Throughout the whole summer I was pretty excited to come to BU. I was excited to learn, be on my own, and definitely to be in a city like Boston. One of my favorite things about big cities like Boston, NYC, and Chicago is the extensive music scene they all have. Coming from a small town in NY there weren’t many choices for people to check out unless they traveled down to NYC. Each week I would go on the different venues’ websites and checkout the bands they would have for September when I came to BU. So I was excited when I saw that the first weekend of classes The Paradise Rock Club was having Motion City Soundtrack come play for two nights.
Motion City Soundtrack isn’t my favorite band, they’re probably not even in the Top 20 of the “Ben Brondsky’s Favorites”, but I knew they would be good live. Their type of playing is energetic in the studio so I could only imagine what it would be like live. I didn’t buy my ticket then but I marked it on my calendar.
The day of the show came around, September 13th, and I bought it straight from Paradise (saved money instead having to pay the service fee to Ticketmaster). I asked about fifteen people that day to come with me but everyone was either too busy, had plans already, or asked “is that that whiney band that has that song about being on fire?” Yes, that’s them. I was determined to go on my own anyways.
The Paradise is probably the smallest venue I’ve ever been to. On their website it says they can hold over 900 people but I’d be surprised to see that accomplished. There are two floors, the first contains the bar and is adjacent to the stage. The second level is upstairs and has couches and seats overlooking the stage. I met a girl there and we pushed our way to the semi-front.
The opening act was a woman named Jenny Owen Youngs. She played the guitar and sang and was accompanied by a drummer. I had looked her up on Youtube earlier and must have picked an odd song because I had expected her to be a folk singer; almost like Joan Baez. Instead the two of them created a lot of noise and it was pretty well done. Youngs and the drummer seemed to be comfortable with each other and have good chemistry. An early highlight of the show was when she brought out the drummer from Motion City Soundtrack (MCS), Tony Thaxton, and he joined the other drummer. The two of them created an awesome rhythm section for one of Youngs’ songs.
Youngs left and MCS came on at about 9 pm. They told the audience that they were first going to play I Am the Movie and then take a break and come back for Commit This to Memory. Like most concerts the band started off well but the crowd wasn’t into it right away. It took until about the third song until everyone went wild. “The Future Freaks Me Out” is one of their most popular songs so that would explain why everyone finally got into it. Most people enjoy concerts where they know at least a few of the songs and even general listeners know that song. The first set went by fast, consisting of about 12 songs in 45 minutes. But like the saying goes, times goes by fast when you’re having fun. Highlights from the first set: “The Future Freaks Me Out”, “My Favorite Accident”, and “Red Dress”.
MCS’s second set was even better. They came out with a blast and continued the rest of the night. During the second set people tried to mosh but it was so crowded at Paradise that it really was just a wave effect of people moving backwards and forward. The band was open and talked to people in-between most of the songs; they didn’t have an air of superiority around them. MCS didn’t seem tired during the second set and they played almost all of Commit This to Memory. There was no encore but the band came out after and signed autographs and took pictures for a while. Highlights of the second set: “Everything is Alright”, “When You’re Around”, “L.G. FUAD”, and “Hold Me Down”. I came out of the Paradise tired, aching, and drenched in other peoples’ sweat but overall it was an awesome experience. It was a good first show in the Boston area and hopefully there are many just like it to come!
by Ben Brondsky