AS TALL AS LIONS REUNITE AT WEBSTER HALL

I’m probably one of the few people who always arrives extra early to a show to check out the opening band. Partly because I’m a photographer, but moreso because I’m a fan of music and I’m always looking to add great, talented bands into my rotation. This especially held true way back in 2009 when I arrived super early to catch As Tall As Lions open for MUTEMATH during their “Armistice” tour. To say the least, I was not disappointed. As Tall As Lions was one of the biggest breaths of fresh air musically that I was fortunate enough to stumble onto during that time. I lived on YouTube, devouring any videos of theirs I could bombard my senses with, and declaring that Daniel Nigro, lead singer of the band, had one of the best vocals I had heard in indie rock during that time. Now imagine my disbelief when this wonderful band announced their amicable split just one year later in 2010. I was absolutely crushed. I was so puzzled why a band seemingly at the height of their careers would call it quits; a sentiment that every band made known on the band’s Twitter and Facebook accounts nearly every day. Here we are five years later, and the pleas for ATAL to reunite are just as insistent as they once were. Announcing a handful of shows in NY and LA, I seized the opportunity to see one of my favorite bands reclaim their spots onstage Monday night at the legendary venue, Webster Hall.

Taking the stage to a round of thunderous applause, and all of their family and friends smiling and cheering from high up in both balconies, ATAL ripped into their set with “Stab City,” one of my favorite songs off their 2006 self-titled release. As soon as Nigro opened his mouth, I knew this show would be one of my favorites of 2015. He still had the same soaring vocals that I fell for years ago. Bassist Julio Taveras was still the same unbelievably charismatic force onstage, with a set of pipes on him as well. Guitarist Saen Fitzgerald threw down multiple killer guitar parts, Drummer Cliff Sarcona is a beast on his kit, and Rob Parr handled various keyboard, guitar and percussion duties with ease. Finally a horn section rounded out the lushness of their sound and made the night such a memorable one.

As Tall As Lions

ATAL

I really took the opportunity to appreciate just how many fantastic songs ATAL has in their discography. “Circles,” “Into The Flood,” “Breakers,” and “Kickin’ Myself” all made appearances during the night. By the time they got around to playing “Ghost of York” and “Milk of Honey,” the crowd finally loosened up a bit and gave themselves over to the flawlessness of the performance. Behind me, a guy repeatedly yelled out “OH MY GOD!” clearly in disbelief that he had finally gotten the chance to see them perform these songs live. Two women near him took it upon their selves to literally form their own percussion section, with maracas and shakers to fill in on certain parts of songs. To everyone’s surprise including ATAL, their efforts fit in perfectly. Each band member had smiles plastered across their faces as they coaxed the dust off these old songs and sparked the muscle memory to play them.

ATAL

Watching them onstage I couldn’t imagine how a band as good as this could call it quits. From my vantage point, they had matured and honed their skills during these long years, in other projects such as BLOCKS, the now defunct freeform jazz ensemble Kilimanjaro, and The Black and The White, but from the amount of fans packed into the room, and both encores, the masses want ATAL to give it another go.