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Health & Fitness

West Coast Bands Stop Off in Huntington

The Paramount: Augustana & Greylag Concert Review (Monday, April 23, 2012). By: Zak Winters

Augustana with special guest Greylag, rolled into Long Island ready to play there own blend of pop and dream styled art rock riffing. Both bands hailing from the west coast, with Greylag embodying the north west sound of their hometown of Portland, OR. and headliners Augustana from Southern California showed a certain idolization to Bob Dylan in his electric years. Both band’s members were made up of guys in their early twenties, and made me feel that a few of their shortcomings would work themselves out with time and experience.


Greylag took the stage first and musically, as I said before, were very pacific northwest, for instance the vocalist, without any hint of intention, on the choruses had a way of singing melodies that spiked and mimic allot ofModest Mouse harmony, who also are from Portland. The drums were striped down In a minimalist way using only a snare, kick drum, a floor Tom and one cymbal but paired with the bass in a way that simultaneously left members of the band and the audience alike stomping their feet, clamping their hands and swiveling their bodies all the while grounding the avant-garde like, Sonic Youth and Radiohead feeling electric guitar poetry that were plucked over the rhythm focused acoustic guitar. The mix of acoustic guitar and electric guitar that are typically sseen on over the top, pop acts like The Goo Goo Dolls, was washed away by the dynamics that swayed, in areas similar to Bright Eyes with Greylag’s Kurt Cobain* look a like frontman singing stories (* a fact that several female audience members yelled up to him, while reassuring him that it was-not-a-bad-thing all the while looking at the frontman with goggly eyes) . The music is great, the band was tight and they understood how to create songs that would captivate people, however it’s there stage presence that was lacking and needs to be revamped to capture that X factor, that can change a concert entirely. While the frontman Andrew, was intense in his withdrawn, almost shy demeanor but as a whole the only other movement and excitement came from the bassist who slapped his hipster styled boots on the stage to the beat. However many great musicians in there early years showed less stage presence and even fear, like in the case of Jim Morrison, singer for the doors, who couldn’t even sing towards the crowd in their early years. So with this in mind, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Greylag headline there own tour and with the expierance create a stage show that goes beyond just what you hear. After their performance they invited the audience to meet them at their merchandise booth, where an Australian girl remarked what ” what a country! Where a band as great as Greylag is the opening act!” The group who gathered around them seem to concur.

After Greylag, came Augustana who were sharing all the same tubed bass and guitar amps, and with the addition of a full drum set and extra microphones for each of the 4 members they were up and playing in very little time between the 2 band’s sets. Taking the stage I immediately noticed that the front man, Dan Layus, looked like Scott Weiland from stone temple pilots but with a very purposeful Bob Dylan styled hair and attire. A few songs into there set, this impression was furthered when Layus pulled out and strapped a harmonica in front of his mouth, however despite the idolization, Augustana sounded more like Bob Dylan’s son’s band The Wallflowers than Dylan himself. Augustana is arranged in a way to allow Dan’s vocals and stories centering around relationships and women to drive the music forward. Even the rest of the members sing harmonious back ups in a top 40 early Beatles sort of way that had the mostly female audience dancing and singing along and the less extroverted used their smartphones to snap picture after picture some even with then smiling in front of the stage like tourist do at national monuments like The Statue Of Liberty. 

Now one music journalist once noted that when a band like Augustana who have several albums decide to name their latest release as a ” self-title” that it’s a signal that a change is a mist. This sentiment couldn’t be more true for Augustana, they recently switch labels from epic, they changed some of the members and they switched to electric guitars rather than their traditional acoustic and piano sound. There singles that they are known for “Boston” and ” Sweet and Low” garnered shrieking and full out dancing but even newer songs received extended applauses and sing-alongs from Augustana’s devoted fan base. 

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