by Tyler Fassnacht

Now I consider myself an above average fan of Trail of Dead and an above average fan of the Secret Machines, so when I saw that their joint tour was making a stop at the Majestic, I figured that I should probably go.

The first band that played was a Milwaukee band, that just came out for this show, called Invade Rome, who I believe used to be called Freshwater Collins. They played rock with a tinge of gritty southern drive and some psychedelic influences. They played a solid set that got people active, which is exactly what an opening band is supposed to do. The band itself, in my opinion got a little repetitive and the singer often donned a falsetto that annoyed me, especially because he had such a good regular singing voice.

Up next was the Secret Machines, who promptly came out and opened with their first hit “Nowhere Again”, which set things off on a very good foot. The band played for about 50 minutes, which sadly only included one song off of my favorite album of theirs, Ten Silver Drops. Besides that, my only complaint was that at times their sonic assault of noise, became too muddied up to really enjoy, but for the majority of the set this wasn’t a problem. They played, and got a response like a headliner, so it was a very pleasant when I remembered that Trail of Dead were still up next.

The last time I saw Trail of Dead was actually at the Majestic, when they played a free show opening up for the cartoon death metal band, Dethklok, a couple years back. At that show the majority of the audience was there for some metal, so Trail of Dead did not get the respect they deserved. Thankfully this time the audience was there for them, and gave the band plenty of attention. The setlist was mostly made of songs from their new album, The Century of Self, and their widely regarded masterpiece, Source Tags & Codes. I don’t think a single person was disappointed. Whereas the Secret Machines made an ungodly amount of noise (probably the loudest three piece I have ever heard) using tons and tons of effects, Trail of Dead made equal amounts of noise through numbers and sheer energy. The six piece band included two drummers, a force that drove every song like an engine, two guitars, bass and keyboards. Each member attacked their respective instruments. Keys were banged out, guitar strings were broken several times and vocals were strained, and all in the most exciting and engaging way. It had been a while since I attended a concert where the band was so dedicated to actually making their performance visually entertaining as well and Trail of Dead did wonders by jumping around, throwing mic stands and instruments and climbing on speakers. The music swayed from hardcore to post-punk to beautiful, melodic tunes, all flowing together with ease. The band came out for the encore and ended the show with the first song they ever wrote, which finally stirred the below average sized audience into a frenzy. Just as I had hoped, the bands played great, making this definitely an above average evening.

The Dears’Missiles remains in heavy rotation here at MoB. Tonight, The Dears open for the Secret Machines at the Majestic Theatre in Madison. Get there early to catch Milwaukee faves Freshwater Collins.

Myspace: The Dears
MP3: The Dears – “Meltdown in A Major”

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