EastScene

Arriving at the venue a little past 7pm, the doors at Walter’s On Washington were still not open. Kids surrounded the parking lot in an unorganized manner, leaving yours truly puzzled as to how to enter the facility. Not a Houston native, much less a southern girl, it was a bit of a culture shock to see shows taking place at little and underlit venues such as Walter’s On Washington.

Having finally entered the venue at about 7:45pm, which was about as tiny as Montreal’s very own Sala Rossa, I stuck around the right side of the stage to test my camera and its settings. As previously mentioned, it was severely underlit; hence, it was a photographer’s worst nightmare. Dare I say it, other photographers even had to resort to using flash during certain sets. Already dismayed by the lighting situation, I was further disappointed by the venue’s lack of air conditioning or some form of working ventilation. It was hot and humid, and I’m sure others present would also agree with me when I say that it was like being in a giant oven, or as my cousin likes to put, “a chamber of torture”.

Regardless of said misfortunes, the first opening band, Winston Audio, were amazing. They were speedy on getting on stage to make up for the venue’s tardiness in opening the doors. It was an easy guess to say they were from the South, considering they sounded like the love child of both Manchester Orchestra and Colour Revolt. Their grungy and unique sound, mixed with unfiltered guitars and raw vocals make them a band to watch out for.

The second opening band, California natives, Audrye Sessions were more for a mature audience, in my honest opinion. The band, true to their words that they sound like “The Beatles meet Muse”, had a Brit-rock feel to their music that  the kids did not and could not appreciate fully. Regardless of the audience’s implicit lack of appreciation, they still listened intently and perhaps this open-mindedness will result in their genuine appreciation for the band at a later time.

The third and final opening band prior to Manchester Orchestra is Fun. –yes, the band is called “Fun.”. This supergroup is composed of The Format’s Nate Ruess, Anathallo’s Andrew Dost and Steel Train’s Jack Antonoff. A far cry from Audrye Sessions’ mature sound, Fun. brought out the kid in everyone and it was a grand ol’ time. In fact, it seemed as though it was a co-headlining tour at this show, for half of the audience came primarily for Fun.. Since this paragraph makes it hard for readers to comprehend my thoughts due to the period at the end of Fun., I’ll leave it at this: their indie pop –and certainly very happy– sound is very contagious. After listening to their set, anyone in the audience can truly sing to the words “at least I’m not as sad (as I used to be)”. Fun. times indeed.

Finally, the long-awaited Manchester Orchestra took on the stage. The 13-song setlist was well chosen and balanced. Starting with “Shake It Out”, their energy emanated to the enthusiastic crowd, leading them to dance despite their profuse sweat. The stage was small but intimate, able to hold the five gentlemen and two drumsets. They had the crowd in the palm of their hand, singing and chanting along to songs like “I’ve Got Friends” and “Pride”. After “Black Man”, they focused more on their first album I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child, satisfying the eargasmic need of older fans to hear songs such as “Wolves At Night”, “Golden Ticket”, “I Can Barely Breathe” and “Where Have You Been”. The latter was the highlight of the night. During the climax of the song, Fun.’s drummer joined the band on stage to lend a helping hand with the floor tom, and Andy switched places with Chris (who was on the far right with his own drumset)  and took over for a while to further showcase his genius skills. After that display of magnificence and true musicianship, the boys toned things down a bit with the remainder of the set. To promote their new album, Mean Everything To Nothing, the last 4 songs of the set were “Marcus”, “Everything To Nothing”, “The River” and “The Only One”.

Overall, it was a fantastic set full of energy and emotion. This was my first time seeing them live, and despite the lighting condition, lack of air, unbearable heat, I would do it all over again even for just one song. Possessing maturity and professionalism beyond their age, Manchester Orchestra truly know how to work the crowd and put on a fantastic show. They did not disappoint.

Setlist for 05/28 in Houston:
Shake It Out
Now That You’re Home
I’ve Got Friends
Pride
Black Man
Wolves at Night
Golden Ticket
I Can Barely Breathe/End of the World
Where Have You Been
Marcus
Everything to Nothing
The River
The Only One