Neat Penmanship?

Don't think so, as Cursive's music is anything but neat, ha! I'm referring to the 9/23/2006 show at First Avenue, where I saw Omaha, NE native Cursive rock our sociopolitical, emo and post-punk socks off! Due to unfortunate circumstances, I wasn't able to see fellow Saddle Creek band Ladyfinger, whom I heard opened the show with a bang. Even more unfortunate was that I didn't see Portland's lively-as-a-firecracker The Thermals. They are also sociopolitical, discussing the effects of organized religion on a small town. I'm sure their set contained high-energy, addictive vocals and the ability to make one think and dance. So far, I've heard about half of their new album, The Body, The Blood, The Machine, and it is phenomenal! Another great Sub Pop release, no doubt.

As I arrived just in time to see Cursive open with the epic, manic 'Big Bang,' the horns sections blew loudly, and the audience responded with a mix of heads banging and feet moving happily. The new tracks off of Happy Hallow sounded great and full live. Even their older, more emo-like songs sounded huge with the addition of the horns section. One of the best parts of the performance was when the band talked about how thankful they were to be playing music and how the bands they were touring with also shared the same attitude. Just happy to be playing, showing us their creativity through words and music. I dug the humility shown, as well as the performance.

Their newest disc mostly debates religion in a small town, with its ill-effects and hypocracies layed out clearly in lyric; even the vague metaphors paint their message as one well-defined and standing strong to opposition (or in the present day, fundamental conservatives). The only downer was that I was a little tired and pretty far back in the crowd, so I didn't feel as much energy as I would have closer to the stage.

Hello.