It was in an attempt to hear Dispatch that I discovered this band. In the winter of 2006 (I think it was then) I headed down to Irving Plaza to hear a "Relief Project" concert, which was going to be headlined by Pete Francis, Braddigan, and State Radio. Each of those three groups was headed by one of the guys from Dispatch, so I was kind of hoping for something of a reunion. While the guys did get together to play a song (Here We Go) to close out the show, this was not the highlight for me. The highlight was hearing State Radio, for the first time. Well, I lie. Hearing Dispatch was amazing, and State Radio's sound that night was a bit off. But, it did open me up to one of my favorite bands, and for that I'm pretty grateful.
Headed by Chad, one of the primary songwriters for Dispatch (which doesn't say much- as all 3 of them wrote songs, but Chad wrote some of the better ones, like The General, Time Served, and as far as I know, Elias), State Radio has slowly been building up a pretty strong following- at least where I see them, in New York City. While I don't neccesarily like the fact that they're lately been playing larger venues- Terminal 5 instead of The Bowery- it does testify to the growth of their fan base over the past few years.
I've seen them 5 times (and Jenn was there at every show) over the past few years (putting them #2 to Pearl Jam in bands I've seen the most), the last of which was at a large venue in Camden opening for the Dave Matthews Band. While it was weird to be so far from the stage at a show of theirs, and to be one of the few people who was singing along to every word, it was really cool to see them playing for such a large audience.
So check these guys out. Their brand of indie rock stays clear of the emotional acoustic stuff that you may be used to; they're more of an alternative rock band that happens to be independent. Enjoy it, and check them out when they rock out Terminal 5 on Thanksgiving weekend.
Oh, and if you just noticed that the song titles are slightly political- they are. Chad loves singing about his uber-liberal political beliefs. If that bothers you, try to ignore it and focus on the music.
1 comments:
It was December 22, 2005. And it was a good time - the sound was terrible though. Bowery show was great in Feb 06, but the best place I've ever seen them was Theater of the Living Arts in Philly. Awesome venue, great sound...if you're able to get there for Shabbos and then catch the show on Sat. night, it comes highly recommended.
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