| Wednesday, April 11, 2007 |
| Switchfoot at Ventura Theater | Ventura, CA |
To say that last Thursday night was the highlight of my week would be a little bit of an overstatement in light of everything that had been happening that week. However, I will say that it was the highlight of that day without a doubt, and most definitely contributed to what made that week great. It'd been a long day with LA traffic at the absolute worst I'd ever seen it. I'd driven over a hundred miles before 4pm, and I was over a hundred miles away from the concert in Ventura, California (which I realized that morning was NOT in or around LA). I was supposed to meet some friends at 5 so we could hit the road with ample time to get there on time (doors opened at 7pm) without a problem. Of course, with the traffic, I met up with my friends closer to 6pm and after getting some food to go, we got going.
With almost 90 miles to go, we knew we were going to be late. Little did we realize that we would still be on the road at 8pm, when the concert was supposed to start. At 8:20pm, we finally reached the venue and parked. Phil had said that I should have a photopass waiting for me, and so I inquired before I went in, but the guys at the door knew nothing of it. So I went to the merch table, and on inquiry found that they wouldn't be handing out any photopasses because they were filming a DVD that night. Now, this might have been a bit disappointing, but I was honestly a little relieved (which felt weird). When we got in, Copeland was just getting on stage, and so I was even more relieved to find that we hadn't missed a single minute.
 
Now, I really enjoy Copeland's music, but I found their live show to be a just a little lacking. It was good, but I think I was just a little too excited for Switchfoot. Plus I was messing around with my camera to see what lenses would work so that I could get some good pictures for Switchfoot's set. After the Copeland set, we tried to move as close to the stage as we could (the venue was huge... one of the bigger concerts I've been to - probably as big as Incubus when I saw them 5 years ago). I made it a point that I'd try to take some shots through the first 2/3rds of the set, and then move around for a whole bunch more. But I wasn't going to do that in the first part of it so that I could enjoy the concert, which I was there for. After about 45 minutes of setting up and testing/tuning guitar after guitar, Switchfoot finally took the stage.
They started off the set with 'Stars', which was the first single after Drew joined the team. I honestly can't think of a better song that they could've picked to start the show. Like I said, it was a big venue, so they brought the "big" right from the start. 'Politicians' was next, which Jon described as "a song about the kingdom of the heavens". It was interesting (and not the sucky kind of interesting :p) because I'd heard the song many times before, but just hearing that context opened up the song like never before. The chorus resounds in my head even now:
I pledge allegiance to a country without borders, without politicians...
I am broken, I am bitter, I'm the problem, I'm the politician,
Watching for my sky to get torn apart,
C'mon and break me, c'mon and break me...
They followed the song up with 'Oh! Gravity.', the title song from the newest album. It was the first roar the audience gave that night. I hadn't seen one video of Switchfoot performing or read a single live review (outside of Phil's), and so I was just taking it all in, and tapping my feet furiously and singing along whatever parts of the songs I knew (and there's quite a few I don't know). The guys then took the audience back several years by playing a little song called 'Company Car' at which their older fans cheered yet again. In the bridge, Jon asked everyone to grab someone next to them, and sway back and forth "in brotherly love... and sisterly love". And so we were all swaying, although I wonder what the people in the balcony sitting down were doing.
When they began the next song, I saw Jon doing something that made me do a double take. I was pretty sure he was playing the guitar with his teeth. But I wrote it off thinking that he was probably looking at something close up. 'This Is Your Life' started, and as they were playing and got into the interlude, I saw Jon do it again, but this time was able to see a little more clearly: he was screaming into the guitar. Well, that was new. I guess when you have that much amplification, you get a pretty sweet sound out of doing that. The next song, 'Dirty Second Hands', found Jon dancing around with the hi-hat in circles (should've reserved it for 'Circles') and having as much fun with it as a 4-year old would doing just that.
 
