By Micah
McLain
Cursive
took the stage Monday night at a surprisingly early 11:15 p.m. after opening sets
from Winston Audio and Capgun Coups. I, however, had assumed that headliners at
Lenny's still didn't start until after midnight – a mistake that I paid dearly
for. While I only caught the tail end of their set, I can imagine how powerful
and intense the rest of their time on stage was.
While playing to a
disappointingly half-full room, Tim Kasher and company ripped through a variety
of songs from their full catalog. The slowly building "From the Hips" off 2009's
Mama, I'm Swollen had the entire crowd chanting and thrashing along with
the band as Kasher escalated his lyrical delivery from speaking "I'm at my best
when/I'm trying to look and think/And talk and sing and read/And write
like all the rest," to screaming "And I wish that we had never talked/Our hips
said it all" by songs end.
A cover of King Crimson's super jam "21st
Century Schizoid Man" allowed the band, especially drummer Cully Symington, to
show off the musicianship that the band continues to hone during their frequent
touring. The band finished their set with a passionate, scream-filled
performance of fan favorite "The Martyr," leaving everyone that was lucky enough
to be in attendance wanting more of this increasingly legendary group.
It was a
truly special opportunity to catch a band that has played the Tabernacle and
Variety Playhouse in recent years at such an intimate, dirty, and loud venue
like Lenny's. Cursive has been around for almost 15 years and it seems that
Tim Kasher is enjoying the role that the band has settled into; no longer at the
point where he feels the need to continue to reach for mainstream acceptance,
but instead focus on playing the music that the band's true fans have loved all
along at the venues where he can connect with his fans the most.
