Where were you at the dinner hour on a Monday of the beautiful spring evening of April 7? I know where I was – sacrificing a meal to check out Cursive perform at the Canopy Club. A meager crowd grew to a less than meager one by the time the much anticipated band took the stage, and soon the theatre was throbbing. The band performed plenty of tracks from their multiple albums, some of which only roused the most devoted fans.
It was clear what the band was there for from the very beginning of their set – the show of Tim Kasher. The lead singer and guitarist poured his soul out onto the stage through his very passionate lyrics, and for those who could appreciate the emotional styles of the indie band it made for an entertaining performance. No one in the house could deny that the vocal range of front man Kasher was impressive, with his ability to get the crowd pumping their fists and still melt their hearts at the same time. His voice ranged from suffocated screams to light falsettos in songs such as “Bad Sects.” The performance continued throughout the twilight hours for a restrained crowd. The band never necessarily seemed to make any attempt to make a real connection with them.
The band showed that it could embrace diverse sounds through its horn and guitars combo, which blended to create energetic arrangements. This worked well for Kasher’s style, though the instrumental side of the music always seemed to tiptoe around the vocals and could have used some more focus for the stage version of many of the tracks.
The crowd finally seemed to really be getting into the music. Unfortunately, this was not until about the last minute of their final song. By the end of the set, however, the veterans had their regular dose of Cursive, and the rest were not blown away but still satisfied by a pretty solid performance from the band.
