Great music rained down on the Black Cat Tuesday when Cursive headlined a show that included Blood Brothers, Eastern Youth and Forensics.
In ten words or less, Cursive is gut-wrenching, sobering rock, lined with cello and organ. Who would not fall in love with this band? Its recorded tracks translated flawlessly to the stage and are packed with even more emotion, if that's possible.
Cursive devoted about half of its set to songs from its latest album, "The Ugly Organ," which is somewhat of a concept album about sexual and emotional confusion. "Fairytales Tell Tales," "Some Red Handed Slight of Hand" and "A Gentleman Caller," which closed out the night, highlighted the performance.
The members of Cursive, especially founding member Tim Kasher, proved to be excellent songwriters, unafraid of sounding raw and wearing their hearts on their sleeves and leaving them there. Their honesty comes through even more onstage. Kasher was at the forefront, though cellist Gretta Cohn fell close behind. Her warm, lyrical cello lines added depth to an already commanding live sound, which was also complemented extremely well by the organ.
Though Blood Brothers doesn't possess near the same creativity as Cursive, its music is still extremely engaging and surprisingly epic: Dueling vocalists over melodic modern metal. Few bands can match its intensity. If the indie rockers started a revolution, the Blood Brothers would undoubtedly write their anthem.
Shows this moving don't happen very often. Blood Brothers provided incitement, Cursive provided catharsis, and both provided inspiration.
