Isaac Slade extends the mic to the audience during his band’s set at the Gothic on Tuesday. Photos by .
Maybe we should blame the dozens of warm, glowing living room lamps, which made the stage look relaxed to the point of a basement practice session. Maybe it was the stifling air in the sold-out , which rendered even modest glimpses of the stage impossible if you weren’t already squeezed between giddy fans. Guitarist, occasional singer and band co-founder Joe King even told me he was fighting off a cold when I saw him earlier that day after soundcheck.
Regardless, Tuesday night show — the kickoff to a small-club tour in advance of their Feb. 3 album release — felt a bit underwhelming. Isaac Slade, singer/piano player of the biggest-selling band ever to come from Colorado, seemed in good spirits. Hell, the guy never seems cross. He’s as friendly toward the audience as an older brother, uncle and dad all rolled into one.
But for whatever reason, the highest registers of his voice weren’t as strong as usual. His band’s performance energy seemed more reigned-in and sleepy than at the Fray’s triumphant Red Rocks shows in September 2007 — or even the album preview/song-tweaking shows at the Bluebird Theater in February 2008. It wasn’t necessarily a bad set, and the audience ate up every word the normally chatty Slade and King served from the stage. It was just an unusually subdued one for a band that easily owns any venue I’ve seen them in.
Simultaneous strobes create the illusion of blinding light at the Gothic Theatre.
After sets from and , the Fray took the fog-drenched stage to deafening screams from fans, some of whom had been waiting outside since that afternoon. The ornate setup made sense as the first song, “Absolute,” kicked in, the lamps and handful of chandeliers flashing in time to the beats, blinding strobes punctuating the proceedings. The sound was overall balanced and tightly-dialed in, although the guitars took a backseat early on to Slade’s emotive work at the baby grand.
Predictably, digital cameras and cell phones came out in force almost immediately (even Denver mayor John Hickenlooper snapped a few pics). Slade gave people the poses they wanted, standing and stretching the mic out to the audience triumphantly a few times for sing-alongs during hits like “Over My Head (Cable Car).” “It’s really nice to be home — or it’s been really nice being home,” King said, swiftly proving it by joining Slade in telling personal stories about their home lives, particular fans in the audience and more.
Only a few songs in, Slade pulled off his black and white-striped shirt and joked that the next song was the encore, perhaps hinting at the insanely stuffy air in the venue. Now down to his cool blue T, Slade worked through more new tracks, including “Where the Story Ends,” “Enough for Now,” “Say When” and “Ungodly Hour.” It was clear which were new by watching the audience, people spending more time trying to be into the songs than just being into them. Indeed, the new songs sounded killer, all big choruses, juiced-up melodies and addictive piano lines. Pop rock doesn’t get more hit-oriented.
But, as noted, the energy flagged at times. And really, the whole atmosphere just felt a little weird. The stage looked like some crazy old lady’s living room. King and guitarist Dave Welsh were dressed almost identically in white shirts, dark vests and skinny black pants, casting them as waiters at a swanky cocktail party. (To be fair, Welsh had a tie, which makes him cooler). King put on a brave face despite his cold, coughing away from the mic when necessary and affording his songs all the nuance he could muster. Drummer Ben Wysoki never faltered on a beat or fill.
But a bizarre and marginally successful cover of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” found Slade shuffling across the stage, projecting less verve than he should have. (“I never learned to bump,” he said just before the song. You don’t say!) The band seemed to get more into it during late-set numbers “She Is,” the new “Never Say Never” (the next single from their new album) and “You Found Me,” the already-successful first single and ubiquitous “Lost” promo tune. (Quite a few people filtered out after that track, missing a two-song encore that neatly tied up the night.)
Seeing such a big band in such a small venue was fun, reminding us that the Fray have found a comfortable place in the pop-rock firmament, with lyrics that speak to vague disaffection in the most non-threatening of ways. It would almost be Christian inspirational music — the band doesn’t hide its religious background — but without the shellacking of over-earnest sentiment. (Some might argue with this).
Indeed, a lot is riding on the success of the Fray’s new album, so an intimate warm-up tour makes sense. “It’s a lot easier to make mistakes in front of 500 or 1,000 people instead of 10,000 people,” OneRepublic singer Ryan Tedder told The Denver Post last week in reference to these same sort of “underplay” shows.
The Fray didn’t necessarily make any mistakes on Tuesday, but it was clear they’re still wrapping their heads around the entirety new material. Pretty damn good new material, it must be said.
John Wenzel is the co-editor of Reverb and an award-winning arts and entertainment writer for The Denver Post. He recently published the book and edits the blog.
is a Denver freelance photographer and regular contributor to Reverb.
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