The Changes @ Recher Theatre

Hear me now, believe me later, the future is bright for The Changes. You don't create and perfect a sound that takes the Boo Radleys' song writing, adds in Teenage Fanclub's harmonies and some Marr-like riffage and stay anonymous very long. At least in my corner of the internets.

I had seen them once before, late last year at the Rock N Roll Hotel and was a bit underwhelmed, but only just. The band was a bit aloof on stage and the pacing of their set was a bit suspect. Well, they've improved both those things and their show on Saturday at the Recher Theater in Towson, Md. was well worth a trip to the land of people that don't drive so good.

The Recher is a larger version of the Rock N Roll Hotel that at first glance looks a bit worse for the wear, but it's a nice little room with a great soundsystem, tall stage and most importantly, an actual pro-level lighting rig!

The band put on a very energetic show, which was not easy to do seeing as that there were less than 40 people in attendance (and that includes the other two bands). And now that I've seen them twice, I don't think the band is necessarily aloof, they're just too busy switching instruments between every song to stop and chat with the crowd.

I think they played a new song to start out the set, but from there, they focused mainly on the material from Today Is Tonight, one of my favorite records of 2006. The pacing problems that plagued their previous show were fixed by moving the slower songs like "On A String" to the latter part of the set and working out a new, sped up arrangement of "Sisters" that kept everything moving along nicely. Smiths-ian tunes like "Water on the Gods" and "Modern Love" were full of jangly goodness and set closer "Her, You and I" brought the house down.

Consider me fully on board The Changes' bandwagon, that is, if there is such a thing. If not, it starts here. If you didn't catch them on this tour, fear not. After taking April off, they'll be back out on the road in May with The Cinematics. They'll be hitting the Rock n Roll Hotel on their way through D.C., so when I get the date, I'll be sure to let you know.

In the meantime, download some tracks from the band:
WOXY has a Lounge Act by the band available to download.
Daytrotter also has a set just waiting to be downloaded. I highly recommend "Her, You and I" and "Water of the Gods," the best stab at "This Charming Man" that I've heard in quite some time.
You can also stream some music on their MySpace page.

All my photos from the night are over on Flickr.