Thursday, June 12, 2008
Concert Review: Mates of State at the Granada (June 11)
Because of its location and intimate setting, the Granada Theater has stood the test of time by continuing to be one of the most popular venues in the area. Wednesday it hosted the wonderful Mates of State, along with The Headlights and Black Joe Lewis.
As The Headlights got on stage and began their set, I was a little fearful that the petite crowd wouldn’t pick up. But as the music filtered through the building, stragglers that were roaming around found their way to the hall.
Most of the crowd wore the same skinny jeans and band tees, Mates definitely has their following. The average age was between 17 and 25.
The Headlights played a quick set, filled with fast tempo duets from the female and male vocalists. The female was a show herself. She played the keyboard while singing, much like Mates of State, but she also had a liveliness that created the bands’ pulse. She would crouch on the ground and shoot up with a tambourine, or play the bongo drum along with the bass player. She demanded the audiences’ involvement multiple times by asking everyone to clap.
If the Raveonettes decided to make songs with Mates of State and take out the organ, that is how The Headlights would sound. They are on tour with Mates, I can see why they picked this band. Their sounds flow perfectly together for a great show.
Black Joe Lewis followed, arousing the audience with soulful rock and roll. Joe Lewis has a band of 6 guys, 3 of which play the saxophones and trumpet. I felt like I was listening to classic James Brown. Their style jumped out from the other bands, but the audience undeniably received them warmly. They had everyone on their feet, moving their bodies to the beat and smiling.
As the night progressed, everyone began to get eager for Mates. When the first organ notes were played, the entire room erupted in cheers.
Corey and Jason looked cuter than ever, happy to be together and doing what they love.
One of their first songs was their newest single, “Get Better”, from their newly released fourth album. They sang most tracks from this album, but also from Bring It Back. They sang a couple from Team Boo, including “Ha Ha”.
Their happy-to-be-alive sound is intoxicating to everyone who knows them. The energy in their music is amazing. On this tour they added a cello player and a violinist, who are also on their new album. They added extra facets to older songs, including “Think Long” giving the tracks extra color that could only be heard live.
After their encore, it was obvious that everyone in attendance wanted more. But it seems that Corey and Jason like Dallas (they stop by on every tour), so hopefully we’ll be seeing them again soon.
