REVIEW: It’s Not a Midlife Crisis, It’s a Rock ‘n Roll Show: Elliott, No Division and Joshua at Empire Underground
08/05 @ Empire Underground, Albany
Photo by Corey Dempsey
“Cold beer in the glass, front patio, it’s warm but there’s a nice cool breeze, an album is playing on the Bose, eyes are closed in the zero-gravity chair and the energy is just immaculate. Elliott’s music was built for this kind of moment and they recreate that exact sound in their live show.”
On Wednesday, August 5, Elliott broke out their second-wave emo stylings for a night on the town in our state capital. With support from locals No Division and the Hudson Valley’s Joshua, the average age of both the crowd and performers was mid-40s. Multiple mentions of this night looking and feeling — but definitely not actually being — a midlife crisis came from the stage. The following is a stream of consciousness retelling of the evening’s events.
I’m not really sure what to make of Elliott and I’m not sure I ever was. I came to their music in the mid-2000s after their breakup. They’re from Louisville, more well known for whiskey and country music than emo. Their records were more ethereal than aggressive, which, as a teenager, I was really looking for aggression and physicality in the music. I admired and respected them more so than I viscerally connected with their music. They just never quite stuck in the rotation and until about three months ago, I had kind of forgotten about them entirely.
My old coach and mentor who introduced me to bands like nobody’s business (The Casket Lottery’s Choose Bronze is still in the rotation, coach!) loved them, saw them a year back at the Best Friends Forever festival in Las Vegas and swore they still had it. He not so much invited me tonight, but rather, insisted I HAD to come. I figured what the hell, let’s have a fun night out at a rock show. At the very least, he’ll buy me a beer or two.
First up on stage is the Hudson Valley’s Joshua and I gotta be honest, I’ve never heard the name before — I mean, obviously I know the name Joshua…you know what I mean!
Some quick Instagram sleuthing lets me know they were an active band from 1995-2003 and again briefly in 2010 and 2011. Okay, I don’t feel so bad about knowing nothing about this band. They only recently came out of retirement and started playing again.
I’m actually one of the younger folks in the crowd. There are some teens and twenty-something sprinkled about, but by and large, everyone, including the members of Joshua, are in their mid-40s at least. I’ve decided that we’re going to play a fun little game. We’re going to guess the band members' day jobs based only on first impressions.
As a 38-year-old stay-at-home dad/soccer coach/occasional bartender who moonlights as a writer and musician, I play this game with all the reverence and respect it deserves, which is an immense amount. All we have is our dreams. Hold on to that shit tight and do it as long as you are physically, emotionally and spiritually able.
Sappy shit over, let’s have some fun.
Guitarist and lead singer of Joshua, is most definitely a middle school social studies teacher. He looks like an intellectual and could definitely teach at the college level but all that research and those peer-reviewed essays about whatever the fuck would take away from doing the music thing on the side.
Bass player has old-man strength and a sleeve tattoo on his right arm. I don’t know exactly why, but I’m feeling like a chef at an Italian restaurant fits here. It’s not one of those super classy joints — it’s got character and they make killer chicken parm.
Second guitarist and backing vocalist is my accountant. He’s not actually my accountant because I don’t have enough money to warrant having one of those, but if I did have one, I’d want it to be this guy. He’s got a bit of drip to him and he plays a Rickenbacker. If he was my accountant, I feel like we could hang.
Drummer is the music teacher at the same school as the guitarist. He also does some personal training on the side at the local gym. This dude is so jacked.
The music is At the Drive-In/The Mars Volta adjacent but less screamy. Traditional chord voicings, time signatures and strumming patterns be damned. In all seriousness, seriously talented musicians and I’m really glad they came out of retirement. They recently re-recorded their 1999 album A Whole New Theory from scratch and released it via Immigrant Sun records. I’m going to check this out as well as the original text.
Arcade Fire is on the aux in between sets and I’m having a great time. Really glad I was dragged out the house for this, y’all.
There’s a dad here with their kid, who’s probably about 10. I really can’t wait to slap those cute little headphones on my little dude and drag him out to shows with me while I espouse some wisdom about the good ol’ days. Of course those good ol’ days will be about third-wave emo and I’m going to have to tackle some majorly toxic characters and lyrical content. I may need to rethink the whole good ol’ days portion of this fatherly fantasy.
Albany’s No Division takes the stage next and I’ve got to make an observation about the fits. We’ve got a River Rats tee, an Alice in Chains tee and a Smiths tee. This shit is so entrenched in the 90s and I fucking love it. These dudes all work for the state. They’re not super pleased about it but can’t give up those killer bennies so they work out that angst on stage.
And work it out they did. This is the kind of aggression I needed. From the stage, the lead singer shares that this looks like a midlife crisis but most definitely isn’t and discusses putting band stickers on his fridge right next to his wife’s list of “shit to get from Target” and I’ve never felt more seen. I look and feel like a walking midlife crisis every time I walk up on stage and my wife also has a strong affinity for Target. This guy and I could definitely chop it up.
He also shares a story about driving out to Syracuse to see Elliott back in the day and the PA caught fire right before they were supposed to go on. It’s a fun and genuinely sweet full circle moment for them to be opening the show for them this evening.
In between sets I’m outside enjoying a beer and some fresh air and there’s a sticker on the door reading “transphobes blow your shit smoove off.” I concur. Add that to the list of things that I just enjoy about this evening.
Elliott is up next and let’s get the “jobs game” out of the way. They’re from Louisville so I’m going to go with a distillery for the guitarist and drummer. Not one of the super old ones, but one of the new, hip jawns. They definitely make some tasty cocktails in the tasting room.
Bassist is an art teacher. She’s giving Ms. Weiner vibes who was the best. She was my seventh grade teacher and was super positive and encouraging despite my intentional mispronunciation of her name and terrible drawing skills. Singer and guitarist is also giving teacher. I’m going to go with math. No good reason. Just cause.
Save for the last two songs, the entire set is from their 2000 record False Cathedrals and the drummer is controlling a backing track that serves as an interstitial interlude between each song. Along with their ethereal sound it creates a beautiful sonic palette. It’s transporting to some of my favorite evenings. Cold beer in the glass, front patio, it’s warm but there’s a nice cool breeze, an album is playing on the Bose, eyes are closed in the zero-gravity chair and the energy is just immaculate. Elliott’s music was built for this kind of moment and they recreate that exact sound in their live show.
Great night out, thanks, coach!
