REVIEW: THE WORLD IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE & I AM NO LONGER AFRAID TO DIE AT ECLECTIC
Eclectic on Saturday night was all about feelings. Feeling that an emo-revival show is right there with those wistful moods of autumn, feeling a bombardment of mosh pit appendages, and, although this may not apply to everyone, feeling a good deal more of Eclectic’s skylight than intended. The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die, the night’s headliners, described Saturday as “the gig with heavy make out sessions, fur vests, gold chains and someone falling through a sky roof.” In all its revelrous, sweaty glory, the scene at Eclectic embodied the 14-word worldview of TWIABP’s band name: beauty with a tinge of mortality. As Emo-rock catharsis and ambulance service came together in an unfortunate but thrilling turn of events, Saturday night’s atmosphere truly coincided with its music.
An 8-piece emo-revivalist indie rock group from Willimantic, CT, TWIABP are riding the wave of their critically acclaimed August debut LP Whenever, If Ever. Blending late-90’s emo sensibilities with the epic builds and distorted atmospherics of post rock, TWIABP adds flourishes of cello, synthesizers, and trumpet to create a wide range of textures within their indie rock template. Whenever’s polished production and diverse instrumentation set it apart from 90s predecessors such as Cap’n Jazz; one can find greater sonic resemblance in the emo-math rock complexity of American Football and big band sound of later Arcade Fire.
Saturday night began with opening acts from croony alt-rock student band Grand Cousin and For Everest, a catchy emo-pop group from New York. TWIABP hit the stage past midnight, and the thundering intensity of their set’s opener immediately churned the crowd into a writhing mosh pit. Passages of pop-upbeatness sparkled with guitar and synth interplay, over which vocals yearned in shifting, semi-harmonies and screams. Earthy, drawn-out cello notes textured the background of many of the set’s quieter moments as lyrics came to the forefront, painting heartfelt scenes of nostalgia and heartbreak. “Picture Of A Tree That Doesn’t Look Okay,” the fourth track off Whenever, was a highlight near the middle of Saturday’s set. Combining these elements masterfully, "Picture Of A Tree" exhibited TWIABP's full range of sound as it swung adeptly between alternating hopeful and morose passages . A majority of TWIABP’s set hinged around these post-rock shifts in dynamic. Driving drums and guitars crescendoed into soaring, encompassing washes of distorted riffing as the crowd, illuminated in flashes by Eclectic’s haywire fire alarm lights, slammed deliriously into itself.
Accompanied by some serious roof-related drama at Eclectic, The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die raised the roof with a high energy, moshed-out show. While the sky-light-diver’s plunge was very dangerous and by no means a preferable occurrence, it proved to be coincidentally relevant to TWIABP’s bar none, veritable sentence of a band name, and lent the show a uniquely chaotic atmosphere. In TWIABP’s own words, Saturday night “Will forever be remembered.”
Listen to TWIABP's recent release Whenever, If Ever below.
