Concert Review- Say Anything and Motion City Soundtrack

Where: Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel in Providence, RI
When: Saturday November 6, 2010
Who: Say Anything and Motion City Soundtrack w/ special guests Saves the Day and A Great Big Pile of Leaves

For the record, I would just like to start with a little concert habit I have.  This is the habit of me liking to be at a concert as easy as possible.  Honestly I don't know why I do this, but every concert I have been too I have gotten there considerably early.  I suppose that I really enjoy being in the front row at these smaller venues and I also like to be there in hopes to meet and talk to my favorite band members.  It tends to make friends who go to these events with me at first, but in the long run they generally tend to thank me.
Well now that I have this little habit of mine stated, let's get on to the review.  When I first glanced at Lupo's, I felt it was considerably smaller and more run down than the House of Blues in Boston, which is where I normally go for concerts.  I happens to give Lupo's a try due to it being much closer to my college in Bristol, RI than the HoB.  Waiting in line for five hours got me exactly what I wanted, first in line and and front row and center for the show.  Although the concert hall did happen to be smaller and more run down than I had seen in the past, it turned out to be just as good of an experience.  We were slightly closer to the stage (four feet by my estimation) and the smaller venue provided a more intimate show. The only downfall of Lupo's happens to be in it's microphone system.  More times than not, the instrumentation of the band overwhelmed the singer causing vocals to be drowned out. 
Even with the mic problems, these bands still put on a great performance.  A Great Big Pile of Leaves kicked off the show.  Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, these jazz rock newbies rocked the show, regardless of it being their first tour ever.  Even though they only played five songs, while the other three bands received fourteen, this band left an everlasting impression on me.  They played upbeat, mellow music that would be perfect to just sit and relax to.  Their problem lied in their crowd connection.  They spoke little to the crowd and didn't leave me feeling connected and wanting to see them again, however I do give them a mulligan due to this being only their fifth or sixth show.
Next up was Saves the Day, a band I was sure to see experience from.  They bopped through past and present favorites, spanning their sixteen year career.  Chris Conley, singer and guitarist for the band was oddly animated even though he spent most of the performance behind the mic.  Saves the Day was great at mixing their slower jams with their faster hits, making a truly interesting set.  It was at this point in the concert when the fans began to get into it, shouting vocals and crowd surfing.  The guys in Saves the Day had a great relation with their fans throughout the concert but seemed to lack chemistry with each other.  This concert features a new line-up for Conley , the only constant member, and StD, featuring guitarist Arun Bali (joined April, 2009), Rodrigo Palma (Sept, 2010) and drummer Claudio Rivera (Sept, 2010).  As you can see from the lack of being together, band chemistry will definitely need to be worked on. 
It was finally time for the main band I came to see, Say Anything.  I was excited to see them for the second time and also wanted to see what changes were made to their set.  This time I saw more excitement and passion from the band then I saw the first time.  Max Bemis is one of my favorite singers and the band is amazing live.  As they began to play, I realized that the more the crowd gave to Say Anything, the more they gave back to the fans.  The crowning achievement of this performance was that Say Anything chose to play a song off of their first album which rarely happens anymore.  They also invited Chris Conley back on the stage to play a son from lead singer Max Bemis' and Conley's side project, Two Tongues.  Unfortunately the addition of these songs forced omissions of popular hits (Hate Everyone and Shiksa being two) but the fact that these two rarely played songs were a part of the show to begin with almost made the concert by itself. 
Although I was sad to see Say Anything leave the stage, I was curious to see if Motion City Soundtrack could follow their performance.  I must say I was rather impressed.  Even though Motion City is popier than Say Anything, they still received a similar crowd reaction.  What impressed me most about MCS was that even though singer/guitarist Justin Pierre was losing his voice the whole show, he still sang his heart out, even when he showed signs of pain and it sounded like his voice would give out.  He also continually thanked the crowd and was happy that the crowd was bearing with his voice.  I was also impressed by the energy that keyboardist Jesse Johnson put in the show.  There never happened to be a dull moment watching Johnson, with him frantically smashing keys and jumping around.  The biggest disappointment for the MCS part of the show was they ran out of time.  Lupo's wants the bands out at 10 pm due to it also being a club so Motion City didn't have anytime to play encore songs.
Overall this concert was one of the best concerts that I have been too.  Although many minor obscurities popped up during the show, the overall performances by the bands and the reaction of the crowd caused this concert to be something truly spectacular.  If you want to see the pictures I took you can go to my facebook page.