Motion City Soundtrack, on tour with Bayside, State Champs, and What’s Eating Gilbert, recently played to a small but energetic crowd at Allentown’s Maingate Nightclub.
The band, now 16 years old, hasn’t wavered in their enthusiasm, energy, or songwriting. Justin Pierre, the band’s frontman who is now in his late 30s, still maintains his high, poppy voice that has made some of their most successful songs so recognizable and catchy. The set excelled throughout, although the crowd drew to a lull during the band’s songs from their later albums. And that’s a bit of a shame, because for a band that never had a true breakthrough in the music word, some of their best lyrical writing is from when the band grew more mature. In fact, it’s a bit of a bummer the band only played two songs from the past three years. While a set full of hits and early material is always nice, touching on only one song from their latest album and playing their newest, (as of yet) album-less single was a misstep. That aside, fans, of which there seemed to be only a few extremely dedicated ones, got a great show from a band who still has it.
Setlist:
Better Open the Door
My Favorite Accident
Broken Heart
The Future Freaks Me Out
Inside Out
Pulp Fiction
Her Words Destroyed My Planet
A Lifeless Ordinary (Need A Little Help)
Time Turned Fragile
Last Night
Capital H
This Is For Real
Let’s Get Fucked Up and Die
True Romance
Attractive Today
