Concert Review: Copeland, Lovedrug, Lydia, Lights
Artists: Copeland, Lovedrug, Lydia, Lights
Venue: First Unitarian Universalist Church, Philadelphia, PA
Date: October 24, 2008
Review by: Eric Pettersson
Is there any better way to celebrate your birthday than to see one of your favorite bands play? This is what I got to do with Copeland last Friday night. The venue, locally referred to only as “the church,” is an old 18th century church in historic, center city Philadelphia that still has an active congregation today. Somehow R5 Productions gained use of the building for concerts, which on this night including Mirah playing in the sanctuary an hour or two before my show, Copeland, began in a large room downstairs. Large in the sense of what is probably used as a banquet hall within the church, but smaller than the average concert venue for sure. This lead to the bands and crowd building that intimate feeling only found in small, tight venues, which was a definite plus this night as Aaron Marsh was the most talkative and energetic I have ever seen him.
Before Copeland were, of course, the opening acts, starting with Lights. A girl probably around the age of 20 hit the stage with a mic and a keyboard followed by a band including bass, drums, and maybe another keyboard. Her music was a blend of crisp, mellow indie music with slightly sappy emo-pop. It took two or three songs to grow on me, but I was soon turning to my concert buddy, saying I liked what I was hearing. Sadly, the fact that she was an attractive young girl singer with a somewhat trendy sense of style lead to her being harassed by a number of guys throughout the night, including a reference to Avril Lavigne and a couple of sexual comments. It seems rather pathetic to me that the state of rock and roll is still so sexist. This is a topic that will probably inspire a whole article or two out of me at some point, but for now, let’s continue with the show review.
Next were Lydia, who tried to be a little edgier than worked for their vocalist. They fit stylistically among the other bands on this tour, but to put it in Copeland terms, Lydia’s vocalist was definitely a better fit for songs like “Coffee” than “Pin Your Wings.” And he was good, and his band was good, but for some reason it ended up being a little boring for me and not very memorable. However, I would be up for giving them another shot if someone wanted me to listen to their CD.
Lovedrug brought the rock. Michael Shepard’s voice was on spot along with his guitar and piano. As far as I can remember, more songs were played on the piano than guitar, but either way the energy was high and the crowd was loving it. The band’s new album, The Sucker Punch Show, wasn’t officially being released for another week or so on The Militia Group, but they had copies and were selling them on tour in advance, as well as playing a good variety of new tunes and old favorites.
For a band known primarily for their softness, their gentle piano and Aaron’s smooth, high, charming voice, Copeland played an unusual amount of faster, more upbeat songs. As said earlier, Aaron also offered much more stage banter than usual, and he was actually smiling most of the time. Maybe it was the small, packed venue that gave him this fun attitude. Maybe he’s just at a different point in life than he was the last four or five times I’ve seen them play. But whatever it was, it might the night a lot of fun. In my mind, Copeland shows are something you usually sit back for and enjoy the music, or possibly, if you are a diehard fan, you stand up front and sing every word. But on this occasion, everyone, front and back, had to cheer and sing along with all their might. Songs were played from all four albums, focusing especially on the middle two (In Motion and Eat, Sleep, Repeat), but taking care to introduce the new ones (You Are My Sunshine). The night had two signature marks of a Copeland show. One, they played “When Paula Sparks,” which is always guaranteed. Apparently they’ve never played a show without it. Two, they ignored the cheers for one more song. In all my years watching this band play live, I’ve never once seen them give in to that call.
A good line-up in a good venue led to a good night. A complaint about times could be made (the show didn’t start till 9:30, so I didn’t get out close to 1:00), but that has little to do with the performance of the bands, all of which were very positive parts of this concert.