John Nolan live at the Brighton Bar.
Lounging around not doing much of anything at home for winter break, I at least found the time to put some serious effort into Internet research, at least he kind I tend to benefit from most. I discovered a bunch of smaller club/bar tours I may not have ever known existed and would have missed, and I bought tickets to a few larger-scale shows coming up, such as New Found Glory. To my greatest surprise, John Nolan (Straylight Run, and previously of Taking Back Sunday) had embarked on a solo tour this winter and was playing mere minutes from my home. The show gave me a great excuse to gather up a few friends and head out to the shore. Perhaps more surprising was the minimal turn-out at the venue. I expected his name to draw in a much larger crowd, but maybe that wasn’t the intention, as this tour was not heavily publicized at all.
When we waked in, we discovered a caddy-cornered stage sporting a one-man act. Unfortunately, he was in the last verse of his final song. I didn’t get much of an impression, and I never came across his name. (Opening-Act-Boy, I apologize for missing your set and not knowing who you were.)
Within just minutes the next act, Gimme Drugs, was ready to take the stage. A self-proclaimed “drunken mess,” lead singer Jesse Skokos first took the stage solo, saying he wanted to try out a newer song for everyone. Mid-way through the first verse, he changed his mind and haphazardly asked his band-mates to take the stage with him. They performed as a three-piece, drummer-less, without explanation which I was unable to obtain. Their set was entertaining and funny. Skokos often joked about how the night included a lot of performer commentary and he felt like it was a bit like “Story Tellers.” He often reviewed a sheet of paper upon which he had jotted down a few notes so he could discuss his own songs with the room. Although the crowd laughed and played along, he was not very engaging. Yet, I did enjoy the band’s music, and I think just maybe if Skokos threw back a few less before a show, I’d be a fan.
Next up was Gabriel the Marine, who I would say was the hidden gem of the evening. Their music was fun and engaging, and although a handful of young kids, they were able to entice the crowd and hold its attention. They are the first band I have come across in a very long time that successfully uses violin in an interesting way. I haven’t been impressed by the violin since the days of Yellowcard, so kudos for them for taking that risk. It definitely paid off. Although currently unsigned, I think it’s safe to say the band can expect bigger things in their future, I am excited to catch them again in the spring at the Bamboozle festival here in New Jersey.
Another band, Ocean is Theory, was on the bill for the evening, but they did not play.
Finally, the moment we all had been waiting for. This was only the third time I’d catch any sort of live John Nolan performance. When I was thirteen I saw him play with Taking Back Sunday at Warped Tour. When I was seventeen I saw him play at a radio station’s holiday show with Straylight Run. Now, twenty, I was seeing him perform solo, and wishing I were twenty-one so I could order myself a drink in this hole-in-the-wall bar.
He opened the set up with a newer song titled “I Don’t Believe You” and the room immediately quieted down to take him in. He followed up with “It Takes A Long Time,” another of his newer solo tracks, and it was clear he had gotten the attention he deserved from the 30+ individuals who had made it out for the show. His third song was not his own, but instead was a cover of Elliot Smith’s “Waltz #2 (XO).” The crowd was generally pleased by this. One man even shouted out, “Play more Elliot Smith!” later on in the set. Next came the part of the evening I had been hoping for but could not guarantee myself: Straylight Run material. Nolan played “Mistakes We Knew We Were Making” (always a favorite of mine so I was thrilled).
Then he followed up by asking the crowd to vote by show of applause for which other Straylight Run song they would like him to play. He had done the same the night before and wanted to see if the response was the same. Our options? “Hands in the Sky (Big Shot)” or “It’s for the Best.” Although the applause for each song was close, Nolan deemed “Hands in the Sky (Big Shot)” the winner and gave a serious performance for that track. The clapping was soon back in action as the crowd clapped along with Nolan to simulate the sound of the drums pounding in the recorded version of this song. When Nolan completed this song, cheers screeched out throughout the room along with the usual expected applause.
Next came the final portion of Nolan’s performance. He played a song titles “Battles of Pink Robots,” and explained that that was a Flaming Lips reference to a crowd who had already seemed to understand. Nolan said this was only the second time he was playing this song live, and the first time had been just the night before, but his tour-mates assured him that it was good to go. He jokingly said if the audience didn’t like it, to take it up with the other bands that had played with him. In true Story Tellers style, Nolan gave some insight into his next song choice. “Speaking of sad bastard music,” he said, “This next song I’m gonna play is very sad.” Dylan Ebrahimian (violinist for Gabriel the Marine) joined Nolan on stage. The two played a song entitled “Button Down,” which Nolan said was “about people taking advantage of you,” and the realization that eventually “you just have to move on.” He shared intimate background detail for this track: The first verse was about an issue with his e-mail account getting broken into and personal in formation being extracted from his e-mails so that individuals could pose as him in various Web communities. Although he suspected it was most likely”a fourteen-year-old girl,” he admitted to still feeling threatened and violated by it; the second verse is about a sense of mutual disappointment. He stressed the mutual sense of this within his explanation, citing issues between Straylight Run and their manager at the time as the inspiration for such emotion.
Ebrahimian remained on the stage with Nolan for the next track, one called “Not to Let Go.” This song struck a particularly emotional cord with me that evening and I deemed it my newest favorite.
John Nolan with Gabriel the Marine.
For his very last song, Nolan asked the rest of Gabriel the Marine to join him and Ebrahimian on stage. Before playing, Nolan told the crowd he had been traveling with the band in their van for this tour. He went on to say that they had run out of gas earlier in the day en-route to the venue. According to Nolan and the guys of Gabriel the Marine, one of the best ways to pass the time while traveling in to hang around in the van together, and eat sliced, smoked ham eat smoked ham. The all agreed that they would sit together passing the ham around, dipping it in mustard. Not exactly the most glamorous concept of a tour now is it? Nolan joked and said when he was hanging with the other guys eating ham that day, he thought to himself, “Hhhhmmm, this is delicious… And I feel very sad.” With a full band backing him, Nolan played a song titled “‘Til It’s Done to Death,” another that I definitely recommend giving a listen to. It was a very appropriate closer.
Get to catch any of your favorite artists at a hole-ion-the-wall venue or a show no one else seemed to know about? We’d love to hear about it!
Post by Jillian Polak - Meet Me
A 21 year-old, full-time student at The College of New Jersey, majoring in Journalism/Professional Writing with a minor in Women's and Gender Studies. At TCNJ, she is a Co-Chair for CUBRat and is responsible for booking small-scale, intimate shows as part of a free concert series at the College.
