The Polyphonic Spree at the Avalon - 7/2

"God only knows what you're missing!" This one line from The Polyphonic Spree's "Hanging Around The Day" perfectly describes the concert I attended on July 2nd. Believe in God or not, the statement still stands true. The Polyphonic Spree show was phenomenal and euphoric, and you had to be there in order to comprehend the greatness of the show.

I got into Boston pretty early with my Mother and Brother. We got to the Avalon around 4 PM where The Polyphonic Spree were in the middle of unloading their equipment. One of the tour buses broke down on the road, so they were considerably late coming into Boston. Here's a picture of a few members unloading the harp.

One of my reasons for getting to the Avalon early was to meet some members of the band. It was too early at that point, so my family went to get some food at Quizno's, but boy, did we get a real treat when we came back.

I saw two members hanging outside the Avalon, so I decided to talk to them about their band and music in general. They were Apotsala "Potsie" Wilson, a member of the chorus, and Daniel Huffman, the band's new guitarist. They were really cool to talk to.

After that, Tim Delaughter, frontman of The Polyphonic Spree, appeared with a meal of some kind in his left hand. I thought to myself, here's the opportunity! So I approached him with my Brother and Mother, and we talked with him about the state of the music industry for about 10 to 15 minutes. Despite claims that Tim is arrogant and self-absorbed, he was really cool and down-to-earth. He told us about the hardships of financing a 20-something member band. In order for The Polyphonic Spree to continue, he said, they would require streaming support from the fans and more. Wouldn't it be sad if a unique band such as this collapsed because people weren't willing to open their minds a little? I think so, but I'm not going to let that happen. Here's a picture with my Brother and me with Tim.

After that I talked to some more members. I know you're probably anxious to hear how the concert went. I'll get to that now. Yes, lets do that.

THE REAL CONCERT REVIEW. FO' REAL.

The opening act was a contemporary artist by the name of Jesca Hoop. Her style reminded me greatly of Regina Spektor. She sung while playing acoustic guitar with a guy on keyboard for some songs. One of the things I liked best about Jesca was the articulation of her voice. She did some very interesting things with her voice that really isn't seen in music these days. I can't forget to mention that she was very funny as well. She would make these faces whenever she realized she was doing one of those weird articulations with her voice. Jesca was very fun to watch on stage. Very easily the best opening act I have seen to date.

Jesca Hoop's debut album, Kismet, is coming out on September 18th on Columbia Records. I encourage everyone to support her. She is a wonderful musician, and I think she'll give a new sense of wonder to the music world.

Jesca Hoop - "Seed of Wonder"

Next up was The Polyphonic Spree, and I couldn't stand the wait. I was basically jumping up and down in anticipation of the main act. I couldn't control myself. I knew to expect something grand and larger than life. As Tim Delaughter cut the thin material wall to reveal the 23-member band, I went absolutely ecstatic. It felt very surreal to see so many people on a considerably small stage (for this band at least).

The Spree went right into "Running Away" for their first song. The energy of the entire venue suddenly reached new heights that I didn't know possible. Everyone one, including the band and the audience, was bouncing around singing along to the lyrics. It seemed as if this song was made for the opening of a show. The opener couldn't have been better. "Running Away" began the series of euphoric moments I had during this concert.

The Spree then played "Hanging Around The Day" and made an orchestral transition into "Get Up and Go". The band pulled off a lot of other cool transitions and interludes between and during songs. "When The Fool Becomes A King" had a two interludes, one in which Tim Delaughter magically froze the rest of the band and fooled around with their still bodies and another where the pianist and flautist basically had a duel.

They played all of the songs I was hoping for, and then they played some songs I wasn't quite into as much, but I turned out liking the songs a lot more because of the live performance. I came into the show not being the biggest fan of songs "The Championship" and "Watch Us Explode (Justify)", but then I loved them when they were being performed.

