Last Night at Legend's...

Why does that sound like a bad way to start out a sentence the morning after?

Anyway, last night at Legend's, I saw Mae perform with The Hush Sound and New Atlantic. I love LOVE LOVE Mae (make fun if you must), and was absolutely stoked when I found out they were coming here! I had already checked out the Hush Sound with some friends when they were here in January and was actually surprised that they had come back, but I don't question. So, here are some pics and a mini-review-let...

I had never heard of New Atlantic before last night, and they apparently still haven't released their debut album yet, so I couldn't even hazard a guess at what songs they played. My perception of them, I'll admit, is a little skewed...During their set, I was standing basically right next to the 2 gigantic speakers off to the left side of the stage, which had me reeling after about 2 minutes. I'm sure I would've enjoyed their music if I was actually able to hear it, but alas, I was being bombarded by sound waves that were seriously starting to give me a headache. Additionally, something was amiss with the soundcheck. I couldn't tell if all the high-pitched whines before and during songs were intentional (a few times they just seemed to run with it rather than giving semi-discreet hand gestures to the guy in the back) or just the result of shoddy technicians. Maybe someday I'll give them a second chance in a controlled environment.

Fortunately, by the time The Hush Sound came on, I used my teeny-ness to my advantage and managed to wind my way away from said abominable speakers and more towards front and center. I'm not going to lie, I enjoy The Hush Sound, as long as I ignore that they're signed to Pete Wentz's label. They also play an excellent live show, proving that they actually have some talent rather than talented producers to touch things up in the studio. I remember that they played 13 songs last night, and I'm pretty certain I have them in close to the correct order here (Feel free to correct me)...

1. We Intertwined
2. In the Desert
3. Don't Wake Me Up
4. Lion's Roar
5. Sweet Tangerine
6. Where We Went Wrong
7.The Market
8. Momentum
9. Tides Change
10. A Dark Congregation
11. Magnolia
12. Lighthouse
13. Wine Red

I was, first of all, impressed that they managed to fit 13 songs into one hour! Legend'sgave every band an hour to play, which was easy for New Atlantic, who played maybe 6 or 7 songs, but 13 is a lot! Of course, this meant that they had to cut down a little on audience interaction, which is too bad if you recall how personable they were last time, but I won't complain because I got some extra music out of it. They too, however, were having some technical difficulties, especially Bob, who had to ask each time after the first 4 songs for something to get turned up, turned on, or turned down...Not the same thing, I hope.

You know what I said about every band playing for an hour? Well, Mae ran a little bit over that, but I know that I for one didn't mind, hehe. Here's their exact set list, and I know because I took a picture of the set list:

1. Telescopes*
2. Summertime
3. Suspension
4. This Is the Countdown
5. This Time Is the Last Time
6. Runaway
7. The Ocean
8. Embers and Envelopes
9. Waiting*
10. Painless
11. Someone Else's Arms
(Encore)
12. Goodbye, Goodnight
13. Anything

The *s indicate that these are new tracks off their new album Singularity, which is coming out a little later this Spring. Admittedly, lead singer Dave doesn't have a very good voice--A little too high-pitched and nasally for my taste--But these guys are such great musicians that it doesn't matter. In particular, Rob is one of the sweetest keyboardist I have ever seen live; he gets so into the music, thrashing about and all that, while still managing to keep his hands on the keyboard. Now that's impressive!

Another nice touch to the night was the (really tasty-looking) chocolate cake they brought out to wish they're guitar tech (Booter, I think his name was?) a happy 21st birthday. The guys probably didn't interact with the audience as much as they could have--I recall an extremely awkward silence between "Runaway" and "The Ocean" where there was almost complete silence for 10 seconds before they started playing again. However, the energy they put in the harder-rock type songs like "Someone Else's Arms" and others from The Everglow more than made up for it in my opinion.

Props to you, Legend's...They've been bringing in some pretty decent acts this semester! Keep it up...Or else...