THE MUSIC NATION
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CONCERT REVIEWS
NEON TREES HEAT UP SUMMER
Neon Trees rolled into downtown St. Petersburg on hot summer July Saturday night along with opening acts Fictionist and Coin. The bands played at a local small club and it was a packed venue when the first opening act Fictionist took the stage. The band looked and sounded like something right out a classic 80's John Hughes movie. They were energetic and fun playing catchy songs. The set was pretty short but nonetheless got the crowd amped up.
Nashville's Coin then took the stage to support their debut self`titled album. Coin's 90's infused sound with some hit of pop was delivered by their energetic frontman and provided a good transition to Neon Trees. Neon Trees opened their set with their new single "Songs I Can't Listen To" - another pop gem with perfectly written lyrics that anyone has ruined a good song by equating it with a relationship can relate to. The sound of Neon Trees was a little overpowering in such a small venue so much in fact, that lead singer Tyler Glenn's vocals were lost. Later in the show, Glenn would advise that his voice was rather shot from being under the weather.
Despite the vocal hinderance, Tyler and the gang barreled through their discography and with a fierce intensity which was fun at times to watch particularly with tenacity that drummer Elaine Bradley displayed. There was moments of rambling banter from Tyler which was cute most of that time but once exchange between Tyler and Elaine seemed a bit off stating that for the "casual fan" the show would not be very exciting but that they were not playing for the casual fans (Elaine made sure to say they were appreciative of all fans). With only three albums under their belt and a list of singles that were big hits you could count on one hand, it seemed an odd thing to say. Nevertheless, the big hits "Animal," Everybody Talks," and "Lessons In Love" were all crowd pleasers.
Neon Trees also seemed to shine with tracks from their most recent album "Pop Psychology." "Sleeping With A Friend" and the anthem "First Things Were First" were two of the best songs of the evening. Neon Trees ended their set with a cover of Dexy's Midnight Runners 19083 classic "Come On Eileen" which provided a fun (and a somewhat appropriately campy) sing-along & dance ending to their set. Overall, it was a fun evening with three bands (towards the end of Neon Trees' set, the members of Fictionist came and hung out in the audience to enjoy some of the last few songs and even though Tyler's vocals were not 100%, they still put on a good show.
