EVANS BLUE

This band from Toronto, Canada has built up a nice fan base with their current hit “Cold (But I’m Still Here)” getting lots of radio play right now. I wasn’t sure what to expect from these guys since they haven’t been out very long. And with this being their first national tour you never know what you’re going to get from first time acts.

I had listened to their album “The Melody And The Energetic Nature Of Volume” for a few weeks before they came to town and liked the sound of it. Vocalist Matisyn has an almost melodic sound to his voice as he goes from barely a whisper to full out screams.

They went through maybe 10 songs in their set, which included “Beg”, “Over”, “Dark That Follows”, “The Promise And The Threat”, and they even did their cover of the Sarah Mclachlan song “Possession”. They ended their set with the current single “Cold (But I’m Still Here)”.

They ended up playing a good set and had a great show, although I think some better lighting could have made them look so much better.  I would have really liked to see them on the bigger stage instead of the smaller one there at Warehouse Live, which almost seemed to small for this line up.

After their set, the guys hung out on the floor and let fans get up close and take pictures, get autographs and just talk to them.  Before I left that night, I saw them again by the vendor’s booth signing T-shirts, hats and posters.  I thought that was very cool of them to do because you don’t see that anymore at shows – not unless you stand in line and pay 25 bucks for a CD that you already have just to get an autograph.

If you get a chance, give these guys a listen.  If you want to see them, their next stop in Houston will be at Buzz Fest in the Woodlands June 17th.

TAPROOT

Ever sine hearing their first album “Gift”, I have been a Taproot fan.  Starting in 2000 this Ann Arbor, MI group has been bringing their unmistakable sound to their fans. This was a show I have been looking forward to for a very long time, as I always seemed to miss them when they did come to town.  Even though we waited a few hours to get them on the stage, it was well worth it.

Hitting the stage at 12:35am, which at most shows, isn’t all that big of a deal, but remember now this was a Thursday night show.  All I could hear from people in the crowded room was “I don’t think I’m going to work tomorrow.”  Taproot started and did not stop for almost two hours.

They went through an impressive set of songs from all three of their albums “Gift”, “Welcome” and “Blue Sky Research”.  During the second song, singer Stephen Richards went in to the crowd and began moshing with the fans while still singing. This was to be only the first of his off stage appearances.

Through out their set he would go out into the crowd and shake hands, go to the bar for a drink, take pictures – and all this while they were still playing.  I thought this was one of the most fan friendly shows I had ever seen.

Somewhere in the middle of the show they started doing the Pearl Jam song “Alive”, which I think was meant to be a joke, with Richards trying to do his best Eddie Vedder impression, but the crowd got into it and starting singing along.  About half way into it, Richards couldn’t stop laughing and decided that was too much for him and went back to doing Taproot songs.

By the end of the night I was very satisfied even though it was 2:30am and you could still hear people saying “I’m not going to work tomorrow”.  I was one of them.  I was not disappointed in the least and will without a doubt see Taproot again if I get a chance.