Never have I ever driven nearly 5 hours in the name of a single concert. Never, until I heard MUTEMATH and Paper Route were playing together. These two bands are not to be missed live.
MUTEMATH played a long set of mixture of songs new and “off the shelf.” The show began in much the same way the spring show of this year did, with “Odd Soul”, “Prytania”, “Blood Pressure”, and “Spotlight.” I have no complaints about this. The smaller venue made the jams all the more prominent as everything seemed to shake with Darren King’s frenzied drumming and Roy Mitchell-Cardenas’ driving bass grooves. The unexpected pleasures of the evening came in the performances of “Progress” from their Reset EP and of “Goodbye” from Armistice. I was quite shocked to hear “Progress” – not only is it a deep cut, but it’s one from their very first release, prior to the breakout success carried by the single “Typical.” The foursome did well with this, as well as with “Goodbye.” In this particular show, I thought the band was at their best in their older tunes. Having seen them four times now, I can attest that they are capable of performing every song incredibly well, but for whatever reason the self-titled songs resonated with me a lot this evening. “Noticed” and “You Are Mine” moved me, and much of the spectators as well. The main set ended with the “Break the Same” / “Quarantine” medley segueing into the percussion jam the band is famous for. The encore was nearly the same as during their spring tour, with “Reset” leading into “Collapse” and “Typical.” I can’t ever imagine this trio of songs ever not giving me chills, and this show was no exception.
Paper Route kicked off the show with a set pretty close to the one they played in Columbus just a few days earlier (review here), but obviously sans a couple of songs. New songs engaged the crowd and seemed to win plenty of new fans. A wall of sound effect in the beginning of “Letting You Let Go” was especially compelling. The atmospheric electronic DJ The Quiet Entertainer provided the ambience prior to the main show, and one could just tell he was in awe of even having the opportunity to share the stage with MUTEMATH. His humility and prowess won many new fans. I AM TUNED UP will keep you up to date on his progress in the EDM world!