"The Championship" was their last song before the encore, and the ending of the song was extremely powerful. The band began singing "All in good time / raise our voices", and very slowly, members of the band exited the stage. Tim Delaughter had the entire audience singing the line as well, and when Tim left the stage with only the harpist left playing, it was one of the most beautiful things I've experienced. We kept the vocals going while the harpist played away. I was simply awe-struck that almost everyone in the Avalon was singing together in harmony, perfectly reciting the line that the band began.

To really understand the feeling of being at a Polyphonic Spree concert, you have to imagine those Holy Roller churches where everyone is in complete bliss, and they're dancing, singing, and raising their hands in the air. Now take away the religious component and add Polyphonic Spree, and you'll capture the experience of many concert-goers that night including myself.

I have never felt such great unity and energy while sharing the same roof as others. I'm not religious in the traditional sense, but this experience greatly reaffirmed that I find my spirituality in music. I don't think my reaffirmation would have been possible without The Polyphonic Spree. They're so unique in that they're this big musical family who goes through good and bad times together, and they play wonderful, hope-filled music that graces the ears.

When the band was first on stage, they were wearing their Fragile Army outfits. The outfits were pseudo-military jackets with a red cross on the bottom right and a heart emblem over the left top pocket.

On the encore, the band walked through the audience right next to me and climbed onto the stage. The ambient song "Together, We're Heavy" began before they did to assure the audience that they were coming back on. They came out with all white robes on, the robes they wore for previous tours and albums. As the members filed past me, the ones who I talked to before the show made eye contact with me and my brother and shook our hands before they went onto the stage. It was overwhelmingly heartwarming. I felt that I was no longer just a fan of the band, but a friend as well.

The Polyphonic Spree was only set to perform three more songs on the encore, but they seemed very eager to keep performing for the Boston audience, so they played a total of SEVEN songs for the encore. Tim Delaughter decided to give tribute to his old band, Tripping Daisy, so they played the cover of "Sonic Bloom".

The band also played Nirvana's "Lithium", and before the song, Tim vowed that if there wasn't enough energy in the crowd, they would never play the song again. To Tim and everyone else's delight, the energy was amazing for the Nirvana cover. It felt that it wasn't just a cover song, but also a great tribute to Kurt Cobain and Nirvana.

The Spree was supposed to end with "When The Fool Becomes A King" (a wonderful rendition of the song), but Tim seemed disappointed that the band had to end eventually, so they played two more songs: "Light and Day" and "Ride Captain Ride" by The Blues Image, an acclaimed rock back from the 60's.

It was sad to see the members of The Polyphonic Spree finally leave the stage for good. I left the Avalon with awe and satisfaction that I had just experienced one of the best things in my life.

I don't think I would be able to accept a reality where they wouldn't be able to come up to Boston ever again. That's why I'm encouraging everyone to open up their minds a little bit and check out The Polyphonic Spree. If there's one band that can really show the hope for a skeptical music era, full of pop copycats and hordes of identical alternative rock bands, it is The Polyphonic Spree. I encourage everyone to buy The Fragile Army as it is easily their best album, and if you like that, buy the others. We simply can't let this band go away.

I'd like to give a big thanks to my Mother for taking all of the pictures and bringing my Brother and I down to Boston to see the show.

Here's the set list (big thanks to Susan Donaldson of the band for grabbing me one):
American Dream (intro)
Running Away
Hanging Around The Day
Get Up and Go
Hold Me Now
It's The Sun
Light To Follow
Younger Yesterday
The Fragile Army
La La
Middle of the Day
Watch Us Explode (Justify)
We Crawl
The Championship

ENCORE

Together, We're Heavy
Lithium (Nirvana)
Sonic Bloom (Tripping Daisy, extra song)
Everything Starts At The Seam (extra song)
When The Fool Becomes A King
Light and Day (extra song)
Ride Captain Ride (Blues Image, extra song)