by Matt Kelchner
The more anniversary tours bands do, the older I feel. Motion City Soundtrack’s latest tour is no different. That certain feeling of hearing and seeing a band play songs that meant so much to you growing up is something I can’t get enough off. There were times when I caught myself singing along to certain songs that I haven’t heard in years. That shows the kind of lasting power album likes Commit This To Memory have.
Enough of the sentimental blah blah blah though, Motion City Soundtrack came to town last Thursday at the Electric Factory and they rocked the house! The Minneapolis quintet played just like it was the very first tour for the album. On top of playing their seminal album just as it appears on the album, they added a second set full of fan favorites both old and new.
Openers for the show were another more veteran act, The Early November, along with newcomers Citizen who have been in town for the past several weeks working on their new LP with Will Yip. They treated the crowd to a short set of their alt-tinged brand of emo that included the likes of “Drown” and crowd favorite “The Summer”. With a show filled with older, more seasoned bands, Citizen gave the concertgoers a taste of what the scene’s future holds.
Following Citizen were The Early November, who are no strangers to celebrating infamous albums. A few years ago, they embarked on a series of shows in honor of The Room’s Too Cold decade old birthday. Their set Thursday night ran almost like a shorten version of that tour as the band played “Something That Produces Results”, “A Mountain Range In My Living Room” and “Baby Blue”. With an energetic performance to warm them up, the fans were all but ready for Motion City Soundtrack to take the stage.
There were no flashy gimmicks or surprises for an introduction. Just the five members that make up the band walking out on stage. In the beginning, there wasn’t even much talking, just songs played one right after another. However as the night went on, lead singer/guitarist Justin Pierre opened up. In playing the album in sequential order, Motion City Soundtrack got to arguably one of their biggest hits “Everything Is Alright” early on. Every song felt like a huge hit though. Others like “Together We’ll Ring In The New Year” and “Make Out Kids” were sung just as loudly as “LG FUAD”.
To little surprise “Hold Me Down”, Pierre’s self proclaimed favorite off the record, marked the end of the night, but not the end of the night. After a quick breather, Motion City Soundtrack came back out to play the lone B-side from the album, “Invisible Monsters”, before leading into other favorites like Her Words Destroyed My Planet” and “Last Night”. This second set of hits ended with another doozy, “The Future Freaks Me Out”. After another quick break, Pierre and company came back out for one last jam, “My Favorite Accident”. But this wasn’t before they (with the help of their tour photographer) snapped a gigantic group shot with their beloved fans.
For a night that was filled with taking in the past, Motion City Soundtrack also gave the fans something to look forward to. Pierre announced that they are planning to release their sixth studio album at some point this year. To further tease everyone, they played a new track “Anything At All”. If Thursday night is any indication for the remainder of the year for Motion City Soundtrack, be on the look out for big things from these seasoned veterans.
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- All photos by Matt Kelchner
