EastScene

I had the chance to catch Thee Summer Bailout Tour on August 22^nd in Clifton Park, NY.  This tour has an extremely talented lineup, headlined by Emery, and featuring Closure in Moscow, Ivoryline and Kiros.  Maylene and the Sons of Disaster were originally on the bill, but they were forced to drop the tour for personal reasons, which, upon a little probing of band members, I found out was family related.

Clifton Park is about a three hour drive from my Montreal apartment.  The earliest I could leave was 4:15, and for one reason or another, the show started at 6:15, so I burned rubber all the way down the I-87 to try and make it in time.  The drive wasn’t without its finer moments.  I had to stop once to let a friend throw up in a gas station in the middle of nowhere, because apparently McDonald’s and long car rides induce nausea.  I almost got pulled over for doing 85 in a 65 zone, but luckily, there was a truck next to me matching my speed, and he got the ticket.  After an arduous journey we arrived at the venue, Northern Lights, a little later than I had hoped. Unfortunately, we missed the local openers, and a couple songs from the first touring band, but I was assured that they were great.

Already on stage when we walked in, it was obvious that Kiros had the crowd buzzing. The Albertan-quartet has a way of energizing a room with their rock anthems and happy-go-lucky attitude.  Their set was a great mixture of driving sound and uplifting melodies, keeping the crowd on their feet and in the moment. Towards the end of their set, lead singer Barry took a moment to talk about his sponsor child and invite people to sponsor a child of their own, as Kiros donates half of their merch table to World Vision.  Not only do they put on a mean show, but Kiros are a bunch of good guys trying to make a difference! They absolutely nailed their closing song “Heaven”.

After a brief changeover, Ivoryline were up on stage.  This up-and-coming band off Tooth & Nail has a tight pop-rock dynamic, and when frontman Jeremy picked up a guitar a few songs into the set, the sound really filled out nicely.  It was clear that certain members were stiff on stage, but the crowd was digging it nonetheless, especially during “Remind Me I’m Alive”, off their latest album There Came A Lion. Also, Jeremy has a great mustache.

Next up were Australian progressive rockers Closure in Moscow, whose sound is reminiscent of Coheed and Cambria. Lead singer Chris De Cinque started the show by saying “We’re Closure in Moscow, from the planet earth”, but nothing seemed further from the truth.  Throughout the show, he twisted and contorted his body, which he must have thought was dancing, but was more disturbing than anything.  He constantly mocked the crowd’s size and its response to the band, which dwindled as the set went on. The quintet packs a very aggressive musical punch, blending bizarre rhythms, crisp guitar tone and unusual vocals.  Drummer Beau McKee played like a savage, his hair blowing in the wind from a large on-stage industrial fan.  Unfortunately, the good was overshadowed by the frontman’s apparent lack of tact. It didn’t help that guitarist Michael Barrett had a red stain on his wife beater, leaving me wondering the entire set whether he had Smuckers on his toast that morning, or if he had a serious nipple-bleeding problem.

Finally, after a quick browse of the merch tables, Emery jumped onto the scene full of energy.  They kicked the set off with Cutthroat Collapse, the opening song to there newest record In Shallow Seas We Sail.  Although there were clearly a few technical difficulties (we could barely here keyboardist Josh Head’s screams), the small crowd of New Yorkers was totally enthralled, hanging on co-frontmen Toby Morrell and Devin Shelton’s every word.  The issues were quickly cleared up and the sound was incredible.   Emery proceeded to play a huge variety of songs, making sure to appeal to fans both new and old by playing from each of their releases.  The crowd energy level remained high throughout the generous set, singing along to classics like “Walls” and newer tracks like “Edge of the World”.  The height of the set was clearly when they played In Shallow Seas We Sail’s title track, where they were able to show off their signature overlapping vocal style.  The crowd stuck around and demanded an encore, and Emery did not disappoint, finishing the night off with a couple of great tracks.  I was lucky enough to catch up with Devin after the show and asked him about Emery’s live show, and why it is dramatically better than many of their industry counterparts.  He told me that they made the decision to play to a metronome in their in-ear monitors, and it made a world of difference in keeping them together, especially vocally.  It was clearly a good decision, as Emery is, in my humble opinion, the most underrated touring band in the genre.

Waking up the next morning with a sore back and heavy eyes, all I could think was that it was more than worth the drive.

Full Set List:

Cutthroat Collapse

The Party Song

The Smile, The Face

Rock-N-Rule

Edge Of The World

Walls

The Ponytail Parades

Listening To Freddy Mercury

In Shallow Seas We Sail

Playing With Fire

Encore:

Butcher’s Mouth

Studying Politics