by Lillian Cain of My Denton Music

Tinker and his band displayed a great passion throughout their set, and I hope that passion will take them many great places.

Show Date: 4/9/09

Bill: Andrew Tinker, Fishboy, Disco:Hate at the Boiler Room

First on the stage entered Fishboy, a small awkward-looking fellow with clear-rimmed glasses and straight leg jeans, whom earlier I had seen pacing around the bar with both arms straight at his sides in an awkward, rigid gait. The first word that came to mind as I heard his music was eccentric, which ironically was the first physical impression I got as I watched him wander the room. It is definitely not something you could just put on in the background and ignore neither turn it up and rock out, but there is a lot of originality in his music. Fishboy, if anything, is a lyricist. His words seemed to be spoken in rhythm with only vague melodic structure. If you're someone who loves a good melody then this is probably not your style. Personally, I am that someone, but I can respect a pure lyricist when I meet one. His voice had the timbre of Colin Meloy of the Decemberists, with a similar sort of programatic style but with less melody involved, while the content of his music seemed closer to that of Conner Oberst, especially when he performed an acoustic piece. All in all, not something I would jam out to, but definitely something that I can appreciate and respect.

The next group, Disco:Hate, didn't attain the same respect from me, however. Dressed in Levi jeans and New Balance tennis shoes, that imbalance reflected the same weird synthesis they seemed to be trying to create in their music. Their portion of the show began with what sounded like an Indian melody that then attempted to mesh with the twang of country music. Awkward is a good word to describe the way their music sounds and made me feel. There never seemed to emerge any sort of melody or structure and there never seemed to be any auditory or lyrical conclusion to any of their songs, whose separation was only discernible via gaps in time. I found myself feeling bored with their music and the audience seemed to feel the same, with only a handful of people noticeably even paying attention.

This, so far, was my first experience at the Boiler Room. I was exhausted, hungry, and frankly a little irritable at this point. It was a Thursday and I had class the next day in less than 12 hours, all I could think about was how hard it was going to be to get up for class the next day and honestly it had been a rough past weeks. I really just wanted to be at home in my bed asleep and the only two things that kept me from staying home that night were an obligation and a rumor about Andrew Tinker and his music. And it was a good thing I stayed until the end.

By their first appearance I got that they were organized, Andrew knows what he's doing, why he's doing it, and how to do it and the first indication of that was at a glance. Every band member looked put together and genuinely happy, everyone was often smiling and there seemed to be a great positive connection between them, which was something extremely refreshing to see. Before his music even began the audience almost immediately grew in size just in pure anticipation. Already I found myself excited and curious to see what this band had to offer and I hadn't even heard a sound. Once the music began I couldn't help but just smile. Funk style guitar meshing with a driving rhythmic groove, upbeat blues piano and Andrew's smooth Jason Mraz-esque voice made for this music that seemed to lift my spirits, whether I wanted it or not. It wasn't just a one man show, though. Throughout the night it was made very evident that not only were these all passionate musicians, but that they were clearly talented. Andrew seemed to have an innate sense of pitch and a voice that sounded both fluid and raw at the appropriate times. The guitarist demonstrated a vast technical and musical facility, instigating frequent cheers and yells from the audience, and even the drummer and bass player had solos that made you want more. Consistently throughout the entire show the energy was absolutely radiating from the stage, seeming to spread through the audience like wildfire with the same tenacity and passion that Andrew Tinker makes clear in his music. I couldn't believe how powerful their positive energy was, even during slower tunes like their cover of "Let It Be" there still remained a strong presence of hopefulness that I feel so many of us forget exists.

The thing that I liked most about Andrew Tinker though wasn't their obvious talent or their professional yet down-to-earth appearance, but the immense passion that was present that night. Not just passion for music, but a spiritual passion that seeped through the music. Whether it be a regimented religion or not I am not one to know or say, but it was very clear that at the least there is a spiritual foundation present. No matter who you are or what religion you do or do not follow, there is a chance that at some point in your life you've experienced something on a spiritual level. And if you have, then you understand passion. Whether it be a passion for music, for God, for love, even for hate, I have found that passion on any level is one of the most important ingredients for just living a fulfilled life. For a successful band, passion is absolutely key. Whether we know it or not we are very good at detecting passion in music because we can hear it. It's a difference that we can't quite articulate and sometimes don't even realize, but yet we know it's there because we can somehow feel the difference. That difference was the most obvious thing I heard when I listed to Andrew Tinker, and maybe it's just me, but I think and hope that passion will take them many great places.

What do you think?