After waiting over an hour and a half on a cold autumn evening to enter into the realms of Rocketown, the haven to Nashville’s 16-year-old mall queens and skate kings, I was more than ready to enjoy some quality musical entertainment. There was a short trip to the caf and then I was off to the stage area below ground to hear, Copeland, among other bands, on the first stop of their tour.
In an attempt to avoid the hormonal masses, I decided to purchase my various band merchandise before hand. This decision turned out to be a mistake. A good amount of time past before I could maneuver my way through the throng of people. Shirts and stickers in hand, I finally settled into a side seat and before long Mike Kinsella, or Owen, the moniker which he goes by, sauntered on stage with nothing, but guitar in hand. It immediately became apparent that the majority of the high school-age crowd preferred tinkering with their sidekicks and jabbering on and on about how cute their shirts were, instead of listening to the music. Besides the obvious question of why these kids were there in the first place if they were not going pay attention came second only to my confusion as to why so many of them had sidekicks in the first place?
Besides the less than enthusiastic crowd, Owen earned points in my book for discussing the ever-popular Degrassi in a somewhat ‘altered’ state. He also offered for anyone in the audience to raise their hand if they had any questions since his wife was a high school teacher. In regards to his music, Owen’s acoustic set was saturated with difficult guitar work. In a landscape filled with singer-songwriters, Owen stands out due to his witty and very direct song lyrics. However, I am not sure the owners of this ‘teen night club’ took too kindly to his frequent use of the f-word. Unfortunately for me, his set was very short. I felt like one does at TCBY when they get a taste of the flavor of the day, but feels as if the shallow tasting spoon is not enough to base a decision on. I wanted to hear more of his music, but hey, life goes on.
Later the crowd was presented a band called Acute from Los Angeles, Calif. There is not too much to say about this band. They had an attractive lead singer which compelled a few girls to scream. They reminded me of the Old 97’s sans the alt.country sound and instead decided to inject some pop sensibility. Their set was also short but I did not mind since I found their songs to be very forgettable.
Next up was the soft-spoken Kansas boys, The Appleseed Cast. My companion said it best when he stated that the band sounded like, “If your uncle was into indie rock before Kurt Cobain died.” There were few words exchanged between band members during the breaks between songs. The lack of stage banter was replaced by ambient concoctions for the ear to digest. Honestly, I did not mind seeing that this only left more time for the band to play the majority of their new record, Peregrine. I especially enjoyed their rendition of, Here We Are Family, off the new album. As someone who admires their music, I was very happy to see that the atmospheric tone and their artistic integrity on the record was not lost in the live performance.
I was also thankful that The Appleseed Cast had the amazing ability to shut up the crowd. It was surprising to see a crowd chock-full of post-adolescents relating to the music of guys at least 15 years their senior.
Finally, the evening presented its main event, Copeland. Like a magnet, the band brought about a forward movement towards the stage. With bodies closed in tight, the crowd was pleased to hear the band start out with fan favorite, When Paula Sparks. They also debuted the addition of third guitarist, Steve Laurenson.
With Laurenson on board, this freed up lead singer Aaron Marsh to play more piano on songs that originally did not include the instrument. Also, this inclusion added more texture and presented a fuller sound. The set was packed in tight with almost any song a die hard fan could ask for. Copeland played four songs off their newly released record, Eat, Sleep, Repeat which included their current single, “Control Freak”. Several songs off the previous record, In Motion, were presented as well. “Pin Your Wings”, “Hold Nothing Back”, and my personal favorite, “You Had My Attention”, which was the concert-ender, were just a few of the bulk of songs that were played from that record.
A great energy was displayed and the band sounded very in-synch that night. I had been warned that singer Aaron Marsh’s voice was not always the best sounding thing live, but this past Friday, was an exception.
Marsh hit all the right, and very high, notes and sounded solid throughout the performance. I felt as if Copeland, as a band, has reached this state were they are finally becoming a little more professional, what with a light show and background props. Like it or not, Copeland is in a sense past the point of wooing you and has dressed up to meet and impress the parents.
Despite standing out in the cold, driving about nine hours there and back, I would have to say that the impressive performances by The Appleseed Cast and Copeland made my efforts well worth it. Lucky for you, this was the first show of the tour and thus you have ample dates to check out the respective bands. For more information on tour dates, visit: TheCopelandSite.com.

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