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Review Fri Apr 05 2013
Review: Andrew McMahon @ Lincoln Hall, 4/4/13
All photos by Katie Karpowicz
Earlier this year Buzzfeed published a tribute piece on Something Corporate's "legendary" emo anthem "Konstantine" in light of the fact that the song has now been around for 10 years. Being mentioned on a website that typically worships A-list mainstream idols like Beyonce and Ryan Gosling truly put the song's pervasiveness into perspective. If you were a high schooler or college student in the early to mid-2000s, there's a serious chance you heard this song at some point -- despite the fact that it never actually made it onto any of Something Corporate's albums.
Most popular songs written by an emotional 20-year-old lose their meaning after a while and likely even sound unbearably immature a decade later. Perhaps McMahon's continued success has something to do with his ability to write songs with meanings that transform with age. Watching McMahon's encore performance of "Konstantine" last night at Lincoln Hall, I realized something. The song doesn't mean the same thing it meant to me in my teens, but it still means just as much.
It makes sense that McMahon is finally venturing out as a solo artist. After forming and eventually disbanding two successful bands -- Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin -- it's clear he's always been the songwriter, the frontman, the singer, the performer that fans naturally gravitate towards, unfortunately leaving other contributing band members in the shadows. In the past, he's seemed gracious towards former band mates, but, as a solo artist, McMahon's comprises will be at a minimum and creativity, hopefully, at the max. This is probably for the best as the new songs performed last night (including the especially keyboard-filled "Synesthesia") suggest McMahon is shifting directions yet again, upping his pop music game and welcoming some electronic elements.

That said, McMahon's live band is now more robust than ever including two guitarists, a keyboardist, drummer, bassist and — of course — McMahon on the piano.
Last night's set was a dream. In addition to the new tracks and "Konstantine," McMahon cruised through generous handfuls of both SoCo ("I Woke Up In A Car," "Watch The Sky," If U C Jordan") and Jack's Mannequin ("Bruised," "The Resolution," "Holiday From Real") songs.
I was once again reminded of McMahon's influence on his generation after catching the burly, bearded, stone-faced security guard near me break character and begin mouthing to words to "Straw Dog." Hopefully McMahon's still finding new meanings in his now decade-old songs like his fans are because we definitely aren't tired of hearing them.
