Music is a big part of my life. I didn't get into music until I was about 14, and since then, I can't stop listening, exploring, and seeing music. I am an avid concert goer, especially to music festivals. I've been to Bonnaroo 3 years in a row, plus I've also been to Lollapalooza and Pitchfork Music Festival. I'm from Nashville, TN and my girlfriend and I are constantly seeing shows in that area. From garage rock, to coffee shop soloists, to italo disco raves. Collectively, I've seen over 250 concerts in the last 3 years. Nashville has it all. One of my biggest fears in moving to Ithaca, NY was not being able to have the luxury of a thriving music scene in my town... but to my surprise, I was very wrong.
Once I got to Ithaca, I instantly searched all the local theaters and concert settings, and I was shocked. The State Theatre features many big name artists, so I started there. I noticed that one of my favorite alternative/indie rock artists, Spoon, was beginning their 2014 album release tour at The State on Friday, August 29! As soon as I could, my friend Michael and I purchased tickets at the box office. I was so excited.
Come Friday, I walked into The State. At first, and was very disappointed. I saw that it was seated, the theater felt like an oven, and everyone was loud. So loud that even as the opener came on, people just kept talking. It was very rude. Still, my excitement stuck with me as I anticipated Spoon.
It took close to an hour and half until Spoon took the stage. But just as they did, everyone jumped out of their seats and started rejoicing. I have to say, I was amazed. They sounded incredible just in their opening song. The lights were brilliant and the theater just felt so much more alive with the band finally playing. Everyone ditched their assigned seats and moved forward, cramming the aisles and pushed up close by the front of the stage.
Spoon has this very "we know what we are doing" sound. Their lyrics flow, their bass riffs are so satisfying and groovy, and their guitars bring out this perfect twang that just makes everything sound so suave. Unfortunately, their sound did not reflect their overall stage performance. Albeit it was their first show of the tour, many things were sloppy. The lead singer dropped his mic multiple times, the mic stand was rolling all over the place, most of the time the back stage curtain was left open and you could see all the on-goings of the crew. I quickly got over that when I realized how I was mesmerized by the lights and sound. About halfway through the performance, I moved out of the pit and stood way back, by the light and sound board. This is where I could really see the professionalism of the show. The talent was just radiating off of these technicians. You could see all their hard work paying off.
All in all, I loved the show. There were moments of frustration and discomfort before Spoon took the stage, but all that faded with the rising of the curtain and the perfect sound they gave the crowd. Money well spent. They closed with 6 encore songs and left their audience smiling as we all exited that hot and sweaty theater.
