Concert Review: Anberlin / Switchfoot with Atomic Tom (Columbus)

By Ryan G

September 30th brought one of the best tour lineups in a long time to central Ohio.  Long time friends Anberlin and Switchfoot have paired up for a co-headlining tour this fall, and they played to a sold out crowd at the Newport Music Hall in Columbus.

Brooklyn’s Atomic Tom opened the evening, with a strong set of 80s influenced alternative tunes.  They concluded with their single “Take Me Out” with another highlight being their cover of “Don’t You Rock Me Baby.”  It’s rare that an opening act with little familiarity on my part will hold my attention.  The last time this happened was ironically at a different Switchfoot show when Paper Tongues opened.  Atomic Tom clearly has the ability to become more popular and I was surprised at the lack of response from the audience (but given what was likely a predominately Christian demographic, perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised).

Switchfoot came on next amidst a flurry of spotlights and strobes to a rousing rendition of “Mess of Me,” which was quickly followed by their extended live version of “Stars” which despite being a live staple for a few years now is still a lot of fun.  The first new song they played was “The War Inside,” a peppy track that is as fun live as it is serious lyrically.  Jon Foreman then wandered into the audience for their rendition of Christian radio single “Restless” which resulted in much audience movement, for better or for worse.  Other highlights from Vice Verses included their second live performance ever of the spoken word verse/melodic chorus tune “Selling the News,” “Dark Horses” and their inspirational anthem “Where I Belong.”  Old favorites “This Is Your Life,” “Dare You to Move” and “Meant to Live” also made appearances, and when they came back out for an encore the emotional “Your Love is a Song” contrasted with the hard-hitting “The Sound.”  Overall, this was a very solid performance from a band that just keeps getting better and better live.

By the time Anberlin took the stage, my friends and I had pushed our way almost to the front of the pit area, and it was soon evident that our live experience of Anberlin would be very different from the one we experienced with Switchfoot. The set opener was “Reclusion” from Cities, with song after song hitting us like waves (lots of physical waves hit us too, due to the near constant mosh pit behind us).  It was a treat to hear “Never Take Friendship Personal” live for the first time, as I have enjoyed that track for years.  Following the brooding “Art of War” Anberlin’s stage set-up changed for a stripped down acoustic set of “Alexythmia,” “The Unwinding Cable Car,” and a cover of Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” the latter which they claimed was their first time performing in the United States.  The set wrapped up with a trifecta of “Impossible,” “Godspeed,” and “Feel Good Drag.”  When they left the stage a large section of the audience was chanting “Fin! Fin! Fin!” and fortunately the band obliged for the inevitable encore.

Switchfoot and Anberlin are two solid groups that satisfy in live and recorded forms, and that I believe still have much of their careers ahead of them.  Seeing them perform together was certainly a rare privelege.  Now, what if Stephen Christian and Jon Foreman collaborated for a side project? Now that would be something…

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