Lower Level Owl Vol 1&2
Berbati's Pan, Portland, OR
8 Mar 2010
Review by Meghan Kearney
PORTLAND, OR - Touring the country, long loved post rock band TheAppleseed Cast stop by Portland's Berbati's Pan to perform Low Level Owl Vols 1 & 2 in their entirety. |
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 The Appleseed Cast has been writing and performing music for over a decade. Thier most recent album Sagarmatha was released in early 2009. Since their start they have performed numerous tours around the world. This past month, Christopher Crisci, Aaron Pillar, John Momberg, Nathan Whitman chose to give fans something a bit different. They embarked on a tour in which they would be playing their 2001 albums Low Level Owl Vol 1 and 2 in order and in their entirety. As this is something fans rarely get to see from their favorite artists, The Appleseed Cast on this night in Portland provided their audience with one unforgettable musical experience. Given the uniqueness of the performance, the air of the show was relaxed. Fans from around the city gathered to hear something they’ve heard time and time again except in real time, merely feet from the original artists. After the opening band Dreamend performed, an “intermission” video was set up against a projector screen. The intermission included clips from various daytime talk shows (one of the “biggest fear” episodes) and an episode of Saved by the Bell. This made for one of most entertaining set changes of all time. Finally the men of The Appleseed cast took to the stage. They began the opening track of Low Level Owl Vol. 1 “The Waking of Pertelotte.” The song opened melodically and soft as it transitioned into the more explosive “On Reflection.” Half way in instruments set off. Drummer John’s arms burst like fireworks onto his drum set. Continuing, the tranquilizing chords of “Steps And Numbers” rang out and the crowd began to cheer. It was obvious this was an audience favorite. The end breakdown was intensified tenfold for the live version. They capped off Vol. 1 with the eight minute first part of “View of a Burning City,” took another short Saved by the Bell intermission and acknowledged that they would be right back for Vol. 2. |
As the crowd grabbed their beverage refills they returned to the stage along with the band members. Immediately they kicked right back off with Vol. 2’s version of “View of a Burning City.” Behind the band on the drop down projector screen various images played sporadically. Scenes from silent black and white movies swapped with odd quotations. “A Place In Line” induced more crowd chants as the crowd got to spend sometime singing along. Members pounded through the rest of Vol. 2 and by the end had played for almost two hours. Both old and new Appleseed Cast fans gathered tonight in this tiny venue to experience this once in a lifetime chance. As one of the bands greatest works to date, there was a known but silent agreement by all that the live performance of these albums was unbeatable. The idea was genius, the energy was perfect, and the nostalgia of the albums was overflowing.
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