Keep Musicking: Switchfoot at Roxy Theatre, 11/11/09, review and photos

This is a reprint of a review from Switchfoot's intimate performance at the Roxy in Hollywood. It seems like the right time to give them a little more love since they just won a Grammy Award for Best Gospel Album. I have their very first album, "Learning to Breathe."

Jon Foreman of Switchfoot, photos by Sean Arenas

Jon Foreman seemed to magically appear standing on a table in the middle of the Roxy singing a wordless refrain while the band played from the stage. The front man smiled benevolently, encouraging audience participation until they sang without him.

A simple yet confident opening speech swirled into "Needle and Haystack Life."

"Hello Hollywood, Hello Hurricane. We're Switchfoot."

From the audience response, one would never guess that the song is a non-single from a new album. The lyrics exhort the audience, "Don't let go, don't give up hope. All is forgiven. You're breathing in the highs and lows. We call it living." After "Needle and Haystack Life," Foreman asked if it would be OK that they decided to play the new album from start to finish in track order. The audience cheered their approval.

Switchfoot, photos by Sean Arenas

"Mess of Me," their lead single, electrified the room. They rocked it like a classic. The lyrics resounded clearly over power chords, "I am my own affliction, I am my own disease. There ain´t no drug that they could sell, Ah there ain´t no drugs to make me well."

They told a story sonically and visually. Seagulls suspended delicately from the rafters throughout the Roxy seemed have flown out of the album cover backdrop. The lighting varied with songs and verses to emphasize changing moods. The band put their album out on vinyl and reminded the audience of where they would turn over the record. The audience cheered. The band brought in new instruments--a piano, a mandolin, a harmonica, an accordion. They played tightly and tunefully.

Chad Butler of Switchfoot, photos by Sean Arenas

Keyboardist Fontamillas played more instruments than one could keep track of. Lead singer Jon Foreman sang with meaning and conviction, from the gentle caress of his falsetto, to his full voice in mid range. His plaintive tones on "Your Love is A Song" made the song emotive and unforgettable; far more memorable live than the studio version. The audience sang along heartily.

In the midst of the singing along, bobbing heads and relationship with the audience, one can't help but think there is something missing. Ironically, "Bullet Soul" gave a danceable, singable Nirvanaesque sound replete with power chords and cowbell. Fontamillas stepped to the front playing the cowbell to syncopated glory while Foreman sang from inside the crowd and even took pictures of the crowd with a fan's camera. However, it left a fever for more; more songs with variety like 2006's single "Oh! Gravity." Both the opening and the title song on "Hello Hurricane" show elements of surprise with varied textures, drum accents, and active counter melodies.

Tim Foreman of Switchfoot, photos by Sean Arenas

Switchfoot ensconced the overall sound in a blanket of relative sonic safety for this new album. To be fair, however, their infectious spirit of fraternity, solidarity, love of what they do, musical talent, and connection with their audience can cause even a cynic to sing along. Hopefully, they will use their newfound indie stardom as a sonic switchfoot to experiment with their sound again.

True to their name, they certainly did a switchfoot by having greater success in alternative markets after Sony/BMG dropped them. They have not had an American Top 40 single since 2006, but that isn't everything.

They market themselves using social media--Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube. Switchfoot invented a scavenger hunt through Blogger site that involves hiding "Mess of Me" both physically at disclosed locations and digitally on the internet. "Hello Hurricane" is now being distributed by Atlantic. The band's dedicated fans think Switchfoot still has something to say about having some hope in this world. A lesser band would have given up. Switchfoot is not a lesser band.

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