Kicking off Sunday evening’s performance with “How To Save a Life,” The Denver-based group The Fray sent fans into a wave of excitement. The packed First Midwest Bank amphitheatre was filled with twenty-something’s all wearing identical Forever 21 sun dresses and flip-flops, beer guzzling frat boys, and frenzied teens sporting The Fray t-shirt with their digital camera in hand.
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The Fray |
 Entertainment
Art
First Midwest Bank Amphitheater
Tinley Park, IL
June 28, 2009 |
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The Fray has always come off as the typical pre-packaged rock band, perfectly molded to fit into the dream scene for college girls alike. With their simple ballads’ and heartfelt lyrics, one would figure their live performance would be a bust without the voice synthesizers present. However, one would be surprise, as front man Isaac Slade’s voice is far from a mishap waiting to happen. Slade performed all the fan favorites flawlessly. His raspy, soulful, voice was ironically perfect, charming all the young ladies star-crossed over him in the front row.
But sadly, that is all the Fray might be-simple, charming, young men. Though they all come off well mannered and Slade’s vocal ability is pleasant to the ears; their music capability is rather bland. The quartet’s soft blend of harmonies and guitar licks are missing the itch of rock and roll. Contemporary soft-rock is good for all the cougars listening to Lite-FM out there, however, the crowd boasted youngsters flocking to party in the lawn that were nearly asleep by the time “You Found Me,” rang through the amphitheater.
After earning a few Grammy nominations and with their self-titled sophomore album in tow, I was looking forward to an edgier, more aggressive rock and roll super group. There performance was rather weak following the on stage antics of the punk-emo-rock blend Jack’s Mannequin. Front man and tickler of the ivories Andrew McMahon was all over the place, jumping on top of his piano, sweating under the blistering sun from running around the stage, and belting out his heart to all adorning fans.
Overall, the show was not that bad, it was just rather average. Their performance would have fit better at the family orientated Ravinia. However, the light board display was a nice addition to their show. Perhaps it was an off night or maybe the guys just need to step it up before they get lost in the musical landscape of every other band.
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