Colour Revolt paints with their music, which walks the fine line of alternative, indie and “emo” genres.
Colour Revolt is currently touring to promote the release of their mildly successful sophomore album, “The Cradle,” and made a pit stop at Club 156 in the UMC on Friday.
During the first part of the set, the music seemed disconnected: the vocals were too low, the guitar began with too much reverb, and everything sounded out of sync. It was somewhat off-putting. The first two songs seemed inaudible. This was not attributed to Colour Revolt as a band, but the poor acoustics of Club 156. After some tinkering with the instruments and sound system, Colour Revolt delivered to the crowd.
Front man Jesse Coppenbarger knew the quality of the sound was off and inquired, “How does it sound out there?” One of the audience members yelped, “Too loud!” Coppenbarger smirked, turned to his band mates, and said,” Well let’s turn it up then!” The drummer, Patrick Ryan, shrugged and said, “I am trying!” In the next songs, the sound went from disconnected to a rock-star worthy show.
Then Coppenbarger started to sing “She Don’t Talk” from their new album, “The Cradle,” and the concert and the crowd took off. He seemed to give this very small and humble crowd everything he could offer as a vocalist and guitarist. On the recording, the song seemed to lack meaning and was nonsensical; however, with the emotionally driven vocals the derivative of the meaning became clear; “she” is a heartbreaker. By the end of the song, Coppenbarger was practically shouting the lyrics.
It was only a 30-person crowd, which was disappointing; however, Colour Revolt did not let that get in the way of putting on a good show. It may not have been the easiest show to sing along with, but the crowd was feeling the music.
Surprisingly in the middle of the set they played their new single, “8 Years,” which is a tale of how past band members left the band during the peak of their success. The peak of Coppenbarger’s emotional release through singing was apparent when he sang, “There is nothing more gorgeous or covered I have found than the northern part of this state at sundown.” “Northern” is changed to southern, eastern and western part of this state, meaning his old band mates have traveled all over, but just left. It was definitely a very powerful part of the set. The disappointment of dissipating band members could be heard in Coppenbarger’s voice.
After playing an old song, “Moses of the South” from their debut album “Plunder, Beg and Curse,” the band announced that they only had only had two more songs left, thus, the crowd sighed and tried arguing it. To make a compromise, the band said they would play not only two, but three more songs. This seemed to greatly please the crowd.
During one the last songs, the band played “Naked and Red” from their debut album, which had a wonderful, yet shocking bass solo in the middle of the song. It was the perfect touch to a live performance of an older song. It really brought alive the instrumental value of the band.
The band finished with the crowd favorite, “Mattress Underwater,” from their self-titled EP. It was truly the perfect finish and meshed well with the rest of the set. The set list was on point and perfectly meshed the new and old songs. It flowed like the perfect playlist.
Colour Revolt exceeded expectations and wowed the crowd with the crucial and emotional vocals while providing high instrumental quality to back up the vocals.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Emily Cavanagh at Emily.cavanagh@colorado.edu.
