Concert Review: Steel Train

Steel Train has been a favorite live act of mine for years. In case you're not familiar with them, they are a group out of New York that has a variety of styles, ranging from folk acoustic to jam band to their newest style which is rooted more in indie and pop music. Kyle and I headed out to the Beat Kitchen Wednesday night with a few friends to check them out again, and while their style has changed, possibly due to the replacement of two of the members, the show was still good.

The show featured only one opener, a local act named Dorian Minor. Not to sound too harsh, but naming your band after a melodic mode in music is really dorky. We didn't actually make it into the venue to actually see them, as there were $2 Berghoff pints in the bar and that seemed to be the better choice. We heard snippets of songs through the door, which sounded very influenced by Chicago's pop-punk scene, but other than that I can't really comment since we didn't see their set.

As for Steel Train, they are a band that seems to always be changing styles. When I first got into them they were an acoustic group signed on Drive-Thru records that was somewhat pop influenced. They then morphed a bit with their first full length release Twilight Tales from the Prairies of the Sun into their acoustic folk/ jam band style that has much of its influences in music from the '60s and '70s. This was their sound that I enjoyed most live, because lead singer and guitar player Jack Antonoff is one of the most talented guitar players I have ever seen live. Their style during this period was to just jam on songs and let Jack go, and he would rip off some amazing guitar solos. The shows were full of energy, had great grooves, and amazing solos.

Their latest iteration though has moved away from this and is more reminiscent of groups such as U2. This was the style they leaned towards on Wednesday. While I enjoyed their new stuff as well, I was disappointed to see that they are moving away from their old live show style. Jack's guitar solos in the new stuff are almost non-existent, and he has taken over leading singing completely, a job he formerly shared with keyboardist Scott Irby-Ranniar. Scott has one of the smoothest voices and singing styles you will ever hear, and it added a very unique element to their sound.

Overall the show was pretty good, but I was surprised that they only played for barely an hour when there was only one opener and the show ended by 11pm. I admit that I wanted to hear more older songs, but that's not a knock against their new stuff. Really I wish they would play one set of their old stuff and then another set of new songs, cause it's really like two completely different bands.

Also this was my first time to the Beat Kitchen, which is located on Belmont but out west towards 94. It's a nice place with cheap beer and a small but good concert area.

For a sample here's a couple songs off their old album. The newest stuff is supposed to be on an album due out later this year, but as of right now I don't have any of it so you'll have to check it out at www.myspace.com/steeltrain.





and here's a cover of the Jackson Five's I want you back just for good measure. These songs feature Scott on vocals with his wonderful voice.





Also I want to post a concert announce for next week. Rx Bandits, Gym Class Heroes, K-OS, and POS @ the House of Blues on Thursday. I know its finals week, but if you're done with finals and are still in town this should be a good one. I'll post some stuff about the bands later, so this is just a heads up.


-Alec