A couple of days back, I made a last-minute decision to go to a Relient K concert at the Fillmore in San Francisco. This post is a quick recap of the experience and includes my thoughts on all the performances.
After work on Wednesday, I grabbed a quick dinner and biked from the Financial District to the Fillmore. It was a two-mile bike, which didn’t seem too bad. I was to soon find out that much of the two miles was uphill. Not fun.
Despite the initial bump in the road (ha), I managed to make it to the Fillmore, meet up with some friends – William, Peter, and Hernan – and enter the venue.
The Fillmore is a beautiful concert hall, with classy chandeliers, an intimate feel, and lots of great poster artwork. It’s actually quite a historic and famous location, best known for housing a lot of the biggest psychedelic rock acts back in the 60s.
The concert started with an opening act – House of Heroes, an alt rock band. I wasn’t expecting much, but they surprised me pleasantly with some catchy songs and lots of energy, perfect to get the crowd excited. The high point happened during a later song, when they stopped playing their instruments in the middle of that song and did some a cappella harmonizing.
Next up was the first act – William Beckett. His stuff had more of an alt/country feel to it, but I wasn’t really feeling it. I thought he had a very good and unique voice, but I think the big thing that was missing was a backing band. He played guitar along with a prerecorded band, which was a bit weird and just didn’t have the same effect as a live band.
Hellogoodbye nearly stole the show. Nearly. Best known for their hit “Here in Your Arms” from six years back, the band had an entirely different sound for the rest of its songs. I would say more of a pop rock/power pop sound. They were upbeat, connected well with the crowd, and really got the crowd moving. A perfect transition to the final act.
Relient K. I’ve been listening to them since middle school, so when Matt Thiessen and company came on the stage, I definitely experienced feelings of nostalgia and excitement. What a performance. From newer songs from their last couple of albums to oldies from their first album, the set did not disappoint. The band was fun, and the crowd absolutely loved everything the band had to offer. The group even played three new songs from their upcoming album.
Best songs from their performance: “Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been,” “Savannah,” “Devastation and Reform,” “Be My Escape.”
All in all, I had an awesome time at the concert. Experiencing music live, especially music from bands that you enjoy listening to, is something else. The added nostalgia factor was a bonus – who doesn’t want to look back at the good old days and remember the fun times?
Pressing on at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.
