Review/Photo gallery: Anberlin Lite tour with Aaron Marsh of Copeland and Polyenso

Stephen Christian (vocals) of Anberlin

Light melody rockers Anberlin are a rare combination of prolific and talented. When I heard that they were going on a “Lite” tour and playing their catalog in a stripped-down acoustic format, I knew it was time to make the jaunt to see them.

That “lite” moniker is not just conceptual: The band’s onstage ambiance was heightened by the presence of flashing bulbs synced to the music.

Since I last saw the band in the battlefields of 2008 Warped Tour (a performance unfortunately lacking in vocal clarity), they’ve released five albums: Three new LPs (New Surrender, Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place and Vital) as well as two compilations (Blueprints for City Friendships: The Anberlin Anthology and Dancing Between the Fibers of Time).

Prolific indeed.

And, as last night’s concert showed, still talented. Anberlin returned to their home town of Saint Petersburg, Fla. to play at the State Theatre, bringing Aaron Marsh from Copeland onto the bill to play his first show in three years.

Polyenso opened first, though. Their music was sleepy – the kind of relaxing music you’d listen to on a down tempo day. It was a little too sleepy, though. One song in particular went on for too long and wasn’t interesting, although the addition of live trumpet by Alex Prorock brought character to the set.

Polyenso

Aaron Marsh took the stage next using only a piano and an acoustic guitar. I’m not the most familiar with Copeland’s catalog, but I appreciate Marsh’s legendary songbird vocals. These vocals were the star of his set, and he sounded solid playing old songs after being out of practice for three years. When he plugged in the acoustic guitar, technical mishap led to one of his songs being marred by interference, but he rolled with it using a good sense of humor, joking about how “I feel terrified right now.”

Aaron Marss got on stage with nothing but a piano, guitar and his voice.

Aaron Marsh got on stage with nothing but a piano, guitar and his voice.

When Anberlin took stage, I was surprised to see the whole band. The “Lite” description made it seem like it was going to be only acoustic, but what my ears met was a quieter reworking of their songs. Their set ended up being a pleasant low-key presentation of their best work. Unlike my sweaty experience at Warped Tour 2008, Stephen Christian’s vocals were crystal clear, especially with his presentation of the higher tones.

The band in its entirety was mixed well – the drums/bass were never overpowering any other instrument, as I’ve noticed in many poorly mixed shows.

Nathan Young of Anberlin

The set was balanced with new and old, although there wasn’t any content from their first LP Blueprints for the Black Market. Take this how you will.

My personal favorite album from Anberlin is Cities, so I was delighted to hear “Inevitable,” “The Unwinding Cable Car,” and, as part of their encore, “Dismantle. Repair.” stripped down to just the keyboard and Christian’s vocals.

Other remarkably good-sounding songs included “Breaking,” “Impossible” and “The Symphony of Blasé.”

Christian McAlhaney of Anberlin

Christian joked about how the tour’s first show in Jacksonville was a testing ground to get everything right and how, by this final show in Saint Petersburg, their set was polished. The performance was slick and went on without any technical glitches. The nicer touches included live synth and keyboard by Michael and, as mentioned earlier, the dancing light bulbs on stage.

Michael, who played keyboard on the Lite tour.

Christian interacted with the crowd frequently, but he didn’t spend too much time talking. The highlight of the set was when the band took a crowd request to play “The Haunting.” He pulled the man who requested it on stage and asked him to sing. The mohawk-clad guy named Cody got to sing the first half of the song with the band, leading to quite the Kodak moment and a memory I’m sure he won’t forget.

Stephen Christian shakes hands with Cody, who sang part of “The Haunting” with the band.

Anberlin closed their set with an extended version of “Paperthin Hymn” that ended with Christian belting the last few lines over and over. “These thoughts run through my head/Over and over/Complaints of violins become my only friends/I thought you said forever/Over and over/These thoughts run through my head.”

The show hit all the right chords. Anberlin’s set didn’t leave much out, and their ambiance was top-notch. If anything, the appeal of the Lite tour was the fact that it was simply different, an attempt to showcase that you don’t have to be loud to be good – on the contrary, if you can sound good without the full-on rock band sound, then you’ve hammered down what it takes to be talented, not just competent. Anberlin nailed it, especially with the live keyboards, which added a sweetening melody to the songs, and Christian’s sublime vocal performance.

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