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Review Sun Mar 17 2013
Review: Anberlin, Bottom Lounge 3/14
Stephen Christian is obviously tired of singing older Anberlin songs. This makes sense given the fact he's performed songs off the band's breakout album Never Take Friendship Personal like "Paperthin Hymn" hundreds upon hundreds of times over the last eight years. I get the sense that he's hasn't necessarily turned his back on them. He just seems a bit bored. On Thursday, during Anberlin's headlining show at the Bottom Lounge he sang matured songs like opener "The Resistance" and the aforementioned "Paperthin Hymn" with almost total disregard for their original vocal melodies -- changing keys and octaves unexpectedly. I love when bands diverge a bit from recordings during their live performances, but at times it was a bit much.
On the other hand, Christian sounded outstanding on more recent tracks, most notably songs off the band's 2012 release Vital. Given the album's most complex sound to date for the band, he was clearly happier with the challenges that songs like "Self-Starter" and the incredibly moving "Other Side" present.
I've had the pleasure of following this band since its earliest days and have seen them on all sorts of stages -- teenie tiny clubs', theaters', festivals' -- and, as a whole, they've never sounded better musically than at the Bottom Lounge last week. Props to whoever was doing the sound that night. The guitar tones were almost perfectly translated from the records. The drums were poignant but not overpowering. And the vocals held up well against the heaviest, most rock-induced songs. Even the acoustic rendition of "The Unwinding Cable Car" sounded great in the packed club.
I admit I was a bit nervous after the first couple of songs, however, with their most powerful album yet under their belts, Anberlin seems more invigorated than ever. If anyone with the right influence is reading this, can we please consider them for a Riot Fest set?