Relient K WPI Show Review by Jamie

15 April 2011

Read a handy review of a recent Relient K concert on April 9th at WPI in Worcester, MA by Jaime B. Follow the link through to read the full review.

Things that were awesome:

First off John Warne is the man. I just wanted to get that out there.

Right out of the gate the band just tore up the place. They started with Who I am Hates Who I've Been and that just totally energized the crowd.

Matt, John, and Ethan's banter about the LARPers on campus was pretty awesome. Their conversations in between songs in general was great while they were readying their next songs.

This was my 6th show and it was definitely the best they've sounded. You didn't even need earplugs and you could hear every instrument clearly. It also allowed them to really build and go wild which was sweet.

The new version of The One I'm Waiting For with Justin York's guitar work is absolutely fantastic. I would kill for a legitimate recording of this.

As a bonus for WPI, they played College Kids, a song I'd never heard them play live.

They also broke their 1 and a half year boycott of Sadie Hawkins Dance.

The band dancing around during Candlelight was classic!

THEY COVERED ONE HEADLIGHT BY THE WALLFLOWERS. THIS WAS THE BEST THING EVER.

Stuff that totally sucked

There were sawhorses in front of the stage that put a 12 foot gap between everyone and the band, I'm guessing to protect the light rigs and speaker stacks. But it kind of stifled the energy in the place a little. Even the openers were like "This is awkward. You're all so far away!"

There was a strictly enforced ban on any recording equipment. There were security folks telling people to put their cameras away the second someone pulled one out. So instead of being able to record my favorite RK show so far, or be able to listen to their cover of One Headlight (which is by far the best version of that song I've heard), there will never be any record of this show happening. Which sucks.

We couldn't find their tour bus afterwards so no autographs or ability to talk to them after the show.

Extra stuff you might care about

They played a lot of songs from MMHMM, Five Score, and Forget & Not Slow Down. Ones I can remember (in no order) are...
Who I am Hate Who I've Been (Alternate Version)
The One I'm Waiting For
Forget & Not Slow Down
Sunny With a High of 75
The Lining is Silver
Flare/Candlelight
Must Have Done Something Right
Devastation and Reform
Be My Escape
I So Hate Consequences
Therapy
Sahara
College Kids
Sadie Hawkins Dance
Africa (Toto cover)
One Headlight (The Wallflowers cover)

They didn't have any vinyls at their merch table.

All in all...

The concert was awesome and they're definitely at the top of their game... I hope you all are excited to see them when they come around, because they've definitely brought more energy than I've seen in the past and hopefully they'll play some of these new covers and alternate versions.

Tags: relient k concert review