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Life & Arts

MewithoutYou outshines Say Anything

by RUTHIE RODRIGUEZ
THE DAILY COUGAR

Say Anything had most concertgoers bolting for the doors during its headlining performance Tuesday night at Number's, 300 Westheimer St., for the band's Seal the Deal Tour. 

A die-hard clan of fans stayed behind, clinging to the stage to recite each lyric in what turned into a night of pop sing-along with the Los Angeles-based post-emocore group. 

Lead vocalist Max Bemis' vocals ranged from regular talking tones to high-pitched girly singing. Some might wonder if Bemis, the child actor turned singer, should have toughed it out on the silver screen instead of revealing such disheartening vocal performances. 

The band's musical performance, provided by Coby Linder on drums, Jake Turner and Jeff Turner on guitar and Alex Kent on bass guitar, didn't yield anything interesting while the set-list hit up songs from Say Anything … Was a Real Boy, the band's latest release.

Say Anything's performance didn't have much to offer Tuesday night listeners as the songs became increasingly repetitive and dull, with the exception of the minor melody deviations by Parker Case (guitarist) on keyboards. 

MewithoutYou proved to be the most popular hit of the night as one of the three opening acts drawing in the biggest crowd that had disappeared by the time of Say Anything's performance. 

MewithoutYou, a Philadelphia-based indie rock group, is known for straying from typical song structures to create it's own experimental style. 

Front Man Aaron Weiss played an assortment of instruments from acoustic guitar, maracas to accordion while dancing around the stage like a cross between Ian Curtis and Ashley Simpson. Weiss even beat down zealously on a kitchen pan managing to impress the crowd, for some reason. 

Guitarists Michael Weiss and Christopher Kleinberg, bass guitarist Greg Jehanian, and drummer Ricky Mazzotta released an experimental alternative rock sound in a set mainly comprised of the band's newest release Brother, Sister which showed the band's Christian roots. 

Weiss didn't really sing, instead the lead vocalist utilized his voice to talk and scream dramatically in various tones and pitches throughout the set.

The band's last song, in which the crowd sang-along to, featured Weiss' repeated lyrics "I Do Not Exist." The group was more enthusiastic and musically diverse than the other acts Tuesday evening. 

If you missed the show you didn't miss much, in fact, consider yourself lucky. 

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