Written By: Jim Markunas(Editor-In-Chief)
Photos By: Victoria Hill
(Urban/Pop Editor)
View all of Victoria's Flyleaf photos here.
Flyleaf is awesome! This is a fact. They make Paramore look boring (which is hard to do). I've seen them play live exactly two times; both recently, one of which was tonight. The time before tonight was an acoustic performance by Lacey and Sameer. Acoustically, they were pretty good, but I couldn't help but wonder what vocalist Lacey Mosley would sound like live and backed by the rest of her band. I hoped for loud guitars, pounding drums, and more new material. Tonight, I got exactly what I wished for.
Lacey came on stage wearing a white wedding dress with black boots boots, and proceeded to bring down the house. Usually, a band with a popular frontman/woman blends into the background without being noticed. This is not how Flyleaf operates. Sameer thrashed back-and-forth across the stage, attacking his guitar as if it were an evil ex-girlfriend, and/or masked assailant. Of the whole band, bass player Pat Seals, was by far the most fun to watch. Pat looks like a overly sinister/ghoulish vampire, complete with 'guy-liner' and hair that somehow blows in the wind like an actor in a Spanish novella; he's also the hardest working bass player in show business. By the second song, a new track off the up-coming Memento Mori, Pat had managed to steal the show by climbing onto the drum tower and jumping acrobatically back down to the stage.
Most modern rock bands have forgotten how to rock; not Flyleaf. I haven't seen this much movement since the last Barack Obama ralley. In short, great sound, great energy, and lots of stage antics - If you have a chance, check Flyleaf out on tour, and remember to buy a copy of Memento Mori on November 10th.
Paper Tongues opened. I wasn't expecting to be impressed, but I'll be goddamned if I wasn't completely blown away. Paper Tongues are an up-and-coming band; freshly signed to IGA. Their blended style of southern rock and roots made for quite the interesting listen. Full of energy, as any new band should be, Paper Tongues were quite the treat! They don't have an album out as of yet, but I've been told we can expect a debut pretty soon.
Watch out for Sebastian Barnum's review of Flyleaf's appearance in Portland, OR in the next few days.
Want More Flyleaf?
Flyleaf Album Release Party (Review)
Flyleaf Album Release Party (Photos)
Flyleaf @ The El Ray - Los Angeles, CA (Review)
Flyleaf @ The El Ray - Los Angeles, CA (Photos)
Flyleaf @ Hawthorne Theater - Portland, OR (Review)
Flyleaf @ Hawthorne Theater - Portland, OR (Photos)
Review of Memento Mori
