Monday evening I embarked on yet another journey to see Militia Group artist’s Copeland with supporting acts Acceptance, Lovedrug, and As Tall As Lions. However this show was a different one for Copeland who just a week before released their second full-length record and were on their first headlining tour.
The show was held at Ace’s Basement in Greensboro, N.C., one of the most respected venues in the area. Ace’s Basement is located in the basement of a hotel in the middle of Greensboro. At first I was skeptical of the venue, but I would soon learn that it did indeed live up to its hype.
New Jersey natives As Tall As Lions opened the show while their bass player did what can only be described as the “funky chicken” on stage.
As Tall As Lions mixes indie-rock with space rock noise. The first half of As Tall As Lions set felt lack luster, but the last three songs pulled the set together quiet nicely. The turnaround began with a new song “96 Heartbeats” and ended with another new song with clean guitar and ambient noise. * * * 2/4
Next up was Acceptance, but before they went on to play, the singer for As Tall As Lions let the crowd know that Lovedrug would be unable to make the show due to a mechanical failure in their van.
After taking forever to set up, Acceptance began their set. It consisted of guitars riffs a la Taking Back Sunday, but their vocals were a lot more harmonious than that of TBS.
Acceptance kept it tight throughout the night, but their only downfall was that they complained about everything. Their lead singer, who bore a striking resemblance to Nick Lacey from 98 Degrees, would complain about every minor imperfection with the sound. “Wow I am getting the buzz of all buzzes up here,” Acceptance front man Jason said.
If the guy had had a clue he would have realized the buzz was coming from his microphone sitting too close to a monitor. Even though they may have been annoying I cannot deny their talent and their singer’s striking voice. * * * *
Next to take the stage was the Militia Group’s Copeland. I have seen Copeland a countless number of times and could not help but notice a new addition to their equipment, a vintage Yamaha electric piano sitting center stage. “Hey, thanks for coming; we are Copeland,” Copeland front man Aaron March said as they began playing “Pin Your Wings” from their newly released full length In Motion. Copeland then immediately went into “Paula Sparks” to keep the first half of their set rocking.
About midway through their set, Marsh sat down his guitar and made himself comfortable in front of the electric piano. From that point they went on to play “Priceless,” “Choose the One Who Loves You More” and a staggering performance of “Sleep.”
Copeland did a great job of keeping the crowd into it by playing one of the tightest sets I have seen them play.
The only bad thing through the set was when one overzealous girl from the crowd would not stop shouting, “Play ‘In the Air Tonight.'” After a few songs, Marsh finally said, “We have honestly not played that song in forever, and I do not even remember the chords or the words to it. Sorry.”
Copeland did finish strong with “California” from 2002’s Beneath the Medicine Tree where Marsh sang, “Come back from California. All of us here in Florida are starved for your attention. We’re starved for your attention,” that left every girl in the place wanting Marsh’s attention. HHHHH

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