Moments Before The Wind Tour Pt. 1: Free Throw, Macseal, TRSH, Wakeslee

Phantom Light Media
May 2
3 min read

The tide was right for surfing at the Shrine

Sometimes I arrive at a concert and gulp. Knowing it’s going to be crowded and hard to move around. That's what I walked into at The Shrine Ball Room on the 18th of April. The crowd was not short of friends and acquaintances and was filling the room early and quick. All of us there to see a great line up of music with the night wrapping up with Free Throw. I will say the music that night was mellow compared to the night before but by no means was it bad. Starting the night off was Wakelee, a Brooklyn base alt rock indie emo band. Their sound from beginning was pretty smooth with plenty of crowd interaction. Through out their set they had a guest come out and play the trombone. This brought them in to the Ska sound for me which is great because I also love ska. I didn't really pick up on the emo. Though my emo is nearly 30 years old and it could just be a generational thing. Strange to me was the stage diving that began during their set, I’ll have more to say about that later.

TRSH was founded in the Midwest (Springfield, MO) and came on stage next. The band is familiar to Boise, having played The Shedder, and most recently they played during Treefort Music Festival. This set was where the mosh pit really picked up, along with the stage diving and crowd surfing. This almost got to the point that I struggled to focus on the music and the show itself. It seemed the band was all for it and obviously most of the crowd was too. At points I was dropping the cameras and catching the fans including a kid no more then 8 years of age it would seem. This Indie rock band still put on great set, I would say though have a plan when tuning the guitar between songs. I caught that and it did reach a point of wondering why it was always falling out of tune. With the base, the drums, and the other guitar a little instrumental interlude would be great.

At this point I was beginning to get a bit overwhelmed, but was still enjoying a laid back show. Next up was another Indie Rock band, Macseal from Farmingdale, New York. By now the music was beginning to sound the same mashing together and I was losing my focus and to point my interest. Macseal still put on a great set and the fan interaction was top notch. Especially with the activities that have only been escalating to this point. Which I was growing tired of. As such, I wish I had more to say about their set but I had reached that point. I was listening and watching the show less and watching the fans more.

Freethrow was on next so I brought myself back to attention. Surely the fans would dail it back a bit. Out of Nashville, TN, Free Throw was the band I wanted to see. I grew up on Emo and although Free Throw came around later I have still listened to a little of their music and knew who they were. They brought their own lighting set up and the kicked the set off dark, with blues and orange. Lead singer Cory Castro brought with him a strong stage presence. He was a joy to watch and listen too. The band was clean and put on a great set. Yes, at this point the crowd activities had simmered down to a degree. Not to be left out though guitarist Ryan Bartlett from Macseal joined in for song and took a leap on to fingers of the sea of people. Happy to see their set but ready to be done, Free Throw did put on a great show.

Overall, it was good show. Maybe it is just me but Free Throw was the only band I would have expected crowd surfing and a mosh pit from. Imagine my surprise when it went from beginning of and nearly to the end of the night. Different strokes for different folks though. It was still a good night at the Shrine.