Jon introduced the next song as "the song you guys picked for this show", while introducing the string section for the first time that night: 'Learning To Breathe'. Now, this was the first Switchfoot song I'd ever heard in my life, a little over 3 years ago. To date, it is still my favorite Switchfoot song, and if they'd just played that song over and over again, I would've been just fine. :D Jon introduced the next song as a song about loss, one that him and Tim wrote about two different things. As much as I was still reeling from the high of having heard 'Learning To Breathe' live, I was engrossed in 'Yesterdays' even more. It was amazing how that song took me elsewhere... to a place where I was mourning yet rejoicing all at once as Jon sang:
I remember you like yesterday, yesterday,
I still can't believe that you're gone,
Oh, I remember you like yesterday, yesterday,
And till I'm with you, I'll carry on...
 
As mellow as that song was, the one following it was quite interestingly juxtaposed. 'Gone' wouldn't have been my choice to follow up 'Yesterdays', but with the sweet solo that Drew belted out, and seeing Jon jump off the piano was quite worth it. 'Ammunition' continued the energy with Drew rocking up front. Now, for those guitarists out there that have seen Drew, you gotta agree, he's a freakin' rock star. Every time he came up front, I was just jumping and dancing. Yes, I had a fanboy moment. The energy was tapped out (for the time being) with 'American Dream' as the entire gang froze for nearly a minute with only roars of the audience filling everyone's ears. I was impressed with all of them staying still that long... takes quite a bit to pull that off.
 
'We Are One Tonight', a "song about unity", was another theatrical highlight with Jon climbing up the speakers in front of where I was, and just hanging out for a second before belting out "We are one" over and over with an anthemic passion that was felt throughout that 2000+ person venue. It was another song that stood out that night. They took a short little break to sing happy birthday to all the birthdays in the house: "if it's your birthday, you know the song, so sing along". They also thanked all their fans for supporting them for 10 whole years now. Jon turned to Tim and asked if he had any words of wisdom: "stay classy, Ventura". Ha!
'On Fire' found Jon donning the harmonica to accent the strings accompaniment in the back to create this beautiful sound for the venue. 'Faust, Midas, And Myself' was next and every time Jon sang the chorus, I found myself singing at the top of my lungs and dancing without a care, because after all "you've one life, you've one life, you've one life left to lead". At the end of this song, Jon hopped into the audience and started walking around with the infamous lights that anyone who caught them on this tour has seen. It was most definitely a trip to see those bright lights in a darkened room, but it made for a really good picture!
  
This, of course, led to the singing in the middle of the venue (that I believe has been repeated as well), which was totally radical (there's only so many times you can say 'awesome' :p). To hear Jon singing "the shadow proves the sunshine" while the single light was shining down on him was surreal to say the least. It was another song that came to life as I listened to the lyrics with a certain amount of clarity (even though in a state of near exhaustion). As he made his way back to the stage, the guys were preparing to kick it back up a notch into the brand new video single, 'Awakening'. The scream in the opener (and throughout) was absolutely perfect. I just love that part!
 
The final song for the main set was 'Meant To Live', which Jon introduced by saying the following: "death is nothing unusual... this is a song about living". Ranking in my top 10 favorite Switchfoot songs, I was glad to see them play this live. After the song, they had the obligatory "let's walk off the stage and wait for the audience to cheer us back on" moment (it's rock tradition man!). Jon walked back on and introduced the strings again to play a special acoustic version of a song that I only recently heard, 'Only Hope'.
 
