Show Review
8/27/01
The Appleseed Cast/ Mates of State
Lawrence, Ks

By Peter Beard

Bottleneck Spending a night at the Bottleneck in Lawrence is a normal thing for an indie music fan to do. Many shows come and go, but only some are memorable. Sunday, August 27 was one of those memorable shows. A line up consisting of The Appleseed Cast and Mates of State might seem a little strange, but nothing could end up fitting better together. For those who aren’t familiar with Mates of State there are few things you should know about them. They are a duet made up of Jason Hammel, who plays drums, and Kori Gardner, who plays keyboard. To make the story even more interesting they are either getting married or already married, I forget which one. You might think that a band with only keyboard and drums might sound a little thin live but that just is not the case. Their constant harmonies and the amazing keyboarding of Kori both make for a big sound. Mates played about half of the songs from their old album, My Solo Project, and the rest of the songs were new. All in all a very good performance. I hope to see them again real soon.

After Mates of State left the stage Appleseed Cast quickly set up their equipment to play. They began the show with a little of The Walking of Pertelotte and then they went straight into On Reflection. If you think the songs on Low Level Owl sound good recorded wait until you hear them live. Appleseed Cast has one of the biggest live sounds I have ever heard. The guitars fill the air with constant melody and rhythm. Cobra used a somewhat bigger drum kit then before and the result is a big, big sound. AC played with a lot of energy for which I haven’t seen from them in awhile. I think this may have been for the fact that this was the first night of their tour with Mates of State (their old friends).

The show consisted of a lot of stuff from Low Level Owl including the before mentioned On Reflection as well as Steps and Numbers, Blind Mans Arrow, and Mile Marker. They all sounded amazing. The live versions have a lot more edge then the recorded versions which is good for a live performance. They also played some favorites from Mare Vitalis which included Forever Longing the Golden Sunsets, Santa Maria, and Storms (more in depth on this in a bit). They might have played one more of Mare Vitalis, but I can’t remember.
About 3/4 into the show Aaron told the audience that were going to play an old favorite and a song from his side project Hundred Hands. This got everyone excited because the old favorite was undeniably going to be Marigold & Patchwork., a song for which they haven’t played live in a long time. The song simply rocked. The Hundred Hands song ended up being A Replay which sounded very good with Cobra on drums.

The show ended with a very, very, very long version of Storms. By this time it was already past one in the morning and the guys were starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. Marc was stumbling around and Cobra looked as if he was ready to pass out. Not to fear, However, the men from AC know how to battle through the effects of alcohol to continue rocking. As the song went on the band, one by one starting with Aaron left the stage while leaving their Amp and effects going. This a something that everyone must witness. I could not stop laughing because I was watching Appleseed Cast be themselves. Cobra was the last one on the stage and when he stopped playing he slowly put his drumsticks away and walked off stage. All the while music is still playing because all the amps and guitar effects were still on. People were just plain confused. Luckily for me, I have seen them do this once before so I knew what to expect. But other non suspecting souls were not so fortunate. Many people left the Bottleneck with a lit bit of anger and confusion. Listening to the drone of Storms for 20 minutes when the band isn’t even on stage is a hard thing to like. The only thing I could say to friends afterwards about the 20 minute song of noise was “They do it because they can”. It may not be the best way to end a show but it is defiantly an Appleseed Cast way to end a show. If you have the chance to see Appleseed Cast live don’t miss it.