Further Seems Forever Reunion Tour – REVIEW

Recently, we had the pleasure of seeing Further Seems Forever at the first date of their first tour back with their original lineup in Chicago at The Bottom Lounge. You can check out our review after the break.

Further Seems Forever is probably one of the best bands that the younger generation of members of the rock/indie scene might have never heard of.  The vocalist of the band though, is well known as being a forefather of the “emo generation” with his long time solo project, Dashboard Confessional.  When Chris Carrabba left the band to focus on Dashboard Confessional, they went through various line ups and member changes.  But for the first time in almost 12 years the full original lineup is back together and touring in support of what is considered the true follow up to the 2001 album The Moon Is Down, the recently released Penny Black.  Further Seems Forever recently performed at the Bottom Lounge with support from The Scissors and Carbon Tigers.

The Scissors are a Chicago based, female fronted, pop/rock/punk band that sounds like Joan Jett listened to a bit of Blondie and hired The Menzingers as a backup band.  They definitely had a bit of swagger as the opened the show to a mid-sized crowd, even though the crowd was just milling about and not paying much attention, at first.  After about 3 songs the band was captivating the audience as they moved towards the front of the stage listening to the sassy Yvonne Szumski belt out songs like “A-List”, which according to band is “about assholes who think they’re better than everyone else”.  By the end of their set the crowd had grown in size and energy, waiting for the other 2 bands on the bill.

Carbon Tigers, another Chicago based band, was next to grace the stage.  The band is probably best known for having their van and all of their equipment stolen back in February and then starting a fundraising campaign offering things such as digital song downloads, acoustic house shows, and personal songs to be written by the band in exchange for donations.  Carbon Tigers are the type of band that can appeal to fans of bands like Band of Horses and Passion Pit.  Their set was filled with music on top of music with little introduction of the songs and even less talking between the band and those in attendance, other than the band expressing their gratitude for the attention of the crowd.  I wish the band would have talked about the songs more, but at the same time, I didn’t notice much because I was too busy getting lost in the music.

It was finally the time I had been waiting over 10 years for; to see a band I have loved since high school finally playing in Chicago with their original members back together.  The Bottom Lounge was packed from front to back with a crowd of people that was mostly in their late 20’s, the oldest average age I’ve seen at that venue in a long time.  But once Further Seems Forever played their first note even seemed to revert to their age in 2001, acting as if it was their first time hearing “The Bradley” off of The Moon Is Down, scrambling towards the stage singing the lyrics at the top of their collective lungs back to Carrabba and the rest of the band.  The band worked the stage like it was their first performance, not like men who had been performing music for over a decade.  Although quite diminutive in stature, Chris Carrabba crooned like a giant, bounding from one side of the stage to the other.  The band played an equal balance of songs of the 2 albums they recorded together, using songs like “Snowbirds and Townies”, “Monechetti” and “New Years Project” off of The Moon Is Down to balance out “So Cold”, “Rusted Machines”, and “Kings Canyon” off the recently released Penny Black.

At the risk of sounding old I enjoy seeing bands that I listened to years ago because it brings back memories of the “old days”.  Further Seems Forever was definitely one of those bands.  Seeing them made me feel like a kid in high school again.  And The Scissors and Carbon Tigers helped instill in me that there is still good, original, hard working bands in the music industry, not just bands that are trying to copy off of other bands style.  All in all it was a great show that left me feeling reminiscent and with a smile on my face.

Information about the review…
Tour: Further Seems Forever Reunion Tour
Bands: Further Seems Forever, Carbon Tigers, The Scissors
Date: October 24, 2012
Venue: The Bottom Lounge in Chicago, IL