ATTACK OF THE SYNTHS: The Naked and Famous and The Colourists at the 9:30 Club

On a somewhat cold Monday night, Sam and Jordan decided to go to the 9:30 Club and check out the sold out show featuring The Naked and Famous. This is what we had to say about them.

Jordan: It’s not often that the opening act is better than the headliner but in this case, that’s what happened and I was shocked.

Sam: You fell in love with someone that Monday night there didn’t you?

Jordan: Yes, yes I did, it was with the drummer from The Colourist, Maya. She looked like Lindsey from Freaks and Geeks and drummed like no one I’ve ever seen live before.

Sam: She was awesome, like really awesome. Her flairs were always on point, the rhythm was on point the entire time.

Jordan: It was incredible that she was capable of singing and drumming at the same time! Some people can do it but she really nailed it. Just like I’d like to nail her.

Sam: Just like how she nailed that one cymbal. Seriously, she loved that one cymbal more than those frat bros at the front loved her.

Jordan: Oh the frat bros! They had such well-synchronized dancing. They were the true entertainment of the night. They were the only movement amidst a still crowd.

bros

Sam: Disregarding them, The Colourists were seriously impressive. The stage setup showed how important all four members of the band were. They sounded like Tokyo Police Club in the sense of the drums–so drum-heavy.

Jordan: But really, Maya carried that band. The show was all about her and her drumming. I’ve never heard a band carried solely by its drummer.

our feelings on the drummer

Sam: She was the star, no doubt. I wanted to listen more of their stuff but, of course, they were just the opener.

Jordan: Let’s talk about the headliner, The Naked and Famous (TNAF), for a hot minute.

Sam: First, I was adamant that the stage dropped 5 feet before the TNAF appeared. Then I realized the lights were just ridiculous.

Jordan: I’m still recovering from the flash grenades, I mean, light show, that they played.

Sam: I wasn’t sure if it was a concert or an experiment on how to trigger a seizure.

Jordan: Or blind your audience. I didn’t realize that there was a drummer in the band until five songs in.  When we were finally able to see the stage, all I saw were four synths and this guy who looked really out of place. He was dancing on stage but not playing an instrument. Later, we figured out that he was the bass player but few of their songs use actual instruments so he didn’t have much of a role.

Sam: The lighting was also just a tad too much for the small stage of the 9:30 Club. I think they were trying to recreate the U2 360 Tour in terms of lighting. Seriously though, I thought the sound was awful for their show. Four synths was too much, I could barely hear the vocals!

Jordan: What about those guitar changes? They changed guitars after every song. I stayed just to see the guy who brought the new guitars onstage. He was a gnarly-looking dude. He had cut-off capri jeans, a rad beard and a headlamp. He was the coolest looking dude on that stage.

Sam: They changed guitars after every song, it was ridiculous!

Jordan: And it’s not like they really needed those guitar changes. Could you hear any guitar? No. It was all synth.

Sam: The guy doing the sound wasn’t that great at making the sound work in the venue. There were not enough vocals and the guitars and bass were barely audible over the synths. I also remember a particular few seconds of pretty bad feedback during the concert–ouch dude. Also, there needs to be a quota on the number of synths allowed onstage. That needs to be a law.

Jordan: I think all that synth action acted like reverse psychology on the crowd. Usually, the use of electronic instruments influence a crowd to dance more, but in this case, everyone was still. So still, in fact, that we could hear conversations!

Sam: Yeah, seriously, people paid to go to this show and just stood in a circle with their friends and talked the entire time. Why are you at the concert? Gosh, we are just absolutely haters.

Jordan: Except for the frat bros and those random moshers. Who moshes at an indie concert? However, they weren’t terrible. They weren’t the best performers but their recorded music is still good. They could’ve structured their setlist better and synthesized less, but overall, they’re still talented. Their records are different than most of the other records out there.

dancing though

Sam: I enjoy their recordings, I just found the show audibly underwhelming and visually overwhelming.

Jordan: Agreed.

–Sam Lu and Jordan Farley

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