Though many bands ignore their initial music offerings after becoming successful, Say Anything chose to commemorate and even improve on some rarities at the band’s Rams Head Live show.
As a band grows its catalog of hits, it will often begin to abandon the music it wrote first. This early music, often without a full-length studio album to draw attention to it, will frequently fall out of public consciousness. Removed from the limelight, it hides in the musty attic of a band’s discography, waiting for one new music-hungry superfan to unearth it, download it illegally and give it its often well-deserved love.
Sunday’s Rams Head Live show from pop-punk veteran Say Anything paid tribute to these lost musical gems recorded during the band’s beginnings, with more than half the set comprising songs recorded before the breakthrough 2004 album, …Is a Real Boy. All the rarities played at the show and more were released in January on a three-disc collection entitled All My Friends are Enemies: Early Rarities.
Keeping with the trend, Say Anything also forewent most of its traditional show staples from each of its four big albums, instead opting for songs the band had never before taken to stage, such as “Died a Jew” from the band’s second release and ”Peace Out” from its most recent album. (The band did include a few hits, notably “Alive With the Glory of Love,” for those fans who “didn’t do their homework,” according to frontman Max Bemis.)
What’s the result of this exercise in terms of nostalgia? Resounding success. It’s clear that with more than a decade on the road and four major LPs under its belt, the band has upped its musicianship from its earliest days, and its members brought all that quality to their older tunes.
While a musician may feel detached from music he wrote at a much earlier stage of his life, Bemis retained his energy and passion through the set from beginning to end, fed by the energy of the crowd, which began singing along to opener “Colorblind” and didn’t stop until the last song of the set.
Fittingly, this song was “A Walk Through Hell,” a crowd favorite for years despite its status as a rarity.
The energetic lead singer showed his compassionate side to the crowd, handing out water bottles to the front row and sharing his excitement about celebrating his first Father’s Day as a dad. The entire show was a family affair, as Bemis’ wife, Sherri DuPree, served as the main opener with her band, Eisley, which also features DuPree’s. Bemis’ and DuPree’s daughter could be seen in DuPree’s arms backstage for some of the show.
In all, the show was as exciting as it was touching, a spirited tribute to how far the band has come and how far it still plans to go — near the end of the set, Bemis announced the band would have a new album for the next tour. Even for those who didn’t “do their homework” on the early material, it was a show worth watching.
