Oh! Switchfoot

so last Wednesday, Sara and I finally saw the band Switchfoot in concert. For the past three or so years we have wanted to see them, but we're denied the opportunity until now. However, I shouldn't lie. We did see Switchfoot perform in the summer of 2005 at a free outdoor concert series in Norfolk, VA. But our desire has been to see them play in an intimate club type setting. One time when we were in college in Blacksburg, VA, the Foot were up in Washington, D.C. but we did not own vehicles at that time, so we couldn't get there. Another time we were going to go see them in Virginia Beach at the NORVA, but the show sold out quicker than I can eat an oreo. Three years ago when I was living in Los Angeles for the summer the band played at the House of Blues on Sunset, but of course I had to work. So when I saw that Switchfoot would be at the Roxy on Wed. Oct. 18, 2006, we jumped at the chance to see the band we so longed to see.

The Roxy is a cool little venue on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. Emphasis on little. There was pretty much standing room only with maybe 300 or so packed in like meatballs. But with all those people, it didn't seem crowded or cramped, but just right. Switchfoot opened up with their hit song "stars" off of their album Nothing is Sound which came out September '05. It's a very catchy, rocky song perfect for opening up a show filled with catchy, rocky, and not-so-rocky-but-still-good songs. They preceded to play a smatering of songs mostly from their last two albums Nothing is Sound and The Beautiful Letdown ('03). About midway through the show frontman John Foreman announced that they were going to play an old song from an old album and then went on to play "learning to breathe" from the album Learning to Breathe ('00). However, Switchfoot has been around long before that when their deput album Legend of Chin came out in 1997, followed by A New Way to Be Human ('99). It was a shame they didn't play anything from the first two albums, but they made up for it (kind of) by belting out a few tunes from their soon to be released fifth album Oh! Gravity. The title track sounds like Switchfoot is having some fun despite the fact they're restrained to the ground and can't float around in space like I think they would like to. "Dirty Second Hands" is about something I'm not quite sure of, but it sure was entertaining to watch John Foreman run around a second drum set drumming.

I think we were meant to be at that show that night. There was just something about it that I can't explain and won't try to. At least a few times John said that this was the best show they've played in Los Angeles. When someone says something like that they could be lying, but I feel that John was telling the truth, just like he does when he sings.

It was cool to finally see Switchfoot play and see John jump around the stage like a rabid little monkey. However, the real highlight for me was when for the first encoure song John came out on stage with his acoustic guitar and a harmonica around his neck and played "Rebellion (lies)" by the Arcade Fire, one of my favorite bands. If John is playing the Arcade Fire then that means he likes them and if he likes them then he likes good music and if he likes good music then I like him. Thank you, John Foreman, for playing that song for me.