Putting the City in Motion

Nick Robinson

A light rain fell over the streets of East Lansing last Thursday – a cold, bitter rain, leaving most of the streets empty of people. Few ventured out for a bite to eat or a party to cruise. The only place that seemed alive with people that evening was the corner of Auditorium Road and Farm Lane at the MSU Auditorium, where a huge concert was about to begin: Motion City Soundtrack. 

The crowd filed in, high on the energy in the air. Some may also have been high on marijuana or alcohol, but that’s beside the point. After passing the booths littered with cool shirts and great CDs, dodging people asking you to sign up for something or other, we entered the auditorium’s main hall. 

The lower deck was about half-full for the first opening band, The Silent Years. These Detroit natives played for close to a half hour. Lead singer and guitarist, Josh Epstein, talked to the crowd a few times, saying that the green lights he sewed into his jacket were “for you guys,” much to the approval of the crowd. 

The band’s music was light and upbeat, but all its songs seemed to blend together. Epstein has a powerful voice, but he was not able to gather the crowd around him; he asked us to sing along, telling us the words ahead of time, but the crowd was barely audible. 

And the energy of the bass guitarist, second guitarist and pianist waned when compared to the high energy of Epstein and drummer Ryan Clancy. One concertgoer thought they seemed “unexcited to be here.” While indistinguishable now, they definitely have potential for the future. 

The Hard Lessons were the next band to play. Augie, the vocalist/guitarist, and Ko Ko Louise, the pianist/vocalist, were joined by the drummer from Motion City Soundtrack, but they definitely stood on their own. 

The performance was full of energy, Ko Ko slinking seductively behind her keyboard and Augie jumping from speakers. The two are graduates of MSU, where they formed the band with their usual drummer, The Anvil, who was absent at this performance. And the pair were recently married, making the women present coo in admiration and the men bemoan the loss of such a beauty. 

The crowd was in full attention for The Hard Lessons. Augie spoke to us several times, making jokes about Kwame Kilpatrick and pandering to our love of MSU. The band’s set was amazing, the crowd moshing near the stage. Its CDs are also excellent, but they lack a certain magnanimity that accompanies live performance. The band alone was worth the price of admission, and it wasn’t even headlining. 

The final opening act, Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s, was of a different breed than the previous bands. The eight-member band consisted of a singer on guitar, another guitarist, a pianist, a drummer, a bassist, a violinist and two percussionists, one who occasionally played the trombone. 

Margot played for a while, the vocalist never speaking to the audience save one, when he said, “We have a couple songs left.” The energy was icy compared to the heat of the Hard Lessons. Lyrics were unclear, and it seemed as if there was interference in the band’s sound, causing a lot of feedback. 

It felt like the type of band that doesn’t give a shit about its fans; Margot was there to play music, and I suppose that’s respectable. However, it was so different from the two previous bands that it lost the crowd; people began talking and playing games with each other. We were all just waiting for the set to be finished so we could get onto the main act. 

And the wait was well worth it. Motion City Soundtrack came on stage, led on by the theme to The Office. The group played two songs, and the lead singer and guitarist, Justin Pierre, apologized to the crowd; he wasn’t quite ready when they started playing the intro music, so he asked if we wanted them to do it again. The now near-capacity crowd screamed its approval, and the band trotted off stage, only to come back out running around to the music of The Office. 

Motion City Soundtrack played for close to an hour, Pierre bouncing behind the microphone in a comical jig. The energy was very high, the entire band bouncing along with Pierre. Jesse Johnson, the man on the synthesizer, was especially pumped, flinging the Moog forward and back and throwing his head down and up, his hair flying everywhere. 

The crowd was in full swing behind the performance. Every single person in the audience was standing, even in the upper deck, and most were singing along to every song. When they began L.G. Fuad, a song they rarely perform live, the audience went nuts. 

During one song, Pierre forgot a verse, and his band mates corrected him. He struggled to remember what key to begin in, and then forgot what the lyrics were. They spent a good three minutes just talking on stage, and the crowed roared its approval when asked if they were enjoying it. After he finished the song, Pierre said, “Someone better have gotten that on video.” 

When they ended their set, the crowd yelled for an encore we all knew was coming. The band had not yet played their first single and one of their most popular songs, The Future Freaks Me Out. The guys ran back onstage, again to The Office theme, played that one last song and said goodnight. 

The massive crowd filed back out, nearly four hours after the concert began. The Hard Lessons was outside, performing acoustically and signing autographs. The two are both really down to earth, and they appreciate all the support from their fans. We walked outside, back onto the streets of East Lansing, but now the rain had stopped, and the world was once more alive.

Questions? Comments? Contact Nick Robinson at robin660@msu.edu

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