On
the freezing cold super bowl Sunday of 2007, the Fall of
Troy played a sold out matinee at the First Unitarian Church.
They were joined by up and coming artists Portugal. The
Man, Tera Melos, and their label brothers, Damiera. Probably
because the show started in the afternoon, admittance into
the venue started around the time that the first act began
to play. Nonetheless, most everyone waiting in line to got
in to see at least a couple of songs of Tera Melos’
set.
They had to be one of the best bands to watch I have seen
in a while. I have deprived myself of some of the harder
indie music that is out today, and it was very refreshing
to see bands like Tera Melos who employ their presumably
unlimited talent and fusions of musics that does not easily
work together.
The guitarist Jeff, met Vince, the drummer, at an improvisational
jazz class and the two hit it off when Vince sat in on a
couple of recording/jam sessions. Jeff claimed he was hesitant
to start something with Vince because he was not into “hardcore
punk,” but what came of the practices was nothing
that could be passed up.
Their set consisted of five or six songs that played like
typical jazz in the sense that the songs follow an ever-changing
chord and tempo progression; further there was no need for
vocals nor could vocals comfortably add to the music. In
addition to their highly aggressive and over the top stage
presence, Tera Melos made for a great way to start the show.
Damiera came on next, and aside from their long sound check,
the set was quite entertaining. Given that they had a lot
of trouble with the sound, whatever they were trying to
work out, really worked out. The singer sounded amazing
for playing such a small room with so many people. Everything
was so evenly balanced and so clear, they definitely had
the best sound quality of anyone that played the show. They
played a half hour set of mostly new songs from their recent
release, M(US)IC. There is a lot of intricacy between the
music and the vocals; much of the time the singer uses his
voice as if it were an instrument blended with the rest
of the music. They are not as hard as Fall of Troy or other
artists on Equal Visions Record, but listening to their
instrumentation, it becomes evident why they are on the
same label.
Portugal. The Man have a really great mix of percussion
and melody, it is unlike a lot of music that is out there.
They use a lot of breakdowns in their music, even midway
through a verse. I could really tell by watching them that
they hate getting bored of the same notes through their
songs, they made full use of mild effects and every instrument
on stage. For their final song, “The Devil,”
a few of the band members abandoned their instruments for
tambourines and maracas; they were also joined by Fall of
Troy front man, Tom Erak on guitar. This song was chock
full of jams and soloing that was fit for a venue and crowd
much, much larger than the basement of a church. It started
out with the four members of Portugal playing odd and dark
folky, chant-like music. Tom then ran out and just started
shredding on guitar. This lasted for at least six or seven
minutes. Tom’s guitar just overpowered everything
and even when they tried to return to the normal progression
of the song, they just basically kept jamming off one another.
It was an intense end to an awesome set.
The Fall of Troy began their set with a short jam that I
thought was the beginning of “Laces Out, Dan!,”
but may have been just a sound check since it turned into
a song off their latest release, Doppleganger, “Mouths
Like Sidewinder Missiles.” They spared no time in
winning the crowds attention as Tom jumped into the crowd
almost immediately after starting to play. The other members
exploded into the song as well, thrashing and jumping to
the music. Within no time, the audience broke into pits
full of moshing and hardcore dancing.
The next song ended up being “Laces Out, Dan!,”
which is one of my favorite songs by Fall of Troy which
has a lot to do with the fact that I could tell it is an
amazing song to hear live…it was. That song is so
fast and so heavy, it’s amazing how they play their
songs with such precision considering they move so much
and so aggressively.
Later in the set, “FC Remix” got a great reaction
from the crowd. This song is considered the single off Doppleganger,
and is pretty much the only song they play that has an easily
memorable melody. The crowd was really excited to sing along
to the verse and chorus, Fall of Troy even let the crowd
sing by themselves for some parts.
The final song was “I Just Got This Symphony Goin',”
which was a really good way to end the show. Even on the
studio track, it allows each member to display their talent
individually. It is a great song to begin Doppleganger and
an even better song to end a show. They turned this four
minute song into a ten minute epic of intense guitar soloing,
powerful, fast paced drumming, and heavy, dominating bass;
every member put fourth everything they had. Music needs
more performers like the Fall of Troy, who really put all
they can into their show. It’s just simply inconceivable
this music comes from three kids who are barely allowed
to vote….check them out, you will know what I mean.
The
Fall of Troy
Portugal.
The Man
Damiera
Tera
Melos
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