Flyleaf Concert – review
Wednesday Night I headed out with some friends Pastor Dave, his daughter, and MX and headed to Mr Smalls (www.mrsmalls.com) a converted church to attend the Flyleaf Concert. one of the perks of being part of jtindie.com is the occasional free concert ticket. This is just one such time and as we stood in line waiting for the doors to open I took the time to listen to the people around us talking. I have to say that I was both pleased and surprised that many of the people around me were talking about many of the other christian bands. Skillet, Inhale-Exhale, War of Ages, and Kutless were all mentioned.
We were eventually let into the Venue and after strapping the Photo Pass onto my wrist I made my way into the converted sanctuary where the stage was set. Before the opening band begin, there was an announcement that if you bought the Memento Mori the band would sign the CD’s after the concert (yeah I bought another copy of the CD I got the extended version this time.)
Then it was time for the actual concert to begin. Paper Tongues http://www.myspace.com/papertongues took the stage. I have heard several of you in the comments and on twitter telling me to check out the band and I just didn’t have time to check them out. That was my bad. Paper Tongues was a great show on its own, The band, made up of 7 people, including 2 guitarists and 2 keyboards came out and began to pump the crowd up. Paper Tongues is a band that could easily be headlining shows. I found their music to be well layered and mature. I expect much more from the band in the future now that they seem to have their “Big Break” with touring with Flyleaf. They ended their set with the song “Ride to California” Aswan North, the lead singer opened this song by saying “One of the biggest problems in this country is that people have stopped singing.” while I don’t know if they are serious about the “Biggest” problem I will admit that I have noticed a lack of singing along. When the song ended the band got the crowd all pumped up for Flyleaf. I was able to pick up their EP “Ride to California” for 5$ as well as getting it signed from all the band members and I am working on getting their songs on the show. You can see more from Paper Tongues at my Flickr Page
When Flyleaf took the stage, they didn’t dither around, not that I expected them to. instead they began a hard hitting set of sound that assaulted my senses left my ears ringing, my chest heaving and my mind wanting more. After playing “Again” and “Beautiful Bride” from the new album, Lacey to a moment to speak for the first time from the stage. “This is our love song to Jesus.” she said simply, almost quietly. As quiet as a voice can be when projected through 2 ten foot high stacks of speakers. The song “All around me” began playing to the cheers and screams from the crowd. The scream were made a bit louder (I would like to think) by my own voice added to the cheers. Any Idea that Flyleaf is not a Christ Based Band (I know the band doesn’t think of themselves as a “Christian Band” and I can’t blame them for that) Was set aside first by the album itself which is more of a Christian album than many other albums that call themselves “Christian” and secondly by Lacey herself who took the time to talk to the crowd on several occasions, each of these occasions were marked by a message of hope. A one point she said “the only reason anyone of us is here is because God loves Each of us.” I found it refreshing.
This being my first Flyleaf concert (and for sure not my last) I was really impressed by the talent and showmanship of all of the members of the band. The Concert was a joy to attend and the sound work by the many behind the scenes people just goes to show you how things should work. Lights, sounds and performances were all spectacular, and if I went a bit deaf, that can only be expected from standing much to close to the aforementioned Speaker stacks while trying to get pictures worth showing.
The second to last song of the night surprised me, and I do love a surprise, by being what I can only define as worship – Flyleaf style. The crowd didn’t exactly go still, there was a marked change and I would like to imagine that the hands raised in the crowd were for a different and better reason. The Show ended with the song “Arise” and Lacey announced it as the last song saying “We don’t play encores so it really is the last song.” I like this idea while finding it strange at the same time.
After the show I did indeed get the CD signed by the band and I appreciated the fact that while they were signing the Cd the band not only took a moment to say something to each of the fans but also thanked them for showing up. I know it sounds like a small and simple thing, but it is neither small nor simple. Each of the members of the band made each of the fans who were standing in the long line feel welcome, and that is no small feat. Over all as concerts go this is one of the one I enjoyed the most this year. I look forward to getting to see Flyleaf again. You can Find more photos of the Flyleaf Concert at my Flickr Page.
