Music Under Fire

The Helio Sequence was on the bill two nights ago, which pushed us over the edge when it came time to decide whether we wanted to see Keane and Mat Kearney in the historic Tower Theatre in Upper Darby, PA. After pulling the trigger, we were quite excited to see our #1 album from 2008 go live once again since we last hung with the duo in early 2008 at Johnny Brenda's.

The Helio Sequence


The Helio Sequence are a small band, consisting of only Brandon Summers and his drumming sidekick, Benjamin Weikel. It need not be said, but if you've read our site before you probably already realize how aesthetically pleasing THC is to us. Everything we stand for and drool over is unified into their songwriting and musical talents. Summers has the smoky rumblings of a folk rock singer, while Weikel supplies the tech-beats and machine-like drumming to bring their two-man and computer ensemble to an accord.

The venue gave THC an appearance of being quite small, and although they are only a two man band, their setup in Johnny Brenda's last year was ample for them to fit on the stage yet the Tower Theatre proved to make them quite minuscule on that large stage. Songs such as "Lately" and "The Captive Mind" brought the performance right back to the ground. They were clearly not too phased by playing at larger venues. Offering little talk inbetween songs, their performance was a delight to see, especially since so many people had not recognized how big a group they may be to others who familiarized themselves with this Subpop favorite.

Their set list was to be expected, nothing but mostly their fantastic tracks from Keep Your Eyes Ahead, including "Keep Your Eyes Ahead", "Hallelujia" were played. The crowd was appeased, who was now becoming educated and taking a liking to their small group before them. Such a change now stands before The Helio Sequence since headlining smaller shows last year. Brandon and Ben now appeared at the beginning of their exciting tour with Keane as the opening act.

MP3: The Helio Sequence - Everyone Knows Everyone (buy)




Mat Kearney


Not familiar with the growing popularity of Mat Kearney (pronounced 'Carney'), we were curious to see what would take place in front of us. With the feeling of being set-up for a sappy, love-song laden set list, the doors were practically closed in terms of our interest, but swinging open to keep any bias from clogging our suspicion. To our surprise, Kearney was not sappy, nor could he have been more captivating. Releasing his new album City of Black and White the previous day, Kearney was ready to play some of his new songs, which he did, including "Here We Go" and "Lifeline".

The set list included "Undeniable", played on the radio back in 2006, which does play much better on the radio, but to Kearney's credit was meant for the radio given the vocal layering and pace of song. His stage presence was there too. With a band setup of bass, lead guitar, drums, keyboard to support his act, the proper support for the music was created, particularly with "Breathe In Breathe Out" which started off with a piano solo, then rose to an orchestration of a total band effort. Kearney closed with his most upbeat song, "Nothing Left To Lose" and had the crowd singing to the end.

Although he was a plus to have in the lineup, the alt-rock style did not particularly fall into our specifications for a group we would spend too much time on. The performance was well-executed on Kearney's part and he surely won the crowd over offering free autographs with the purchase of his new album.

It feels great to see our #1 group from 2008 break the mold and begin touring with Keane this Spring. I'd like to think that once you reach Philadelphia and play at the Tower Theatre, a place that caters to some of our favorite groups such as Interpol, Death Cab For Cutie, Doves and now Keane, holds a dear place to us. The last time we saw The Helio Sequence was at Johnny Brenda's in the beginning of last year. Johnny Brenda's holds about 100-150 (if it were packed to the gills) As I recall, Brandon Summers announced before their show, "The last time we were here, there were about six people here to watch us play."

Surely The Helio Sequence have come a long way since then and we're sure their name will spread like wildfire during their Spring tour, which ends on June 13th in Boise, Idaho. For more information check out their MySpace page or visit their profile on Subpop for more.

MP3: The Helio Sequence - Lately (buy)

Tour Dates:
5/8/09 - Fox Theater w/KEANE Oakland, California
5/9/09 - Hollywood Palladium w/KEANE and Mat Kearney Los Angeles, California
5/10/09 - The Grove of Anaheim w/KEANE and Mat Kearney Anaheim, California
5/12/09 - Kingsbury Hall w/KEANE and Mat Kearney Salt Lake City, Utah
5/13/09 - The Ogden Theatre w/KEANE and Mat Kearney Denver, Colorado
5/15/09 - Myth w/KEANE and Mat Kearney Maplewood, Minnesota
5/16/09 - Aragon Ballroom w/KEANE and Mat Kearney Chicago, Illinois
5/18/09 - Diesel Club Lounge Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
5/19/09 - DAR Constitution Hall w/KEANE and Mat Kearney WASHINGTON, Washington DC
5/20/09 - Tower Theater w/KEANE and Mat Kearney Upper Darby, Pennsylvania
5/21/09 - Bank of America Pavilion w/KEANE and Mat Kearney Boston, Massachusetts
5/22/09 - Mohawk Place Buffalo, New York
5/23/09 - The Sound Academy w/KEANE and Mat Kearney Toronto, Ontario
5/24/09 - Time Warner Cable Amphitheater at Tower City w/KEANE and Mat Kearney Cleveland, Ohio
5/26/09 - Wellmont Theater w/KEANE and Mat Kearney Montclair, New Jersey
5/27/09 - Radio City Music Hall w/KEANE and Mat Kearney New York, New York
5/28/09 - Music Hall of Williamsburg Brooklyn, New York
5/29/09 - Outback Lodge Charlottesville, Virginia
5/30/09 - The Milestone Charlotte, North Carolina
5/31/09 - Earl Atlanta, Georgia
6/1/09 - Bottle Tree Birmingham, Alabama
6/3/09 - Rudyard’s Houston, Texas
6/4/09 - Mohawk (Outdoor Stage) Austin, Texas
6/5/09 - The Loft (TX) Dallas, Texas
6/6/09 - Opolis Production Norman, Oklahoma
6/8/09 - Launch Pad Albuquerque, New Mexico
6/9/09 - Club Congress Tucson, Arizona
6/10/09 - Rhythm Room Phoenix, Arizona
6/11/09 - Beauty Bar Las Vegas, Nevada
6/12/09 - Urban Lounge Salt Lake City, Utah
6/13/09 - Neurolux Boise, Idaho

