The Boxer Rebellion at Turf Club, St Paul (28 Oct 2016)

Widescreen rock… in a fullscreen bar—

London-based cinematic indie rock band The Boxer Rebellion returned to the area after an almost five-year absence, playing the other side of the Mississippi for the first time, with a recent show in St. Paul at the “best remnant of the ’40s”, The Turf Club. 

A brief set by Nashville (by way of LA) singer-songwriter Ry Cox began the evening, who doubles his time as a filmmaker as well.  Better known in the trades as a director and cinematographer (along with brother Drew), he’s decided to try his brand of storytelling on the other side of the camera, with guitar in hand, and songs like ‘Till I Say When’, with new music due in 2017. 

Self-described as “Blondie meets Beach House via Pet Sounds”, the three-sister led quintet Hey Anna was next, with a short and somewhat dreamy set of mostly down tempo songs.  The Brooklyn band’s self-released first full-length, Run Koko, was partially the result of a successful PledgeMusic campaign and came out in July, perfect timing for a summer chill sound. 

The band played in dim blue lighting, mostly centering on the new music (and with two of the sisters alternating on vocals) but worked in a couple older numbers, including 2013’s ‘Superglue’ into their thirty-minute set.

Starting with the last first, The Boxer Rebellion opened their 98 min. headlining set with the closing song from new and fifth studio album, Ocean by Ocean (Amplify Records), ‘Let it Go’, a track singer Nathan Nicholson was inspired to write after reading to his young son and reflecting on his place in the world.

The band has undergone a minor shakeup since we saw them last, with Andrew Smith now on lead guitar/keys, but their spanning indie rock song retains its same charm and the band is hoping to broaden its stateside success, to rival or exceed the success they still see in Europe. 

2011’s ‘Step Out of the Car’ throttled forward with a driving bassline from Adam Harrison, then the band went back to their 2005 debut Exits, for ‘We Have This Place Surrounded’- “this is an old tune”, Nicholson would say beforehand, the song sounding similar to Unforgettable Fire-era U2. 

2009’s ‘Semi-Automatic’ had the crowd clapping along, ‘You Belong to Me’ had to be restarted due to Nicholson’s falsetto starting just late “actors get a second chance, so…”, and he and guitarist Smith moved into the center of the floor for an acoustic and off-mic version of ‘Always’ inside a hushed circle of fans, and illuminated by only a few cellphone lights. 

Breakout song ‘Spitting Fire’ from 2009 still sounded crisp with drummer Piers Hewitt anchoring the song and guitarist Smith ably handling the rhythm riffs of the original, while adding his own flourish.

A darker version of ‘Pull Yourself Together’ is featured on their Waves and Waves EP, which was released this day digitally and features Hey Anna, though the group did not join them on stage for the version. 

‘Evacuate’ had the frantic energy of the best Walkmen songs and main set closing ‘Flight’ built up its pent up energy in the finest ‘Hey Man, Nice Shot’ kind of way, ending in guitar feedback. 

The encore began minimally and electronically with a sparse ‘Keep Me Close’, 2009’s album opener, ‘No Harm’, followed and traditional closer, ‘The Gospel of Goro Adachi’ ended the evening, with Nicholson dedicating the song, to the two openers. 

With a sound that seemed larger than the venue played, it’s great to see The Boxer Rebellion back, touring Ocean by Ocean again in the US and Europe, with its unique wide-spanning indie rock sound. 

Remaining Tour Dates: