The Starting Line & Chris Farren – Est. 1999 Tour Review

November 30, 2019 Leave a comment

The Starting Line are a band in the pop punk and alternative scene that have now been around for twenty years, as of this year. To celebrate this anniversary and major milestone in their career, the band did several shows throughout the year, and I attended the Denver, Colorado show.

          Chris Farren opened the Denver show, and I’ve seen him live once before, when he opened for Free Throw back in September. He played a little bit of a longer set compared to the last time I saw him, and since his album “Born Hot” had been released in October, he incorporated a lot of newer songs into his setlist, including “Search 4 Me,” “Domain Lapse,” “Love Theme From “Born Hot,” and more. He also played older material, including one of my favorite songs of his, “Human Being.” Chris has a lot of charisma and passion that really shows through his live performance, and he puts on such a captivating live set overall. Some of the highlights from the performance were the signs behind him saying things such as “applause” and “guitar solo,” (as well as showcasing his original art), and the fact that he walked through the crowd and went up to the balcony to perform one of the songs.

Not too long after Chris finished his set, The Starting Line finally took the stage, and they played a variety of songs from throughout their discography. They played a large amount of earlier hits, such as “Up & Go,” “Almost There, Going Nowhere,” “Cheek To Cheek,”  “Left Coast Envy,” “The Drama Summer,” and “The Best Of Me” from their debut LP “Say It Like You Mean It,” and “Leaving” and “Greg’s Last Day” from their debut EP “The Hopes Of Starting Over.” The set also included songs from releases later on in their career, such as “Surprise, Surprise,” “Inspired By The $,” and “Making Love To The Camera” from “Based On A True Story,” and “Direction,” “Birds,” “Are You Alone,” “Island,” and “Way With Words” from “Direction,” as well as the three songs off of their 2016 EP “Anyways”: “Luck,” “Quitter,” and “Anyways.” One of the most interesting parts about this show was the fact that the vocalist would tell stories about the band’s history after every few songs, and would sometimes use those stories to introduce some of the songs they would play next. The stories discussed quite a few parts of the band’s career, from how they first got together to the process of making some of the music they incorporated into their setlist for the tour.

The Est. 1999 Tour was a very unique experience with two really great acts and I’m glad I got the chance to attend.

Venue: Summit Music Hall | City: Denver, CO | Date: 11/15/2019

Review by Megan Langley | Instagram

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Free Throw ft Chris Farren, Youth Fountain & Macseal | Fall 2019 Tour

September 29, 2019 Leave a comment

I’ve heard a lot about Free Throw over the past couple of years through the albums they’ve released and tours they’ve been apart of, but really became a fan of them this year when they released their third album, “What’s Past Is Prologue.” The band began a headlining tour in support of this record, with support from Chris Farren, Youth Fountain and Macseal, which I attended the Denver date of.

Macseal kicked off the night. The emo/alternative quartet played songs that spanned their discography as a band so far, from playing “Cats” and “5:45 AM (Not Fun)” from their 2015 self-titled debut EP, to “Harry” and “Next To You” from their 2017 release “Yeah, No, I Know,” and “Golden Hour” and “Sure, Thing Shelly” (which was a great choice to open the set with) from their most recent EP to date, 2018’s “Map It Out.” Their set also included music from their upcoming debut LP, “Super Enthusiast,” – the lead single “Always Hazy,” and another new song from the record. Macseal put on a very fun and energetic set and started off the show very well.

Speaking of energy, that’s easily a word I’d use to describe the set from the next band, Youth Fountain. The Canadian pop punk band played several songs from their recently released debut album, “Letters To Our Former Selves,” an album that has also quickly become one of my favorites of this year so far. I love the band’s more emotional and slightly aggressive take on pop punk, and that all shows even more through their incredible live show. From the set opener (Rose Coloured Glass) to the song that not only closed out their set, but also closes out their album (“Blooms”) and the many songs in between (“Letters To Our Former Selves,” “Complacent,” “Worried,” “Moody,” “Deadlocked,” and “Grinding Teeth”), the crowd was singing and shouting along with them, bringing as much energy and passion as the band did throughout the entire set.

 

Next up was Chris Farren, who’s been releasing music under his own name for a few years now. He opened with the very catchy “Search 4 Me,” one of two singles that he’s released so far from his upcoming record, “Born Hot.” (The other single of the two is “Surrender,” which he played later on in the set). He also played a lot of previous material, including the singles “Where U Are” and “The Way That I Love U Has Changed,” and three songs from his sophomore album “Can’t Die” – “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Human Being,” and “Say You Want Me.”

Closing out the night was Free Throw. Throughout their hour long set, they played eleven songs, also spanning from throughout their entire discography, including a handful of tracks from “What’s Past Is Prologue” (“The Corner’s Dilemma,” “Tail Whip, Struggle,” “You Don’t Say That” and the title track), as well as some older favorites, such as “Better Have Burn Heal” and “Randy, I Am The Liquor” from their sophomore album “Bear Your Mind,” and “Tongue Tied,” “Two Beers In,” and “Good Job, Champ,” from their debut LP, “These Days Are Gone.” With each song they played, the band brought so much energy and so much emotion, putting on a great live show overall.

Photos + Review courtesy of Megan Langley | Instagram

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