Streetlight Manifesto w/ Lionize and Hostage Calm

Royale Nightclub, Boston, MA - 11/24/2012

Score: 10
This concert was a much needed post-Thanksgiving wake up call, getting AltRockLi
ve back into the groove of things after stuffing our faces full of turkey and ma
shed potatoes. It was an early show at the Royale nightclub in Boston; a relativ
ely small but grandiose venue which provides an excellent space for intimate and
engaging rock shows. It was our first time in the club and although the raised
dance floor was somewhat strange, the interior decor was certainly interesting,
if not a little out of place, considering the rowdy punk rock/ska show that was
being featured that night.
We were very impressed with the openers for this show, both Lionize and Hostage
Calm put on really solid performances. Lionize had great energy, introducing a f
usion of reggae, hard rock, and punk elements to create a powerful sound that wa
s well-received by our team. They were all clearly talented musicians, the keybo
ardist especially, and although the crowd was somewhat listless at this point in
the show Lionoize sparked the fuse to what would eventually become an explosion
of crowd energy.
Hostage Calm had an particularly interesting performance. Their edgy, exciting p
unk sound resonated well with the crowd and towards the end of their set many pe
ople were crowd-surfing, starting mosh pits, and otherwise letting themselves lo
se control. For some reason, two crowd members towards the front of the stage we
re defiantly against the band, and seemed to have some sort of personal vendetta
to ruin their perfomace. They threw up their middle fingers throughout the enti
re performance, shouted obscenities, and voilently tossed cups of water and ice
onto the members. This prompted the crowd to start giving ratings and approvals
of their own with several thumbs up to show that not everyone was a complete dum
bass. The two individuals in question were finally kicked out of the show when t
he band called them out to security, much to the delight of those in the audienc
e who wanted to have a good time that night. Despite the disruptive antics, Host
age Calm continued to play as hard and loud they knew how. Their drummer especia
lly did an excellent job of keeping up the energy and driving the show forward,
and our team had a great time listening to their music.
Finally Streetlight Manifesto took the stage; it was the moment everyone in the
crowd had been waiting for. Their first song caused the whole venue to explode w
ith passionate dancing, flailing, and pushing. There was even a crowd-surfing ki
d in a dinosaur suit. Audience members screamed the words to every song along wi
th Tomas Kalnoky as this impressively seasoned ska/punk ensemble rocked the shit
out of the Royale. They made every song seem effortless as they hit every note
and sung every word with more devotion and intensity than most bands around toda
y.
Having never seen a Streetlight show before I was not sure what to expect, and b
oy was I blown away. It was as if the band and the crowd kept feeding off of eac
h other's energy exponentially. The apex of this mutually-beneficial relationshi
p produced more crowd-surfing than any show I've been too before, and when the s
how was over everyone left in what appeared to be a sweat-soaked daze of euphori
a. Streetlight performed many of their most recognizable songs including: We Wil
l Fall Together, Down Down Down to Mephisto's Cafe, Somewhere in Between, A Mome
nt of Silence, The Receiving End of It All, Everything Went Numb, What a Wicked
Gang are We Below, On & On & On, Dear Sergio, and Point/Counterpoint among many
others.
What really impressed me about this show was how close to their recordings Stree
tlight sounded while still providing enough live expirementation to keep the sho
w interesting for die hard fans. Tomas changed the pace with a solo performance
or two, and Pete McCullough's technical, melodic, and finger-numbingly fast-pace
d Bass solos were incredibly well timed. The trumpet, trombone, and saxophone pl
ayers were all surprisingly diverse in their playing, and Chris Thatcher's light
ning fast and fluid drumming emanated pure talent.
I would recommend a Streetlight Manifesto show to almost anybody out there who e
njoys great punk music and exciting live shows. Honestly I would be dissapointed
to find anyone sit through the kind of show we saw at the Royale on an early Sa
turday night and not be thoroughly entertained and satisfied by the end of the n
ight. Streelight provided everything I could have asked for in a great concert:
interesting and unique openers, crowd participation and passion, loud sing-a-lon
gs, quality sound engineering, airtight perfomance, a little bit of drama, stage
-dancing crowd members, and an all around fun time that has cemented Streetlight
Manifesto's spot on my list of must-see bands.