A sold out crowd for night 1 of a back to back run at The Sinclair, milled about keeping an anxious eye on the stage. Run For Cover Records alumn Crying took to the stage just a few minutes late to an overwhelmingly encouraging response from the crowd. It took a few songs for the audience to really connect and figure out exactly what Crying was about, but by about half way through their set they matched and surpassed their initial level of encouragement for just getting the show started. What the indie rock trio lacks in band members they make up with their unique direction of indie-emo fusion.
Crying
1. Revive
2. Sick
3. Batang Killjoy
4. Origin
5. ES
6. A Sudden Gust
7. Wool in the Wash
I didn’t know what to expect from this band. I had been following The Hotelier since 2014’s “Home, Like Noplace Is There” which rocketed them to the fore-front of the emo revival spotlight with thunderous critic approval. It ended up on my top 10 albums of 2014 and stayed on my playlist until very recently. So it was not surprising when they leaned heavier on that album then their latest 2016 effort “Goodness,” which pivots on some of the chaotic tendencies of “Home” for a more austere refined sound all within the same vein where they had gotten themselves noticed. Lead singer and bass played Christian Holden gives off a bit of a goofy first impression with his appearance but does not reflect that goofiness in anyway through his performance, understandable due to the intensely personal nature of almost each song. Chill inducing is how I would have to sum up their performance this evening, but I was admittedly heavily biased based on my obsession with their records.
The Hotelier
1. An Introduction to the Album
2. The Scope of All of This Rebuilding
3. Two Deliverances
4. Among The Wildflowers
5. Life in Drag
6. N 42° 6′ 3.001″ W 71° 55′ 3.295″
7. Soft Animal
8. Sun
9. Your Deep Rest
10. End of Reel
The room went from 0-60 in just the time it took the audience to figure out what the first song was. Instantly the veil of anticipation that had been nagging at everyone in the room throughout the show was lifted. All at once the room realized this was exactly what they had been waiting all day, week, month for. By the time everyone finished the first line of the song, “I want a heart tattoo,” Joyce Manor had the room in the palm of their hand. The first dozen songs went by shockingly fast with wave after wave of fan favorite sing alongs, while the second dozen dragged ever so slightly. The set was still over far too soon, pocketed equally with a spread of tracks pulled from across Joyce’s entire discography, including their recent 4th LP “Cody”. Safe to say, the crowd felt they got what they paid for .
Joyce Manor
1. Heart Tattoo
2. The Jerk
3. Fake I.D.
4. Constant Nothing
5. Falling in Love Again
6. Catalina Fight Song
7. Victoria
8. Eighteen
9. End of the Summer
10. Reversing Machine
11. Orange Julies
12. House Warming Party
13. Stairs
14. This Song Is a Mess but So Am I
15. Beach Community
16. Schley
17. Last You Heard of Me
18. Five Beer Plan
19. Leather Jacket
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20. Christmas Card
21. Constant Headache
