Stopping for a quick visit off their Canadian tour, City & Colour
brought their sweet acoustic semi-folk masterpieces to the Pabst
Theater in Milwaukee. The sounds of acoustic-folk ambiance filled the
Pabst creating a spectacular atmosphere in which the delightfully large
crowd seemed deeply mesmerized. Known formally for the band
Alexisonfire, Dallas Green now leads City & Colour with this
dramatically different style of music where he has become extremely
successful.
Opening for City & Colour was Rhode Island’s The
Low Anthem. Having some spectacular musical talent of their own, The Low
Anthem performed some very interesting music. At times, one of the
members was playing what seemed to be a hand-saw without the “teeth”,
making for some beautiful ambient sounds. Nearing the end of their set,
The Low Anthem brought out City & Colour’s Dallas Green for a
performance of The Low Anthem’s hit “Charlie Darwin.” Words cannot
describe the feeling in the room during this song. The combination of
talent from The Low Anthem and Dallas Green gave many people goosebumps
and personally left me in awe. This was just something you HAD to hear.
And if that weren’t enough, The Low Anthem ended their final song with
“cell phone crickets.” The front-man for The Low Anthem got the crowd to
call the person sitting next to them and turn their phone on speaker
for the last part of the song, creating the illusion of crickets echoing
through the Pabst. Truly a magical moment.
City & Colour
front-man Dallas Green gave his all and shared his clean signature
vocals though some of the band’s best songs. Playing hit after hit from
albums “Bring Me Your Love” to their newest release “Little Hell”, City
& Colour could not disappoint the die hard crowd. Not only did the
sweet sounds of Dallas’s voice resonate throughout, so did his relaxed
feeling. The performance overall was mind blowing, and everyone seemed
so wired in to the point where they couldn’t wait for the next song.
Sure the folks up front in the makeshift pit were having most of the fun
screaming for Dallas, and shoving each other around to get closer, but
the overall vibe was undoubtedly chill.
City & Colour played
together for a good part of the show, but eventually Dallas took the
stage on his own and played a few solo tunes, really impressing the
crowd. Wanting to get up close and personal, Dallas started in on “What
Makes a Man?”, eventually bringing the crowd in on the chorus for one of
the most amazing crowd/singer duets I have experienced.
However,
there were a few people that ruined things with their obnoxious
screaming in the middle of Dallas’s solos and there was the occasional
sound issue that, at an acoustic performance only becomes more apparent.
The
amazing talent City & Colour brought to the Pabst Theater was
simply phenomenal and I really cannot say enough about how well both
acts performed. I feel like bands like City & Colour and The Low
Anthem are doing a better job than some of the huge headlining bands of
pop culture. The real excitement lies with the intimate and special
moments like the ones brought by Dallas Green and City & Colour. If
you have a chance in the future I would strongly recommend getting out
to see City & Colour. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
For more photos from the concert please visit nicksemradphotography.com. Follow on Twitter @NickSemradPhoto
