The Band of Brothers Road Show was, unquestionably, the best concert I have ever been to. A fully fledged experience that showcased energy levels as much as music. As free-spirited as audiences at concerts are, they are structured phenonemon, ordered. One band performs and then another and another, with fifteen minutes to a half-hour of dead time between each set. That’s not to say that energy levels don’t rise during each performance, that’s to say that the energy levels of this performance never dip or fall. Created as a back-and-forth between the two headliners, Magic Giant and American Authors, with an energetic set-up by the openers, Public, there is a steady stream of music flowing through the venue.
Three hours later and somewhat deafer, you can still hear the audience discuss their exhaustion down the block. It was well-masked behind their screaming lyrics and jumping dance that they themselves didn’t even realize it until a frigid breeze slammed against their face.
I, myself, a concert addict and aficionado, didn’t feel the soreness my legs or the loss of my voice until the subway ride home later that night. As this is my second time seeing Magic Giant’s perform live, in three years, there is something refreshing and familiar in their performance. Their dance-like-no-is-watching attitude mixed with their surprising acrobatics—including but not limited to Zang playing the guitar while clapping his feet in time or Austin Bisnow’s backflips—creates the ambiance of an extremely large dance circle. Everyone in the crowd makes way for the band to perform. Whether that means allowing them to take a spot in the center of the audience to sing a crowd-favorite or body rolling to the beat, Magic Giant fans are proficient at the musical game of Simon Says. More aptly named Giant Says, in this instance, for it’s a game of pure enjoyment for everyone involved.
Including the American Authors when they performed numerous songs alongside them, reworking pieces from each of their own set lists into a sort of duet or collaboration between the bands. Whether that be to include the banjo stylings of James Adam Shelley from the American Authors or splitting the vocals between Zachary Barnett and Bisnow, the trade-off dynamic featured in these performances allow for heightened acts without breaking the stream of music.
How many bands have you seen learn one another’s music for the concert? Or better yet, how many concerts have you been to where the finale was a combination of all the acts performing together?
Art in Your World 