The others came back on to finish the night off with 'Dare You To Move' after an acoustic intro leading through the first chorus. They finished it off with an amazing amount of energy, and left the audience wanting more even after the 20 songs they'd played that night. Un-freakin'-believable. Not having expected what I experienced probably made the night that much more exciting for me. I was simply stunned at what I'd seen and observed. I think the greatest part about it was when I was talking with them after, there wasn't a slight hint of an ego. They were thankful that I came out, I took some pictures, and enjoyed myself. And yet again I say, un-freakin'-believable.
They ended up taking their bows, and heading out. After a brief after-show meet-n-greet, I got me my bootleg, and enjoyed reliving the show all the way home. It was a great show, a great night, a great week. Oh, and if you look below, you'll find a little surprise! :D
Setlist:
1. Stars
2. Politicians
3. Oh! Gravity.
4. Company Car
5. Burn Out Bright
6. This Is Your Life
7. Dirty Second Hands
8. Learning To Breathe
9. Yesterdays
10. Gone
11. Ammunition
12. American Dream
13. We Are One Tonight
14. On Fire
15. Faust, Midas, and Myself
16. The Shadow Proves The Sunshine
17. Awakening
18. Meant To Live
Encore:
1. Only Hope
2. Dare You To Move
Labels: concert reviews., pictures. |
posted by Arpit Mehta @ 1:20 PM  
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| 25 Comments: |
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Awesome (and long) review, Arpit!!
That sounds like you had a blast (but I wouldn't expect anything less from a Switchfoot concert).
Hahaha...you had me laugh pretty hard when you mentioned your fanboyish-ness. x]
[great pictures, too!!]
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Thank you for a great review and the pics turned out really well. I love how the colors of the stage lights turned out in them! One of these days I will see them play in California.....which is weird because I am a Californian. :)
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I saw your photos previous to reading this post and they're wonderful! It's great to see a little story along with them.
And the song is "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine" not Sunlight ;)
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hahahah he called it 'sunlight'? oh, arpit. it's funny to think that you were barely a fan when i pulled you up to work for switchfeed! :p
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now i shall read the review... yeah, i'm weird, i read comments before reading the thing.
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@ Sobe - heh, yeah, what can I say, Drew just rocks!
@ Cookie - thanks! Where have you seen them if not in Cali?
@ Emily - will be fixing it in a second.
@ Phil - lol, I wasn't "barely a fan"... I just wasn't enough of a fan to start up Switchfeed :p And besides, I'm horrible with song names - honestly, there's only 2 artists whose every song I could name, and that would be John Mayer and Mat Keaney!
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Yup yup! The first time at a concert is always the best.
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Thanks for the detailed review, I could almost relive the concert! My friend and I probably ran into you during the after show meet and greet. We were helping Jeff out with the 'merch' (which in his world means passing out flyers, but it's cool :D ). That crowd was intense...
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Do I get a prize? I read the whole thing!
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@ Stonewall10 - truly.
@ Lindsey - that crowd was pretty crazy... if you saw me, I was the one with the camera around my neck :p
@ Rose - you?? I should get a prize for writing that!
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@ Arpit:
My review (the one I never posted and never will) Is 15 pages long. - I WIN.
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arpit mehta...arpit fanboy mehta....nice addition
'awesome' review! It's long, but good, and very descriptice! It makes for very enjoyable reading. The set-list is pretty close to the one they did in Toronto, although yesterdays was missing :(
The pictures are amazing! truly! I think my favourite would have to be the one during shadows! Seems like you had an awesome time! ah switchfoot!
thanks for posting
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So first off, I fixed sunlight to sunshine... and I'm impressed - I only messed up once!
@ Rose - whatever, my pictures win :D
@ Mukta - thanks! Yeah, the shadows one's pretty cool, but my hands down favorite is Jon holding the micstand up.
@ Eunice - thank ya!
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I didn't think I was going to read this, because it just looked so long. But it turns out I thoroughly enjoyed your review (and it didn't feel that long when reading). Very nicely written, and your pictures are awesome!
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Those pics are amazing, they make me wish I had an ounce of photography talent (just so I could get awesome SF concert shots) =P
Oh, and the review was good too, thanx for writing all that!!! Great way to relive the show
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@arpit:
okay, okay, some of those pictures are really cool...
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great review! thanx for sharing that, as well as the pictures and the bootlegs!
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@Arpit: I've seen them in Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Canada. :)
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WOW! Arpit sounds like you had a great time!Great pics too!
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@ Jill - thanks - heh, I wouldn't want to read that :p
@ Kamila - glad you enjoyed the pics and review!
@ Rose - ha!
@ Jane - first mention of the bootlegs :)
@ Cookie - wow... yeah, I wanna watch them in San Diego sometime!
@ Kayla - I surely did!
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I really enjoyed reading that, thanks!
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@Arpit: You wanna watch them WITH Cookie sometime.
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@ Jonathan - thanks, bro
@ Rose - heh, sure!
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Those are REALLY awesome pics! And great dEtaiLeD review, Arpit! ;D :D ^_^
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Awesome (and long) review, Arpit!!
That sounds like you had a blast (but I wouldn't expect anything less from a Switchfoot concert).
Hahaha...you had me laugh pretty hard when you mentioned your fanboyish-ness. x]
[great pictures, too!!]