AP EXCLUSIVE: ANNUALS/MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA TOUR DIARY (PT 1)

Nov. 1, 2007

Let me start this off by saying that we're all extremely glad it's fall. When we left North Carolina, the general consensus was that the summer had permanently settled down in the Southeastern United States. We are now trudging up the Northeast on our way from NYC to Boston, and I can't help but marvel at nature's vibrant display. You last heard from us in DC and since then we have played two really awesome shows, one in Philadelphia and one in NYC. In Philly, we were bombarded by a hoard of technical problems onstage including one period during "Brother" where the entire club experienced a temporary black-out. However, the power to our instruments stayed on so we just kept playing and I have a feeling some people thought we had planned it. All in all, it was a really exciting and interesting show, and all the bands sounded excellent. 

I hate to pick favorites, but I have to say that the New York show was the best so far on this tour. It was Halloween night and the air was emanating auspices of spookiness from the underworld. The Never kicked off the night, sneaking onstage in the finest in ninja apparel. I've never heard the Never (how do you like that?) sound so good. I loved being able to actually hear the cello for once! We played our set dressed as characters from the HBO series Deadwood. Unfortunately, I think most of the crowd had never seen the show, but there were definitely a few who got it. I could have sworn I heard the ghost of Wild Bill reverberating throughout the Bowery during our set. For real, doggie. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the most notable part of our set when about six or seven members of Manchester Orchestra and the Never joined us on stage to play "Brother." There was an absolutely ridiculous amount of people onstage and it felt so powerful, like we were driving the stage down with a battering ram. I know it seems to be of the latest fashion for bands to adorn the stage with as many members as they can. That's one thing I have against a lot of bands these days, because usually the same four or five parts end up being played by all the musicians resulting in a mere mimicking of an orchestral aesthetic . But I can't deny that this maneuver fit perfectly for "Brother" and actually gave a more accurate representation of the rhythmic and harmonic variations heard on the record. 

I mustn't forget to mention that Manchester Orchestra sounded exceptionally tight that night. Those guys are so damn loud! But it works so well for them.  Anyway, we must continue our trek up the East Coast into Canada, so we'll leave you be until next week. 

All our love,
Kenny and Annuals

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