When is the last time you went to a show with stage diving? I don’t attend many pop-punk shows or college frat parties and so I am pretty sure the last time I saw stage diving was three years ago, late night, watching a VH1 showing of Even Flow. That all changed at the Most Serene Republic Saturday night show…but don’t jump to conclusions. The crowd’s antics fell outside of the afore-mentioned genres of musical bad taste (barring PJ, they only taste good) and instead drifted into spontaneous moments of humorous nostalgia prompted by one of the most high energy, high spirited shows I have witnessed in quite some time.
Most Serene Republic, straight out of the Toronto suburbs (by way of Atlanta, DC, Philly and NYC), was all adrenaline and endorphins in the form of seven people packed on the small Middle East Upstairs stage; every single song seemed to rouse the crowd into a sing-along-dance-along. The band displayed great poise, taking almost no time to pause between a mix of old and new jams. This kept the pace on a no breath sprint, never letting the energy level dip, and keeping the crowd excited for the duration.
Besides the high, happy energy, the powerful drums, and the mix of female and male vocals made the show. Frontman Adrian Jewett was echoed and bolstered by Emma Ditchburn, the guitar playing beauty at his side, and in almost every song the rest of the band would follow suit to sing in chorus. Throughout the show the blistering drums gave the music a math-rock feeling without being annoying. Really it was an incredible display of intensely technical percussion executed with a musician’s patience. As a drummer myself, I was instantly drawn to Tony Nesbitt-Larking’s skill, but as a musician I was blown away by the his ability to stay on even footing with the rest of the band; never showing off, never taking focus off the entire show experience.
And yes, there was stage-diving. And with the Most Serene Republic’s great energy and emotion, it actually fit. If you have the chance to go and see them, do not miss it, because there is really not a better live high energy event around.
Good words need to be said for Miracle Fortress, who opened the show. Their smooth sound caught me immediately. So much so that I picked up their album from the merch table, and it is already among my favorites of the year. Their live performance captured the brilliance of their album and I have not been able to get them out of my head. I hope next time they come through we can cover them with the depth they deserve.
