The last time we saw the Fray they topped a three-band bill with Meese and Jack’s Mannequin out at Starlight Theatre. That was in July 2009, and the show drew nearly 6,000 fans.
These days, three years is a half-era in the life of a band, which explains the apparent waning in interest, even if it’s temporary. That’s about how long it has been since the Fray released its previous album, “The Fray,” which came out in February 2009.
The band's third album, “Scars and Stories,” is due on Feb. 7. Sunday night, the band introduced some of those new songs to a crowd that gave the new stuff a warm welcome but was definitely more interested in hearing something more nostalgic, like songs from the band’s first album, “How to Save a Life,” now more than six years old.
They opened with one of those: “Over My Head (Cable Car),” one of several lambent and tuneful ballads lead singer Isaac Slade and his mates would perform during their 70-minute set. Slade has taken steps to make himself more of a front man, one who roams the stage with a microphone in hand, instead of a guy who remains at the piano the entire night. He has neither the gait nor the demeanor of a good, alpha front man. But that doesn’t stop him from trying. It didn’t help that his snow-white thigh-length jacket made him look from a distance like an optometrist.
Nonetheless, all night he engaged his audience, which included many couples, some of whom swayed or embraced during some of the more lovelorn numbers. The Fray sounds more than ever like descendents of the first two Coldplay albums, which isn’t necessarily an easy place to get to or a bad place to be. They can write some handsome, catchy and well-crafted pop tunes, like “All She Wants,” the evening’s second song, and lush, melancholic ballads, like “Look After You.” Both prompted lots of singing-along.
Slade took a seat behind a piano, starting with “Absolute,” a track from “The Fray” album. They would play many of the best-known tracks from those first two albums: “Absolute,” “Look After You,” “Don’t Let Me Go,” “How to Save A Life” and “You Found Me,” and a few from the new album, including “Turn Me On” and “Heartbeat.”
They all interlocked seamlessly, as if created at the same time, extracted from the same barrel. In describing a band’s music, the word “formulaic” doesn’t have to be a pejorative if its formula provides berth for change and variation. The Fray’s does that. They ended with a token holiday song: Slade crooned “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” in a voice that resembled a watered-down Dr. John. Then they ended with “Ungodly Hour,” a lovely down tempo ballad about the bitter end of a relationship. It brought the evening to a solemn ending, which turned out to be the one unexpected turn of the evening.
| Timothy Finn, The Star
I saw them at CMJ in October, and they definitely put on an awesome show. Can't wait for Feb 7th! Loving "Heartbeat"
Posted by: Marina | December 20, 2011 at 08:55 PM