[CONCERT REVIEW + GALLERY] Balance and Composure + Seahaven – 09/12/14

Pennsylvania natives Balance and Composure recently kicked off another headlining tour for the fall months. The string of shows starting on September 12th and ending October 4th began just two days after the one year anniversary of the bands record “The Things We Think We’re Missing” in the good old town of Baltimore, Maryland.

This time around, the group brought along California’s Seahaven to get the show started. Since releasing their record “Reverie Lagoon” in mid-March of this year, the band has been touring and touring. A short mid-west tour with Weatherbox preceded this run with Balance and Composure, and after this US run, both bands will be headed to Europe to finish out the next two months.

By the time Seahaven took the stage at the venue of the Ottobar in downtown Baltimore, the small locale was filled to the brim with fans. It’s not unusual for some people in the crowd to be very uninterested while waiting for the headliner to come on, but even without a view from the balcony, there were tons and tons of concert-goers surrounding the stage that could be see screaming back the lyrics. And with a setlist consisting of an equal number of songs from their first two studio albums “Winter Forever” and “Reverie Lagoon” as well as one from their debut EP, I can’t imagine how anyone could have been upset with their performance. Even for the people in the crowd who had never heard of Seahaven before, their set was one to keep people interested and not dreading the next thirty minutes. A very concrete performance, which I expect will not crack for the duration of the tour.

For any frequent concert-goer, the “push everyone towards the stage when the band comes on, even though it’s not going to get you closer” is something very common; even sometimes annoying, but, it signifies that the moment you’ve waited three or more odd hours for is finally here. For anyone who saw Balance and Composure on their last tour with Manchester Orchestra, they may have been slightly disappointed with the overwhelming amount of songs from “The Things We Think We’re Missing” solely because it lacked in energy; but even though they still included a lot of songs from the record the band evened it out with just as many songs from “Separation” and even a song from one of their many splits with Tigers Jaw, Braid, etc every night. It’s amazing to see how a group of five people can bring such a unity to such a large community. Even though the Ottobar is one of the smaller venues on this side of Maryland, the members of Balance put as much effort and heart into this show as they have any other, whether it be a floor show, a small venue, or a festival. As someone who saw Balance and Composure perform their under-par set with Manchester Orchestra, the band has fully redeemed themselves, and had the fans reactions to prove it. Even during some of the slower songs like “Enemy” there was still a ample amount of screaming and finger pointing. This show marked my sixth time having the pleasure to watch this group perform, and I can without a doubt say it was the best show I have ever seen.