Motion City Soundtrack made its way to The Wiltern on Dec. 4 for the Los Angeles stop on its headlining tour, bringing along Mae, Anberlin and Metro Station for a night of catchy pop/rock songs.
The Hollywood, Calif.-based band Metro Station opened the show with a short-but-sweet set that had the younger crowd dancing along to pop/electronic tracks. Playing songs such as “Kelsey” and “Seventeen Forever,” Metro Station appealed to the 16-year-old in everyone with simple-yet-catchy songs about girls and leaving home.
Florida’s Anberlin took the stage next, playing songs off its latest release “Cities” and its previous album, 2005’s'”Never Take Friendship Personal.” The band showed it had a lot of experience playing live shows (certainly more than a young band like Metro Station) by putting on an energetic and fun 35-minute set. Surprisingly, the crowd for the most part was unresponsive, with the exception of a few pockets of enthusiastic fans scattered throughout the venue. Vocalist Stephen Christian was especially impressive, managing to sing in perfect key while running around the stage in an attempt to engage the audience.
Mae provided a change in pace for the evening by playing a 45-minute set of soft rock. Despite being sick, vocalist/guitarist Dave Elkins was able to sing his way through songs such as “Suspension,” “Brink of Disaster” and “Sometimes I Can’t Make It Alone” off the Virginia-based band’s latest album “Singularity.” Aside from a few die-hard fans, the majority of the audience stood patiently waiting for Motion City Soundtrack to take the stage. Despite the lack of response, Mae put on a solid and energetically consistent set.
Taking the stage amidst a haze of smoke and strobe lighting, Motion City Soundtrack definitely deserved to be headlining the show. The Minneapolis-based quintet plays guitar-driven alternative pop/rock that is focused around the extraordinary vocal range of singer Justin Pierre. Playing a variety of tracks from its three releases, including the crowd favorites “Everything is Alright” and “Capital H,” MCS captivated everyone with an entertaining performance full of catchy songs.
Pierre stole the show with his impressive vocals and comedic ramblings between songs, including commenting that he turned a towel into a cape that allowed him to “do magical things.” If by “magical” he was referring to putting on a damn good performance, the cape did its job.
The band retook the stage for a three-song encore that ended with a venue-wide sing-along to “Attractive Today” from its 2005 album “Commit This to Memory.” Motion City Soundtrack engaged its audience in a way none of the opening bands could, turning the lackluster Wiltern crowd into a dance party of massive proportions that will definitely be committed to memory for a while to come.
