-=RNS Robot=-

PROJECT 86
w/Flatfoot 56, Wavorly & Fight The Current
March 4th, 2010
Seattle, WA
Showbox at the Market

Project 86 made their return to Seattle, promising a set full of “tunes we haven’t played in years and some we haven’t EVER played live.” They didn’t entirely deliver, but that’s nitpicking. Andrew Schwab, Steven Dail and company came to Seattle with a vengeance, delivering an emotionally brutal and cathartic set highlighted by a few old school jams. With only three cuts from the group’s most recent disc Picket Fence Cartel in the setlist, it was clear that this show was for P86 fans from every era.

(Except the first album because seriously, that album is terrible outside of “Run” and “Pipe Dream.” And even then…)

Playing entirely in backlit silhouette, Project 86 evoked a sense of mystery. Harsh mystery. Cherry picking some of the biggest and most recognizable songs in their back catalogue the band stormed through tracks like “SMC,” “Sincerely Ichabod” and “Safe Haven.” The first surprise of the night was “Oblivion” from Songs to Burn Your Bridges By… and then out came the Drawing Black Lines BFGs. “Me Against Me” hit like a shotgun blast. “One-Armed Man.” The band returned to the new material for a moment, and then blew minds with “Chimes.”

(“We haven’t played this song in about nine years… this is called ‘Chimes.’” HEAD ASPLODE.)

Random observations: The new songs sound much better live than in recorded form; this may have been the tightest, most passionate Project 86 performance I’ve seen – this despite the absence of Randy Torres (who I spied watching the show from the back of the room) and a crowd that couldn’t have been more than 300 paid; man I’d love to see “Last Meal” with Mark Salomon on stage.

Admittedly, I was hoping for a few more obscure cuts rather than the ‘greatest hits’ set we got (I would have loved “Necktie Remedy,” “Breakdown in 3/4″ or “Set Me Up”), but Project 86 brought it hard and left it all on stage.

Chicago-based Celtic punk rockers Flatfoot 56 sub-headlined the night and spent 36 minutes non-stop rocking the hell out. They were straight-up FUN.

FAT CRAZY MANDOLIN PLAYER!

BAGPIPE PLAYIN’ PUNK WITH KILT!

GIANT AWESOME SIDEBURNS!

HOLY HELL FLATFOOT 56 RULES!

Flatfoot capped off their set with OI!-infused renditions of “Amazing Grace” and “I’ll Fly Away” and left ‘em wanting more. Hey, if the night had ended there people would have left happy.

Wavorly put on a solid set of Switchfoot-esque rock, hampered by a bad sound mix, but they had enough intensity and good enough songs to stand out from the pack in that over-flooded genre. Openers Fight the Current, performing a similar style, delivered a performance that clearly marked them as a ‘young’ band. Potential, but a long ways to go.

GALLERY: Flatfoot 56
GALLERY: Project 86

WATCH CLIPS ON YOUTUBE: Project 86 LIVE playlist

PROJECT 86 SETLIST
SMC
The Butcher
Sincerely, Ichabod
Safe Haven
Oblivion
Me Against Me
One-Armed Man (Play On)
Destroyer
Chimes
Dark Angel Dragnet
Last Meal
Evil (A Chorus of Resistance)
PS

The Spy Hunter

Tags: Flatfoot 56, Project 86, Seattle, Showbox, Tooth & Nail, Wavorly

This entry was posted on Friday, March 5th, 2010 at 2:04 PM and is filed under CONCERTS, RANDOM. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.