The Fray – Scars on 45
Event on 2012-02-22 20:00:00
Monqui presentsThe Fray
Scars on 45
- Crystal Hotel & Ballroom – Crystal Ballroom |
- website:
- http://www.scarson45.com
- Myspace:
- http://www.myspace.com/scarson45
- Facebook:
- http://www.facebook.com/ScarsOn45
Wednesday, February 22
Tickets on sale now!About The Fray
By pitching their music somewhere between the arena-friendly style of U2 and the mature pop/rock of bands like Maroon 5 and Counting Crows, the Fray rose to commercial prominence with their 2005 debut, How to Save a Life. The Denver-based band had formed three years prior, when former schoolmates Isaac Slade (vocals, piano) and Joe King (guitar, vocals) unexpectedly bumped into each other at a local music store. The pair began a series of two-man jam sessions and soon expanded their lineup with two of Slade's former bandmates, drummer Ben Wysocki and guitarist David Welsh. Slade's younger brother, Caleb, also joined the band for a stint but was ultimately asked to leave; the resulting rift between the two siblings would later inspire the band's first hit single, "Over My Head (Cable Car)." After issuing the Movement EP in 2002, the quartet gained the support of Denver's KTCL radio station with a follow-up release, 2003's Reason EP. As the Fray's airplay increased alongside their local profile (Westworld, a Denver alt. weekly publication, deemed them "Best New Band" in 2004), they began attracting attention from Epic Records. The label ultimately signed the band in December 2004, and the Fray toured alongside Weezer and Ben Folds the following summer.
How to Save a Life was released in September 2005, and "Over My Head (Cable Car)" found a quick home on modern rock radio. By early 2006, it had crossed over to Top 40 chart status, peaking at number eight and whetting the public's appetite for another hit. The Fray responded by releasing the album's title track, which was heavily used in a promotional campaign for the TV series Grey's Anatomy and quickly became one of 2006's biggest singles. "How to Save a Life" was a world-wide smash, reaching the Top Ten in the U.S. (where it continued to chart for 58 consecutive weeks) and peaking at number one in Bulgaria, Ireland, Canada, and Spain. By the time the smoke had cleared, the Fray's debut had been certified double-platinum in the U.S. and was declared the best-selling digital album of all time.
As How to Save a Life continued to enjoy world-wide chart success, the live album Live at the Electric Factory was released in selected independent stores in July 2006. The Fray re-released their Reason EP the following year while continuing to tour, occasionally playing new material at their high-profile shows. The band also found time to return to the recording studio, and 2009 saw the release of their self-titled sophomore effort, The Fray. ~ Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide
About Scars on 45
Making music was the furthest thing from Scars on 45's frontman/songwriter, Danny Bemrose's, mind until the professional soccer player for England's Huddersfield Town F.C. broke his foot at 21 and his world came crashing down. "I was in limbo, without knowing what to do with myself," he says. It wasn't the first time that fate would intervene in the band's formation.
Danny put down the soccer ball and picked up for his father's guitar. "I'm quite an obsessive person. I became kind of addicted," he says. "I used to lock myself away to write songs and record on four-track recorder."
Those early "recordings" eventually led to the creation of Scars on 45, a quintet from Bradford, England, that combines the gentle melodic intensity of Snow Patrol or Keane with the added allure of co-ed vocals, provided by Danny and fellow lead vocalist Aimee Driver. The self-produced "Give Me Something" EP is Scars on 45's first proper release and serves as an introduction to the band in advance of their forthcoming full length.
Throughout the four-track collection, Danny and Aimee's voices weave around each other, creating not only beautiful harmonies but an added emotional dynamic to the storytelling found in the songs. Opening with the lilting, yet melancholic title track, the pair search for some sign–any sign–that there's a reason to believe in a lasting love. "Everyone's been in that situation of wanting someone and it not being reciprocated," Danny says. "It just rules your entire life."
Other highlights on the "Give Me Something" EP include the propulsive "Loudest Alarm," a B-side from the album recording sessions, as well as a gentle, acoustic rendition of "Don't Say," another track that the band had originally recorded for the album (and perform live) in a grander, more fully orchestrated form. The melodic chorus of "The Way That We Are" is both fresh and at once comfortably familiar.
Taking their name from an Emmylou Harris radio interview Danny had heard, Scars on 45 initially began as a trio made up of Bemrose, his football buddy/bassist Stuart Nichols, and keyboardist David "Nova" Nowakowski, with other members coming and going. Having no public performing experience, Amy was a friend of Nova's who originally came in to lay down some female vocal tracks for one of Danny's compositions. Her voice would become an integral element in the band's sound.
Then began a series of joys, heartbreaks and near misses. The band, now expanded to a quintet with the addition of Chris on drums, placed songs on A&E's since-cancelled series, "The Cleaner," and came close to signing a record deal only to see it fall apart at the last moment. Then came the moment they had been waiting for: "CSI: New York" selected the group's song, "Beauty's Running Wild," for an extended closing scene. The music caught the attention of noted music supervisor, Alexandra Patsavas, who signed the band to her Atlantic Records-distributed label, Chop Shop Records.
Although enjoyable, the studio is "the work part," Danny says whereas the real fun comes in playing live. "Just to be able to put yourself out there and let people know who you are is wonderful," he continues. "What I write about is who I am really. When people listen and react to one of your songs, there's no better feeling."
"Give Me Something" music video
at Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside
Portland, United States
Cold War Kids
Event on 2012-02-26 21:00:00
Supporting Acts: Superhumanoids
Cold War Kids
Cold War Kids means International Blues. We began in August '04 with friends, jangly guitar, hand claps, and a Harmony amp in a storage room atop Mulberry Street restaurant in downtown Fullerton, CA. For the first practices, having instruments was secondary to stomping and chanting; Clanging on heat pipes, thumping on plywood walls. Hollering into tape recorders. Slipping and swaying into alleyways and juke joints of yesteryear. Tapping in to the American dustbowl and British maritime. On the restaurants roof the sound and feeling was cultivated and burned, built and hallowed out, painted and stripped to the primer. Almost three years have passed and we haven't let up since the starting gun fired. The album "Robbers & Cowards" was released in the US in October '06 on Downtown and the rest of the world in February '07 on V2. 'Why even have apartments?' We often ask ourselves as we have toured with the vim of a family reunion brawl across the US, UK, Europe, Australia and Japan. Cold War Kids strive to make honest songs about human experience in orchards and hotel rooms, laundromats and churches, sea ports and school halls. We love the songs of Dylan, Nina Simone, and the Velvet Underground and make our own, which we like to think, are pretty original.
at Doug Fir Lounge
830 E Burnside Street
Portland, United States
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