MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK / WHY NOT - CONCERT REVIEW - FEBRUARY 2020
Hey, remember live music/concerts? Here is a review of the last show I attended pre-Covid-19 that for some reason never ended up getting published until now.
Head for the hills, the Fillmore is on fire (hyperbolically speaking), or at least it was when Motion City Soundtrack took the stage back in February at the brand new Ticketmaster/Live Nation-owned concert venue, presented by Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union. The crowd was enthusiastic, the staff was courteous, and the music was excellent. As Justin Pierre frequently said during his time on stage, it was a night of “Good vibes.”
Despite Motion City Soundtrack being the headliner, I’m actually more familiar with the opener, local prog/punk band Why Not, after having reviewed their “EP” EP and seeing them play a basement show last summer. I was extremely excited to see how they’d handle a large stage, and Why Not did not disappoint. The stage was not too big for the young band. Though the set was only about thirty minutes, they were able to play a nice mix of older and newer songs, highlights for me being “Ready 4 the World” and “Ding Dong.” I reached out to Why Not to find out what they thought of the experience, and here is what guitarist Isaac Dell had to say: “It was a total dream come true for us. It’s super cool that Motion City stays up with what’s going on in the local scene and asked us to play. We had a blast!”
Next up was Louisville, Kentucky’s White Reaper. Having only heard a few of their songs for the first time earlier in the day, I was ultimately impressed by the five-piece. White Reaper has a sound that leans more towards alt-pop 80’s influenced rock. What made their performance even more impressive was that it was the drummer’s first show with the band.
After a loving tribute to the recently deceased legendary local musician and producer, Ed Ackerson, Motion City Soundtrack took the stage. Mostly just being familiar with the hits, I was definitely in the minority, as from the first note it was clear the rest of the night was going to be a sing-along. Motion City Soundtrack rocked out their greatest hits as if there had never been a break from their last tour. MCS brought high energy, heartfelt banter, and a lot of love to the freshly opened venue. The crowd was into it, singing along to every word, and to my surprise, there were even moments of spontaneous crowd surfing. The highlights for me were hearing “Everything is Alright” early on in the set, and seeing the crowd come alive while singing along to “Better Open this Door,” a song that always makes me miss the Triple Rock, and the encore starting off with “L.G. FUAD,” a song that instantly transports me back to being eighteen years old and on an ill-advised road trip across Iowa with friends.
Like all concerts, the night had to end. It was an amazing night and great to see two generations of Twin Cities’ bands supporting each other. Who knows if Motion City Soundtrack will bless their hometown with another performance any time soon, but we can always hope.
Check out more from Why Not and Motion City Soundtrack.
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Photo credit for Why Not to Johnny Nguyen
Photo credit for Motion City Soundtrack to Jacob Murawski-Harguth
Review by: Andrew Perrizo, Owner/Writer @PlaylistTC
Edited by: Eric Martin, Writer/Assistant Editor @eamartin95
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