“You are the last people to ever see this,” Anthony Green told the sold out crowd, at the House of Blues in Anaheim Sunday night, before he and his friends took the stage as their “super band” the Sound of Animals Fighting.
The massive side project that cites its roster only under various animal stage names gave up their anonymity for four extremely rare live shows in San Diego, Las Vegas, Hollywood and Anaheim.
But with such technology today as MySpace.com and Wikipedia.com, it’s hard to stay anonymous. Without their faces hidden behind plastic animal masks, the lineup was revealed just as suspected.
The project features members of Circa Survive, Rx Bandits, Finch, Days Away, Autumns and Chiodos and draws influence from each band.
The night kicked off with a short set from brand new band Cinematic Sunrise. The band is a side project as well, featuring Craig Owens and Bradley Bell from Chiodos. It was only its fifth live performance ever, but there were already several fans in the audience who were screaming along with Owens.
The band showed a lot of promise and revealed a gentler, more pop side of the Chiodos members. Since it only has three songs, Owens sang a new Chidos song acoustic to take up more time.
Next to take the stage was Anthony Green. Last time we checked in with Green he was rocking a sold-out show at the Glass House fronting Circa Survive, but this time he sat solo in a fold-out chair barefoot.
Green’s eight song acoustic set drew mostly from random songs he had written by himself and with his various side projects, although he did please the crowd when he sang an acoustic version of Circa Survive single “Act Appalled.”
“Baby Girl,” from his side project High and Driving, was another song that the crowd seemed to know just as well as Green. He finished his set with another Circa Survive track “Meet Me in Montauk.”
While Green looked comfortable, his stage presence was nowhere near the level it was when backed with a rock band. When Rx Bandits’ singer and guitarist Matt Embree followed Green, it was obvious that this is the environment he thrives in.
Embree started off with a cover of Jeff Buckley’s “Be Your Husband,” which is a variation of Nina Simone’s “Be My Husband.” He followed that up with a variation of RX Bandits’ new song “Only for the Night,” but with a whole new beginning in Spanish.
He pulled on the heart strings of the audience when he invited his mom out to sing a cover of the Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love.” Embree told the crowd that when he was a child, his father taught him how to play guitar and his mom taught him how to sing.
“That was one of my dreams come true,” Embree said when it was over.
His nine song set had a theme of community, as Embree repeatedly talked about the importance of it. He even invited a group of his friends on stage to sing and play with him.
As with the Rx Bandits, most of the songs Embree sang were about revolution and faith. With friends in support, Embree played an excellent cover of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine.”
When it finally came time for the Sound of Animals Fighting, two masked figures took the stage and lit a dark figure with only two flashlights.
He sang an a capella intro which seemed to last forever. When that was over, lights came up to reveal the identities of the members to the public.
The backing band was made up almost entirely of the RX Bandits. Green and Owens split vocal duties with Days Away’s Keith Goodwin and former RX Bandits trombonist (and rumored organizer and leader of the Sound of Animals Fighting) Rich Balling.
They came out hard, mixing up hits from both 2005’s “The Tiger and the Duke” and 2006’s “Lover, the Lord Has Left Us.” Heavy drums banged on “All Is Ash or the Light Shining Through It,” and the beat alternated from heavy to soft on “Skullflower.”
The band played a lot harder and faster live than they do on CD. The mosh pit got absolutely crazy and many attendees sought refuge on the upper level.
The Sound of Animals Fighting is classified as experimental, progressive rock, but when it comes down to it, it sounds like exactly what it is. It’s the speed and intensity of the RX Bandits combined with the vocal talents of one of the most talented singers on the rock scene today (Green).
The show was a little over-stimulating visually. In addition to the large number of musicians onstage, the show featured masked dancers, artists painting illuminated canvases, silent films being projected overhead, and a crazy light show.
When the show was over, everybody in the room felt very fortunate to have been a part of the once-in-a-lifetime tour. For everybody who wasn’t able to make the show, it will be released on a special edition DVD later this year.