2 BEHREND BEACON
September 3, 2010
www.thebehrendbeacon.com
CoNerl Review
Secondhand Serenade serves
This summer,
under the haze of dry
ice, Secondhand Sere
nade slowly seduced the
crowded audience at the Altar Bar in
the Strip District area of Pittsburgh.
Lately, bars and nightclubs have re
placed some of the old markets in the Strip
District, with venues like the Altar Bar, a
converted catholic church, pledging to
bring live entertainment back to Pittsburgh
and the Strip.
My first sentiments of going to the con
cert were apprehensive at best. I trudged
into the surprisingly crowded bar and pre
pared myself for three opening bands.
Usually, I am not entertained by opening
bands, so I stood by and waited patiently
for them to get through their sets. I had
never heard of any of them, but the crowd
around me was singing praises about each
of them.
I was surprised as the first band, Camera
Can't Lie, took the stage and performed
some impressive music for what looked
like a garage band. Later, I learned this was
their first appearance on the tour, which
only impressed me more.
The party really started rolling as Run-
lbum Review Eels gives listeners Tomorrow Morning
NATI lAN CARTER
The Eels front-
MP man and only
consistent mem
ber, Mark Oliver
Everett, recently released the
last installment of a trilogy of
concept albums: Hombre Lobo
(2009), End Times (2010), and
this newest release, Tomorrow
Morning (2010). That's three al
bums in the span of two years,
adding to his earlier seven stu
dio albums, making Everett -
better known as "E" - rather
prolific.
The Eels style is simple; some
drum beats, some guitar and
heavy keyboard influence to
create some of the greatest
sounds in the alternative/indie
rqiiic nix.qp•
1 Kirsten Price,
Brixton To Brooklyn 2 The Acorn, No Ghost
4 Sara Bareilles, 5 Ryan Bingham & The Dead. 'Toms,
Kaleiodoseope Heart Junky Star
7Bachman & Turner, Anberlin,
Dark Is The Way:
Bachman ct Turner
Light Is A Place
ALEC ITALIANO
dporh,ediedr
rock industry. They've been
making simple, "stroll" type
songs for almost twenty years
and it only gets better. Since To
morrow Morning is the last in
stallment to a trilogy, it would
make sense to say a little bit
about the first two in the con
cept series.
Hombre Lobo, which is actu
ally Spanish for werewolf, has
the overarching theme of desire.
It's single, "Fresh Blood," is sur
prisingly very poppy with the
simple idea of a werewolf need
ing fresh blood on a midnight
walk. My second favorite track
was "Beginners Luck," about
getting the girl from the first
meet and traveling across the
country with her.
End Times received the "Best
Album in January Award" from
ner Runner made a loud and monumental
appearance jumping right into one of their
loudest and most popular singles, "So Ob
vious."
This got people moving on their feet and
the band really put on a great show. It re
minded me why I loved going to concerts
in the first place. I was sad to see them go
when they cleared the stage and made
room for the White Tie Affair.
Chris Wallace, the lead singer for the
White Tie Affair, came on stage and imme
diately energized the crowd into a wild bar
baric mosh-pitting machine that required
security to step in so no one got hurt. To
me, that was the peak of the show. Despite
security, nothing stopped Pittsburgh from
having a good time. The city hadn't had
much to cheer about thanks to the Pirates.
All though this was an all ages event with
very little alcohol being served, soon
enough girls were dancing on the bar and
even a few were crowd surfing from one
side of the bar to the other.
After the sweaty haze had lifted from the
exhausted crowd and Wallace had pulled
himself away from numerous groping girls
in the crowd, Secondhand Serenade took
the stage.
