I love when I time things just right and upon walking in the door of a venue to see a concert I am greeted with the band taking the stage within minutes of my arrival. This was the case when I went to see San Diego’s Pinback and Glasgow, Scotland’s Frightened Rabbit. Just as my friend and I were getting our first beer and trying to figure out where we were going to set up camp for the show, Frightened Rabbit took the stage. I must admit I had little interest in seeing Frightened Rabbit after a very quick unfair listen of some of their songs from their myspace site. After the first song I looked to my friend and gave him the universal “that was not too bad” glance. By the third song not only was I starting to get into it but the three quarters full venue was starting to get into it as well. Frightened Rabbit were rocking the joint pretty hard with their brand of short heartfelt rock songs. These guys were playing their hearts out up there. The drummer looked like he was trying to smash his drumsticks thru his drumheads. His facial expressions were of the sort that you could tell this guy was giving it everything he had and leaving nothing behind. The lead singer was pretty passionate as well. Flailing about shaking his head with sweat blowing off his brow being backlit by the somber lit stage. It just felt like such a sincere rock and roll moment. By the end of the set I was pretty sure I would stop by the merch table to buy a cd from them.
After a moderate wait, Pinback came onto the stage with little ado. Prior to this they actually were getting their own equipment ready instead of roadies. It took me a few minutes to realize that it was Rob Crow up on the stage getting his own equipment ready. I am not a song name remembering kind of person but they opened the show with a song I was not familiar with. I was instantly disappointed in the sound coming from the stage. The vocals were mixed way to high and the guitar was really lost behind the drums and the vocals and the bass was there but kind of just muddled in nowhere. I have noticed this from time to time when seeing live shows that it sometimes takes about 2 songs or so for the sound man to get everything right mix wise so I was not overly concerned. By the time song three had rolled around they had already done one of my favorites “The Devil You Know” and things were not getting any better sound wise. The sound mix was ok to acceptable for some of the songs but that may have just been a fluke. I have been to several shows at the Fine Line and I have never had issues like this with the mix before. I then started wondering if it was not maybe partially the band. They really did not seem that into it and the crowd was not very responsive like they were for Frightened Rabbit. I thought this to be strange, I mean how often do you go to a show where the opening band really just rocks so hard that the main band just pretty much falls flat? This was the case at the Pinback show.One irritating thing is that they kept playing this sample between the songs from some 80’s style heavy metal band saying “thank you” between songs. I got a chuckle out of it at first, but it started to get old as they would do it several times during the song breaks. To make matters worse, they were playing their songs way to fast. Fortress their lone “radio hit” was terribly sped up and it suffered from the sped up playing style. Part of what allures me to Pinback is the layers upon layers of subtle sound and small details that fill their music. Most of those sounds were there it is just that the band did not seem very tight, which it needs to be for full appreciation in their sound in my opinion.
I am pretty bummed that I am bummed about the Pinback show. Part of it may be unjust very high expectations on my part but that is only part of it. There are things that could have been better that simply were not. Pinback’s “energy” was lacking. It was not the crisp high quality I am used to in their studio recordings. Maybe they are a studio band? Frankly the mix was maybe the worst I have seen in recent concert history. I don’t know and I am curious to other’s thoughts on their experiences seeing Pinback live. I went to see Pinback and left a Frightened Rabbit. I still love Pinback, but I gained another band. The way I see it, I am still up one band.Stay tuned for a review of Frightened Rabbit's record "Sing the Greys".
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