We Intertwined" together.

To be honest, I didn't know too much about the final band of the evening, Straylight Run. I picked up some of their music the day before and gave it a listen and liked what I heard, so I was interested to see what the live show was like. I wasn't at all disappointed. Not only did I fall in love with Michelle but I was impressed with the intensity and energy the quartet brought to the stage. Though it was a little over-produced for my taste (too many prerecorded sound effects and tracks used in transitions and songs) it was pretty sweet to watch the band play musical chairs between acoustic guitar, piano and electric guitar. They also previewed a few tracks off their upcoming album that I will be sure to get after seeing this show.

If you ignore the fact that the venue was more than half empty and the kids (yes, kids) that were there seemed for the most part disinterested the whole night, the show was amazing. But that fact was pretty hard to ignore. I only hope that I'll get to see these guys again in a much better place (and preferably in Chapel Hill).

Now for recordings of my favorite parts:
-The sing-along of "We Intertwined" - The Hush Sound (m4a)
-An amazing and simplistic rendition of "Your Name Here (Sunrise Highway)" - Straylight Run (m4a)

**Photos taken by Andy.