Although they were in Boston a mere five months ago, Motion City Soundtrack returned to the Paradise Rock Club with a whole lineup of talent to satisfy their dedicated fans.
I Was Totally Destroying It, a band from North Carolina that worked with MCS’s Joshua Cain on their latest release, Vexations, opened the show with refreshing female vocals and instant energy. Now, Now – a Minnesota three-piece – turned the energy down in exchange for turning up some deep vibes. They played songs off of their latest album, Threads, as well as older tracks that will hopefully become favorites of some members of the audience real soon.
Jukebox the Ghost and Motion City Soundtrack could have almost co-headlined this tour, and maybe in the near future that will be the case because JtG is quickly becoming a popular thing. This year’s Safe Travels is a haunting, exciting, and satisfying listen all the way through. They split their set: half new songs and half older hits, and even threw in their signature Whitney Houston “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” cover to please everyone in the crowd. If anyone in the crowd hadn’t heard of them before tonight, they are more than likely a fan now, running home to go download their music right away. But they won’t have that much time to learn all the music, because JtG announced that they will be returning to Boston in March of 2013.
Motion City Soundtrack shows are real vocal workouts, and it’s no wonder the lead singer, Justin Pierre, is notorious for losing his voice on occasion (ie: MCS’s November 8th, 2011 concert down the street at House of Blues). I saw it at their show this summer and I saw it again last night: people in the crowd, whether they knew each other or not, weren’t shy about turning to one another and belting out the lyrics to songs like “Everything Is Alright” and “L.G. FUAD.” Songs off of 2012’s Go are slowly becoming crowd favorites, like “True Romance,” but the maturity of the album marks its delineation from their previous work. It was perhaps apt, though, to allow everyone to catch their breath during the somber “Everyone Will Die.”
The encore started with an exceptionally appropriate cover of Ben Folds Five “Army,” which featured JtG’s Ben Thornewill on keys. I don’t know if the crowd behind me was digging it as much as myself and the performers were, but that didn’t matter. It’s great seeing musicians from different bands work together on stage because you know they’re doing it for the pure enjoyment of it.
While the crowd at a Motion City Soundtrack show can get pushy and territorial at times, it’s always important to remember that everyone is there to have fun. Everyone there has a story behind why they listen to MCS and it’s great to see all those stories come together and hear everyone shout them back at the creators.
Motion City Soundtrack can be found at www.motioncitysoundtrack.com
Jukebox the Ghost: www.jukeboxtheghost.com
Now, Now: www.nownowband.com
I Was Totally Destroying It: www.iwtdi.com
By: Deanna Archetto