Further Seems Forever-The Beta Bar- Tallahassee, Fl. 02.09.03
Posted by Jay Bower on 02.11.2003
With a new album on the way, a sick live show and a level of respect for their fans that isn't seen enough these days, FSF didn't disappoint...
Further Seems Forever
The Beta Bar, Tallahassee, Florida
Febuary 9, 2003.
If there is one thing certain about Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida --a city that gave birth to Creed and now holds them in the same regards as the Florida Gators -- it is that we love our quasi-emo damnit! Six months ago, Further Seems Forever rocked the Tallahassee Thunderdome, drawing one of the biggest crowds in the venues history. Roughly one year ago when all three acts were on the verge of mainstream breakthrough, Further Seems Forever played another local venue with Saves the Day and Dashboard Confessional ine of the best shows the town has ever seen. Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional is no stranger to Further Seems Forever as he led the band on vocals for their acclaimed album "The Moon is Down" before departing and attaining the sheer love of legions as well as the unbridled hatred of a large group of others as well. In his departure, the South Florida band forged ahead with several member changes, the most notable being the addition of Jason Gleason, a great vocalist who conveniently sounds almost identical to Chris Carrabba at times. Promoting their new album "How to Start a Fire" which *puts on pimp suit* drops *takes off pimp suit* on February 11 courtesy of Tooth & Nail Records, Further Seems Forever drew probably their largest Tallahassee crowd to date this past Sunday evening.
Opening up for Further Seems Forever were Drive-Thru Records (and now MCA) artists The Early November, a mellow though energetic young band who are already growing a major following of their own. Myself and Ken Anderson of 411Wrestling arrived at the venue piss drunk off of a meager two shots of scotch each and Ken quickly lost his cell phone, causing us to miss most of the set as we looked for it. The other opening band was Elliot, another band with quite a following who put on a good, albeit short set as the crowd was vocally ready for Further Seems Forever to take the stage.
During the ten minute period while Further Seems Forever were setting up, a guy complimented Ken Anderson on his t-shirt and then began what appeared to be some kind of a courtship ritual, placing his arm around Ken and rambling on about how much he loved Forever and a Day as I think the poor kid didn't even realize that they weren't on the bill. Meanwhile, still lit from 2 shots of Scotch (maybe it's because I had never tried it before, but that stuff not only screws you up quickly, but for like 4 hours), I turned to a girl who could be described as moderately attractive only if feeling extremely charitable, leaned in and said "So...do you like Madball?". She fled.
Finally, after another five minutes of delay, FSF took the stage to a huge ovation from the 400 people packed inside of the tiny Beta Bar.
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They thanked us for coming and took a moment to promote their new album before asking if anyone had heard it yet? Seeing as though the album doesn't *put on platinum teeth* drop *takes off platinum teeth* for another three days, the only ones in the audience who would have heard it before then would have had peg legs and tattered pants, because YARRRRR, they're pirates. Of course, I had heard the new cd already as it's all over Kazaa and so had the rest of the audience, but we were dead silent. The band then did something that was a breathe of fresh air to see, they thanked the crowd who had downloaded the music for the support and appreciated the fact that their fans are supportive enough to try and hunt down the music as soon as possible. This was tremendous to hear as listening to bands bitch about people downloading their music is getting really old. I understand that we are taking money from their pockets, but when considering the fact that bands like Brand New, Taking Back Sunday and Further Seems Forever would probably draw a third of their normal crowds these days if they only admitted those who bought the cd, it is kind of silly. The reason so many great bands are getting so much exposure these days is largely because of file sharing and a band like Further Seems Forever may lose the fraction of a cent per CD that they didn't sell, but they gain another enthusiastic 300 kids to each of their shows who will likely drop fifteen bucks on merchandise which is money they WILL see a lot more of than CD sales.
Further Seems Forever opened with a song of their new album, but I am not familiar enough with the CD yet to give you any track names. The crowd ate it up with a spoon, dancing up a storm while I wished I would have brought my ruby dance slippers along with me. The rest of the set was gold, with an even mix of new songs and old material spread throughout the evening. Personally, I'm not huge on bands playing quite so many new songs when the album hasn't been released yet as it kills the sing along dynamic, but the new stuff was so good that I found myself not throwing a temper tantrum on the middle of the floor like usual. "The Moon is Down" and "New Year's Project" are amazing songs and even better live, and they brought the steadily increasing crowd to a near riotous state with their sing-along-friendly choruses and symbol happy climaxes. However, the best song of the show certainly went to "Snowbirds and Townies", a tremendous song that drips of Carrabba influence. The set ended with the band explaining how they agreed to not do encores because they found them to be cheesy...and then did an encore because it was obvious the crowd wasn't going anywhere, aside me from Ken and I who were darting to the restrooms to break our seals and make one last attempt at finding his cell phone. After the show the band thanked everyone for coming out yet again, stuck around to meet the fans and unloaded an ungodly amount of merch from the look of it.
The night ended on a happy note as Ken found his cell phone, in of all places, his pocket and I had just seen one of the better shows that has come through our parts in a while.
Proving that there is indeed life beyond a 5 foot, tattoo covered, love sick traveling skeleton, Further Seems Forever have solidified themselves as one hell of a talented band who don't seem to be headed anywhere but up. Check them out on tour promoting "How to Start a Fire" coming to a city near you.
02.11.03 - Houston,TX Engine Room w/ Elliott, The Rise, Early November
02.12.03 - San Antonio,TX Sin 13 w/ Elliott, The Rise, Early November
02.13.03 - Austin,TX Emo's w/ Elliott, The Rise, Early November
02.14.03 - Ft. Worth,TX The Door w/ Elliott, The Rise, Early November
02.15.03 - Oklahoma City,OK Green Door w/ Elliott, The Rise, Early November
02.17.03 - Tempe,AZ Bash on Ash w/ The Beautiful Mistake, Elliott, Open Hand
02.18.03 - San Diego,CA The Scene w/ The Beautiful Mistake, Elliott, Open Hand
02.19.03 - W. Hollywood,CA Troubadour w/ The Beautiful Mistake, Elliott, Open Hand
The 411: With a new album on the way, a sick live show and a level of respect for their fans that isn't seen enough these days, FSF didn't disappoint in the least and I would recommend the live experience for any fan of the band or the genre.
