Breaking Benjamin
Hometown: Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
http://www.shallowbay.com/
Breaking Benjamin Concert Photos
Wednesday October 11, 2006
La Zona Rosa (Austin, Texas)
also:
Dropping Daylight,
Evans Blue
It's hard if you're a mid-level band on the way up or down to attract much attention in a music town like Austin. A show like this would have quickly sold out in most lesser towns, but in Austin it seemed as if the audience would never fill out.
This was a great line-up too, three solid touring bands, all with core audiences in tow. My favorite of the three turned out to be the opening act, Minnesota-based Dropping Daylight, for their musical voracity and energy. They attacked the music like it was the last show they were ever going to do and it really showed. Lead guitarist Seth Davin looking like he was skipping high school to be there, this band had a blast onstage. With songwriting brother Sebastian Davin on piano and vocals, these guys set a pace that was hard to follow for the other two bands. They had a squeaky clean "pop" vibe that your mom might like, but rocked hard enough for it not to be uncool to have them on your iPod. Only about half the audience was there by the time their set was over. I missed chatting with them after their set at the merch booth and will have to try to catch up with them later. Their song "Tell Me" keeps playing over and over in my head.
A bit louder and harder, Ontario's Evan's Blue was next. Definitely a candidate for one of Clint's "Canadian Bands That Don't Suck," this 5-piece seems to have built a respectable audience here through previous appearances. A little less mainstream than Dropping Daylight, they had a harder alternative rock edge. They did a very hard cover of a Sarah McLachlan's song "Possession" that if you didn't listen carefully, would have missed. During the third song of their set, Breaking Benjamin's lead singer, Ben Burnley, joined them onstage. After their set I got to chat with them a bit, but not much as they were busy taking pictures with fans.
Breaking Benjamin, the headliner, has a fairly solid audience, and the venue had filled appreciably by the time they hit the stage. With a good amount of street buzz they seem to be a band that is going places; their last CD debuted at number 2 on the Billboard charts back in August. Vocalist Ben Burnley was backed by the strong bass playing of Mark Klepaski, and lead by Aaron Fink, both formerly of Lifer, and their show was strong, polished and professional. I was actually kind of surprised to see a few random crowd surfers in the audience; they felt out of place at this show. On disc Breaking Benjamin have always reminded me a little bit of Tool but, not so much live. Not dark enough.
Thanks to Evans Blue and Dropping Daylight for hooking me up with the photo pass for this show, and the everyone over at Direct Events and La Zona Rosa for their continued support and assistance.