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| FEATURE ARTICLES |
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Casting Crowns
by Ryan T. Richardson
Read... |
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Why is the World Consuming the Church?
by Christian Stonehouse
Read... |
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Out of Hate
by Quinn McFarlane
Read... |
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7 Effective Ways to Share Your Faith In One Week
by Andrew Chamberlin
Read... |
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Modern Discipleship (Being a Disciple In the Modern Day)
by Justin Taylor
Read... |
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Media Mess
by David Chipp-Smith
Read... |
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Tooth and Nail Concert Review
by Justin Taylor
Read... |
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| COMMENTARIES |
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Viva La Revolucion
by Ryan T. Richardson
Read... |
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Tooth
and Nail Tour
- Detroit, MI - March 2, 2004 - The Shelter
by Justin Taylor
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So, I've never been
to 'The Shelter' in Detroit. I've been to 'St. Andrew's',
a converted church, and one of the oldest, if not the
oldest concert venue in Detroit. The Shelter is located
in the basement of St. Andrew's with access from the rear
of the hall. If any of you have been over to downtown
Detroit, it's pretty rough. That's a big understatement.
Detroit is arguably one of the roughest cities you could
visit. So, leaving my car parked on the street was a little
bit of a stressor for me, but it's better than paying
$8 US for parking. But I'm off topic. I enter the Shelter
and it's a lot smaller than I thought. The ceiling is
fairly low, and I think to myself as I approach the stage
"you couldn't get any closer to the band". This is going
to be a good concert, at least it terms of seeing and
hearing the band. I kept my distance from the stage, which
was a good decision. Midway through most of the acts some
of the younger spectators got into it and started a mosh
pit - mostly just shoving and the like.
I was impressed by the opening band, 'Emery', who hail
from Seattle, WA. They apologized for taking up the time
of the other bands that they said were "much better" than
them. Well, guys if you ever read this, you were wrong.
I thought you guys were great. Emery is hard to define.
Of course that's mostly because I'm old (over 30) and
have lost touch with the music scene a little. They were
what I would define as hardcore, at least in the old school
sense of the word. The screaming was excellent. Overall
the band had great energy, and musically they sounded
good together. That's not what impressed me most. Over
time I may forget the sound of the music, the look of
the band, or the reaction of the crowd, but I won't forget
what the lead singer said at the end of their set. It's
not word-for-word, but here it is in the Justin paraphrase:
"We thank you for your applause, but we don't want it.
We're up here to give glory and honor to God. If you're
going to applaud anyone, applaud Him." That impressed
me more than anything. None of the other bands gave it
up for God like that. Sorry guys, but Emery is right on
track.
| So, Emery played
4 or 5 songs, and then 'Watashi Wa' got up. I was
unsure how they, or any other band would sound live.
I have 'The Nail Volume One', which is a 20 song
compilation of Tooth and Nail records' bands. I've
heard the bands' hits that were |
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playing that night.
I wasn't that impressed with Watashi Wa. I'm not really
sure why. I think it may have been the attitude, perceived
or real, of the lead singer. Maybe I've got issues...
In any event, I thought that they were technically sound
on their instruments, and sounded good live, especially
their version of The Police's song "Message in a bottle".
Now if you know me, I'm a big fan of The Police. Not Sting,
but The Police. Let's just get that straight. So, for
me to say that they sounded good is a big thing. Something
just didn't sit right with me about the band. Weird, eh?
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Next up was 'Me Without
You'. I don't understand this band. I don't get their
lead singer, and couldn't hear the lyrics at all. From
the response of the crowd, they seem to have a good following,
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and when they played, the mosh pit was at
its finest. But the band had no appeal to me. I'm still
a little mystified by their performance. More like just
plain weirded out. No offense, guys, but stick to the
music, 'cause the stage presence isn't doing anything
for you. They were however very proficient on their instruments,
especially the guitar players. Their music made me reminisce
about "Yes" in the 70's. Wow, that's dating myself, eh?
Anyway, musically they get a "good", and for stage presence
they get a "huh?"
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The headlining
band was 'Anberlin'. Don't ask me about the name,
because I have no idea. They were the crowd favorite
by far, go figure, being the headlining band. Hmm.
I've begun to overstate the obvious. Sorry. |
The lead singer ran out
of voice after the third song, and was reduced to a raspy
version of himself for the rest of the set. The stage
presence was good,and the band played really well, and
interacted with the audience very well, too. Don't even
get me started with their version of "Love Song" by "The
Cure". You just don't go there with me.
"So, Justin, what did you really think?" Well, I paid
$10 US for the concert, not including all the fees from
Ticketmaster (another topic you don't want to get me started
on). It was the cheapest concert I've been to so far this
year, and a pretty good one overall. I didn't know much
of any of the band's music going into the concert, and
came out liking 2 more than I had before. So, I'll have
to give the concert a solid 3 out of 4 stars. You can
convert that into any other cliché rating system
you like. It was good, but a little weird at the same
time. Like I said earlier, I'm old. Oh, yeah, I almost
forgot to mention that my hearing was diminished for 2
days after the concert. Take that into consideration the
next time you visit The Shelter.
justin@moderndisciplemag.com
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