« Photos/Review:Black Lips with Vivian Girls @ Logan Square Auditorium, 4/22/11 | Preview: A-Trak @ The Mid » |
Review Sat Apr 23 2011
Review: Greek Fire/AM Taxi @ Cubby Bear
Last night Cubby Bear played host to Q101's new music series, "The Q-Up Show" featuring St. Louis, MO breakout act Greek Fire and Chicago's own AM Taxi. The few of us in attendance that didn't overindulge in overpriced Bud Light woke up this morning with the fresh memory of an excellent show.
Pieced together by members of St. Louis's veteran alternative act Story of the Year and other local musicians, Greek Fire's intense on-stage energy and its ability to transcend typical alternative rock conventions have caused a lot of buzz within the band's own local music scene. Judging by crowd's reception of Greek Fire last night, that buzz is starting to filter out nationally.
Being a professional musician, sadly, does not always make you a professional performer. But ideally, as in the members' of Greek Fire's case, performance comes just as naturally as musicianship. Vocalist Phil Sneed, stepping out from behind the confines of his role as rhythm guitarist in his previous band, looked like he'd been playing the part of front man for years. The technicality and outstanding execution of Sneed's backing musicians provided the perfect backdrop for his rowdy performance. This is a band that has purposely set its standards high and will surely continue to gain recognition.
After Greek Fire wrapped up, one of Chicago's newest and most impressive additions to the pop-punk scene AM Taxi took the stage as the evening's billed headliners. After being slightly disappointed by the group's debut full-length We Don't Stand a Chance, I was curious as to whether AM Taxi's live sound would be more like the overproduced, over-thought WDSAC or the band's previous scaled back, hard rocking EPs. The addition of a keyboardist to the band's on-stage lineup and the organ-heavy album version of what was once arguably AM Taxi's most energetic and catchy track ("The Mistake") that kicked off the set all but answered my question.
That's not to say AM Taxi's performance last night was unenjoyable, not by any means. The energy was up and the song selection was excellent. AM Taxi are, if nothing else, consistent. After years with Chicago's Lucky Boys Confusion and other local acts, AM Taxi's members have a clear grasp of what it takes to compose a punk-rock-inspired hit. Adam Krier's strained vocals and nonchalant slouch give him the onstage appearance of a rock star and the group's obvious comfort in being in front of an audience leads one to believe that this is only the beginning of a long and prosperous career for AM Taxi.