LIVE(STREAM) REVIEW: Silverstein @ Out Of This World – Discovering The Waterfront

When a strange civilization of aliens who sometimes wear Zildjian hoodies kidnaps you and forces your band to play your most recognizable and popular album front to back to help their civilisation…well then that’s a hard offer to refuse. But that’s exactly the situation that SILVERSTEIN find themselves in in part two of their Out Of This World livestream series. When we last saw our post-hardcore heroes, their sci-fi adventure had just begun after a set of greatest hits, and a full on mass disappearance; that being of the band into thin air. This time around the band awakens in a “perfect recreation” of their recording space and told by an AI that their alien captors desire to “Discover the Waterfront,” and thus the band decides they have to play their 2005 record, Discovering the Waterfront, front to back. Will the band escape their captors when the set ends?

One thing is for sure, the passion and melodic sensibility of this seminal record have not diminished with age, nor has the passion of the band for playing these songs. Opener Your Sword Vs My Dagger is instantly transportative in the booming sound of the guitars. Vocalist Shane Told comes roaring out of the gate as soon as the opening riff finishes ripping across the stage of blue and white lights. Told‘s energy is white hot, especially in the bridge right to the end, and from there, it’s all cylinders for the whole band. Tracks like The Ides of March demonstrate just how melodically strong this album really is and why it resonated with so many in its release. In a live setting, these songs just take off. For the band’s part, they all look like they’re having the time of their live as they rip through the track along with it’s preceding hit, Smile In Your Sleep, with expressive vocals from Told and tight and atmospheric guitar work from Paul Marc-Rousseau and Josh Bradford. Strobes and smoke permeate the stage as the band rolls on.

There’s barely a weak song in the performance. Fist Wrapped In Blood attacks the throat with a blistering guitar attack and one of the heaviest breakdown endings of the night. The band also captures the pensive melancholy of the title track by bringing back the live violin. It’s one of the highlights of the night along with the surprising Three Hours Back. Big lights and tons of fog set the mood and the band is fully into it. They lose themselves in this track, a deeper cut off the record, in an almost disarming way. It’s a sight that goes a long way to reinforce what this record means for the band. The massive hooks of My Heroine and Already Dead bring to light how in the pocket they are. Told, like the natural he is, effortlessly switches between the heartaching softness and heartwrenching yelps of the the former, and the straight ahead high flying crescendos of the latter.

The only track that doesn’t quite hold up is Always and Never. Despite the well timed True Detective sample before the song begins, its melody never stands up to the tracks surrounding it, and through the performance it sounds like a fish out of water. But SILVERSTEIN makes up for it with their performances of Defend You, with its dynamic shifts that are a staple of not just this record, but a hallmark of SILVERSTEIN in general. It’s the most energetic track on the record and the band performs like it. Told is all over the stage and the band’s hair and limbs are flying across their instruments. The final track of the record, Call It Karma, perfectly encapsulates everything that SILVERSTEIN is. It’s the ebb and flow of passion and drama, and the heart-on the sleeve unpretentious expression of feeling from all parties and their respective instruments all encapsulated in one song. It’s a beautiful moment to finish the set.

Except it isn’t, because surprise, the band has two more songs to play as the aliens…ahem…”require” that they do so. So the band busts out two surprises. The Artist is up first, an unexpected performance but an excellent one of track from 2011’s underappreciated Rescue. Listening to this performance, its plain to see just how much the band evolved and grew from 2005 to 2011. The track is heavier than any track preceding it, and the melodies are constructed totally differently, but in equally pleasing ways. It’s an urgent and dark performance of a track that is a perfect counterbalance to Call It Karma. The colour on the stage also changes to blood red. A harbinger of things to come perhaps? Or a sign that we have moved away from the water and into the fire. Ending the band’s set is another throwback to their debut record, When Broken Is Easily Fixed with Bleeds No More. SILVERSTEIN certainly is keen on this record, as they covered a good amount of ground from it in the last show, and this track is pure angst and rage incarnate, though a lovely violin bridge break gives extra depth and texture in a live setting that can’t be found on the record. It’s an odd choice to end with, but one that die hard fans of the band will surely be happy with.

SILVERSTEIN have already stepped their game up in night two of Out Of This World, with their energy up even further and their joy of their 2005 record palpable in the air. It is the record that put them on the map, and they seem indebted to it in the way that evolves into an unquenchable energy while performing it live. This was a must not miss show for SILVERSTEIN fans, and it was everything it was billed to be. But as for our heroes? The aliens, satisfied with having “discovered the waterfront,” insist the band must stay for one more week, even amidst a foiled escape attempt. One last performance should hopefully satisfy these extra-terrestrials, and show number three promises to be more subdued, with an all acoustic performance. SILVERSTEIN is nothing if not multi-faceted, and these shows are proving just how deep the talent in this band runs in both performance and in writing. Now would be the perfect time to give these guys another spin.

Rating: 7/10