For those who have Secondhand Sere
nade on their iPod, they do not sound like
the most energetic band, and the songs ba-
Pitchfork this year, and with
tracks like "A Line in the Dirt"
and "Little Bird," it's easy to un
derstand why. The theme of the
album is lost love. "Little Bird"
is a song about a guy who devel
ops a respect for a small bird on
his porch after his girlfriend
breaks up with him with several
references to the bird being a
reaper-like figure. This album
might strike you as sounding
simpler than the other two in
the trilogy but it doesn't res
onate any less; yet another
album straight from the heart,
Tomorrow Morning, the most
recent release, is about redemp
tion from desire (Hombre Lobo)
and lost love (End Times). The
second track of the album builds
up to an amazing orchestral
chorus where E recounts the
Eden Brent,
9 Ain't Got No Troubles
up another crowd
sically revolve around the lead singer and
guitarist John Vensley. Vensley is an ex
tremely talented acoustic artist, but I
wasn't sure whether or not he could follow
the energetic performances that had pre
ceded him. He started strong, though, with
a few new and unreleased songs. As many
members of the crowd were exhausted
from getting wild with the White Tie Affair,
the music of Secondhand Serenade was a
relaxing cool-down that really tied the
night together. He finishgd the concert with
an enchanting voice and intricate guitar
work that truly wowed the crowd.
It ended as every good concert should,
when Secondhand Serenade came back
and graced their fans with two encore
songs, ending with his most popular "Fall
for You." It's safe to say that everyone in at
tendance left the venue with feelings of sat
isfaction from four solid performances and
remained mesmerized as they took to the
Pittsburgh streets.
After this particular concert, I felt moti
vated make more of an effort to make it to
concerts and give all music more of a
chance. The next time you catch wind of
Camera Can't Lie, Runner Runner, The
White Tie Affair or Secondhand Serenade
coming to a venue near you, make sure
you jump on tickets for a truly entertaining
night that will not be forgotten easily.
flight of a hummingbird to a
new home, with the title "I'm a
Hummingbird." The next track
that struck me was "Oh So
Lovely," because it's completely
full of hope, which isn't neces
sarily the case with the majority
of Everett's songs. Oddly
enough it sounded awesomely
similar to Jeff Buckley's "Hal
lelujah" with the same sort of
rhythmic patterns and sullen ex
pression of redemption.
Speaking to the low-fi pop
side of The Eels music, the track
"Spectacular Girl" stands out as
well with a seamless blend of vi
olin and keyboard. Tomorrow
Morning, all in all, is a great end
to the concept trilogy as well as
an amazing new album from a
band that has yet to let me
down.
3 Teddy Thompson, Bella
6 Interpol, Interpol
10 Sam Prekop,
Old Punch Card
Word Of Mouth
Connor Sattely, editor-in-chief
A lot is made nowadays of
complex melodies, intricate
chord progressions and
clever and creative combina
tions of instrumentals in
music. I believe there is a
trend in "good" music to go
back to the simple, the non
complex, and focus on the
fundamentals of what makes
good music. Good lyrics,
good melodies, a sound that
gels and a message sent by
the entirety of the music that
actually means something.
This is where Brendan
James comes in. I know you
haven't heard of him. It's be
cause he only has one CD out
- The Day is Brave. This CD
does not contain strange har
monies or types of music
you've never heard before. It
contains high quality,
thoughtfully written and per
formed music that I believe
anyone from any taste of
music can enjoy.
The thing that makes Bren
dan James so great, aside
from his stellar vocals, is the
lyrics in the songs. James
writes his songs himself and
channels his life experiences
through the lyrics. They're
not just about anything they
deal with real experiences
that every average person
faces. He also accompanies
himself with instrumentals
and is an accomplished pi
anist.
Culture
If you don't believe me, or
don't want to spend money,
it's no problem. Go on
You Tube and search for Bren
dan James, if you need some
where to start, start with "The
Other Side." I promise you
won't be disappointed. If you
like it, listen some more, and
maybe scrounge up some
change to buy the CD to sup
port this up-and-coming
artist.
James also will be releasing
his second CD, which will be
self-titled and available Sept.
"The album is self-titled be
cause I feel like it's my first
recording that really show
cases the different sides of me
as a musician," James said,
according to an artist-pro
vided biography accompany
ing the album. "It's got
everything from the mellow
to the upbeat, to the somber
to the unashamedly positive.
"I have a lot of different
sides and I wanted to make
sure my music reflected that."
With an accomplished new
producer, Warren Huart (The
Fray, Colbie Caillat, Korn),
James is primed to explode
onto the 2010 music scene as
one of the decade's early suc
cessful solo artists. His new
album promises to be the
launching point of his career.
If you take my advice, you
can say you knew him way
back when.