Live Recap: Manchester Orchestra with Foxing & Michigander at Roxian Theater
The Manchester Orchestra show at Pittsburgh’s Roxian Theater was sound scape so skillfully crafted the time flew from one band to the next.
The show started with Jason Singer’s Michigander as the first of three, playing an intriguing mix of indie rock and pop with something a bit bluesy (reminiscent at times of the eastern PA band The Districts). The band sounded great. Drums blended smoothly with vocals, leading the guitar and bass through each song like a lantern-carrying guide through the soundscape. Singer’s unique vocal style carried the band through a short but successful set that the crowd was genuinely supporting.
Next up, Foxing. The Missouri band were a perfect filling between Michigander and Manchester Orchestra. Their urgent indie, post-rock sound filled the Roxian with a wave of sound both melodic and enthusiastic. Singer Conor Murphy even busted out the trumpet! Overall Foxing served up a great, infectiously moody set that was a great set up to the main act, their “heros”, as Murphy proclaimed, Manchester Orchestra.
Manchester Orchestra looked on stage exactly as I’d always pictured them. Dark, backlit and moody. The bright lights behind creating a (likely intended) halo effect in the dark of the theater. The long set included the favorites “Bed Head,” “The Gold “and others, and every track was impeccably executed. The sound turned from a wall to a wave and it crashed over The Roxian crowd both refreshing and anxious. From the start to the finish, which included Foxing’s Eric Hudson joining the band for a haunting version of “The Silence,” Manchester Orchestra was a fantastic show.
Three bands, two of which built the wall up of sound in order to allow Manchester Orchestra to bring it crashing back down under the pure weight of sound and feeling. A night of some really, really great music and vibes.
