Motion City Soundtrack at the Varsity, Minneapolis (25 June 2016)

Light Years

Opening up the show was Cleveland’s Light Years, on their last appearance of the So Long, Farewell Tour. The four-piece (Pat Kennedy, Andrew Foerst, Tommy Englert, and Kent Sliney) played songs from their last album I’ll See You When I See You, including ‘Let You Down’ done midset and ‘The Summer She Broke My Heart’ done near the end.



The show was historic in a few ways for Light Years, it was their very last show with their longtime friends Motion City Soundtrack and it was also their drummer Kent’s birthday.



‘My Whole Life’ ended their 30-min set with a “tight goodbye”. The song was the lead intro track on their EP Temporary (Animal Style Records).

Have Mercy

Baltimore’s Have Mercy (singer/guitarist Brian Swindle, bassist Nick Woolford, drummer Todd Wallace, and additional guitarist Andrew Johnson) came on stage 13 minutes after Light Years left the stage. This was one of the fastest band setup I’ve ever seen. Apparently after six years of touring (averages of 278 days on tour) really paid off in efficiency. We cover 360 shows a year, and believe me: the less setup time, the better.



Like Light Years, this was also Have Mercy’s last appearance with Motion City Soundtrack, which Swindle announced, “This is our last night, so let’s make it a good one!”



According to the band, they’ve sold out of all their merchandise, save for some T-Shirts, and asked fans to go support the other bands.



Most of their set featured songs from their last album A Place Of Our Own, including ‘Pete Rose and Babe Ruth’, ‘Hell’, and set closer ‘Two Years’.



Their very first written song ‘My Oldest Friend’ was played as a quiet solo number. This would normally sound quite moving and sad, but unfortunately the constant talking, noisy audience drowned out the song.

Motion City Soundtrack

Earlier in March 2016, Minneapolis’ Motion City Soundtrack announced that the band was breaking up, “We have no idea what the future holds, but for now we are done.” The quintet (singer/guitarist Justin Pierre, lead guitarist Joshua Cain, keyboardist Jesse Johnson, bassist Matthew Taylor, and original drummer Tony Thaxton who rejoined for the last tour) is saying thank you and goodbye as they head out on the road for the last time. In many ways, this is a good thing for the band, who deserved a much-needed break and will be ending their career on a high point.



Although they didn’t announce why they were breaking up, you do get the feeling that it has much to do with vocalist Justin Pierre being a first time father to his now-14-month baby boy. This was evident as after ‘Capital H’ Pierre had to leave the stage to find out if his wife and child was going to leave (and if they were, he had to say goodbye). If you think about it, Motion City Soundtrack spend most of their lives touring with the Warped Tour or doing their own headlining tour and that leave very little time for family obligations. You can understand why Pierre would need to take time to be with his child at this crucial time.



Pierre would later reflect back to his own father and how his song ‘Last Night’ was basically a song from his dad’s point of view.

Setlist

As expected with the last tour, they basically played a “Greatest Hits” tour, playing all the favorites like ‘This Is For Real’ and ‘L.G. FUAD’ (Let’s Get F**ked Up And Die)… many of these songs had the entire audience singing along to every word.



For the encore, they dedicated ‘Anything At All’ (the first song on the band’s new album Panic Stations via Epitaph Records) to Ed Ackerson (BNLX and Polara), followed by ‘Even If It Kills Me’ and fitting song to end their finale, ‘The Future Freaks Me Out’.



The band handed out water, drum sticks, guitar picks, and various things to fans… looking incredibly grateful for having such a massive local fanbase.



The So Long, Farewell Tour continues next month (07/28) at Barrymore Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin. Go see them before it’s too late.