Wednesday night at the charismatic, pleasing atmosphere of Johnny Brenda's, we were able to catch one of our favorite bands of the year, The Helio Sequence. Opening up were the post-rock band Ravens and Vultures followed by Pattern Is Movement who celebrated their CD release All Together.

Ravens and Vultures


Ravens and Vultures were a pleasing opener, more than I expected knowing nothing about the band. Composed of twins Chetanah and Darshana Borah, Andrew Ryan and Michael Johnson, the group shamlessly noted JB's is the only place they play. If you go to their website, you'll notice they're not lying. Every one of their shows is played here.

As far as post rock goes, we are avid fans of the extended rock and blissful clammerings that accompanied Ravens and Vultures' four-piece ensemble.

Getting to chat briefly with Andrew Ryan after the show surely helped bring the thinking behind the music cleanly together. Their spirited effort should be a great asset to any group playing around them.

Pattern Is Movement


As far as math rock goes, the main reasoning behind it all is to be as experimental as possible, throwing curveballs and leaving an offbeat progression to each song. Pattern Is Movement did just that - their song flow was unexpected and twisted and turned at each song change.

Their classical music background was apparent in the singing of vocalist/keyboardist (and founding father of PIM) Andrew Thiboldeaux. As Thiboldeaux held notes and filled the venue with his voice, keys were punctured with his fingers as all rhythm was kept. PIM's sound is not like anything you would hear - unique would be the go-to word here. Their sound is a classical singing style, one of the greatest sounding keyboards you've ever heard, and most notable from their performance, the drumming of Chris Ward. To close out their set, a nice rendition of Radiohead's "Everything In It's Right Place" was covered and done aptly so.

Although I'm new to the Math Rock scene, I don't completely understand the appeal of off-beat songs which may abruptly stop and go. I realize the creativity and thought that must be over-exherted throughout the performance, making Math Rock a much harder style to play, but for a Helio Sequence Fan, this was not up my alley. However, if Math Rock is you cup of tea, we suggest getting a better look at their album review of All Together on Pitchfork, which scored a terrific score of 7.9 against their unrelentless nitpicking.

The Helio Sequence


One must be quite skeptical as they silently applaud their own musical tastes throughout the year, especially when it comes down to seeing their most highly-favored band to hit their ears live. This was the case for the unmistakable Subpop duo, The Helio Sequence, who had such an impact, I needed to go back and listen to Love and Distance, a second place album to their already highly praised Keep Your Eyes Ahead.

What intrigued me to see their performance, aside from the appeal of KYEA, was the complexities of their music and how they could possibly duplicate all of that electronica-tinged indie rock with only two: lead vocalist/guitar, Brandon Summers and avid drummer and keyboardist Benjamin Weikel.



Their performance was crisp and duplicated at ease. Summers' vocals were everything I expected and Wiekel's drums never slowed. Perhaps this was the key performance aspect: Summer's ability to deliver solo when needed, particularly when he played "Shed Your Love", the slowest song, but one of my favoritess on KYEA. There's reason to believe Wiekel needed a break in performance - his drumming was exhillarating to watch. Both paired up to fill in the cracks of drums, guitar and vocals to accompany their electro backbeats and synths played on a computer behind them.

They played every favorite song in their library, including all of my favorites from their new album (particularly "Hallelujah" and "Lately" as well as two more of my favorites "Everyone Knows Everyone" and "Let It Fall Apart" from their Love and Distance album (2004). And I can't help but mention how Summers' harmonica experience shined when he played "Harmonica Song".

Overall, a fantastic performance, one of my most memorable ones I can name to date all due in part to two things - Johnny Brenda's set-up that allowed for a more personal venue experience and The Helio Sequence, whose Keep Your Eyes Ahead was even more thrilling live as it was on their album.

MP3: The Helio Sequence - Everyone Knows Everyone (buy)
MP3: The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead (buy)



Video: The Helio Sequence - Tomorrow Never Knows

You may not have been listening to us when we told you, but The Helio Sequence are one of our favs of the year so far with their near perfect album Keep Your Eyes Ahead. Just to make things easy for you, the name of their album is also the title of this video. So let's just throw all of our eggs in one basket, shall we?

I've been teetering over which song is my favorite from this album over the past month, but right now I'll go with "Shed Your Love", which is one of those relaxing laid back songs you play at night to wind down. If you hate music, you most likely won't like these guys, but otherwise this is a must buy. You'll be kicking yourself when I put it in my top ten come year end and you finally come to grips...

Buy The Helio Sequence on iTunes or visit their official site or their MySpace page.