On a perfectly crisp fall Saturday, I got in the car with my brother to make the two-hour drive down to Philadelphia to see Manchester Orchestra and Foxing play the Fillmore, one of the city's biggest and best rooms for live music. We met up with a few friends at a bar that I fondly remember having the weirdest playlist imaginable blasting out of its speakers, and made our way over to the show just as Foxing began to play. From that moment on, the sold-out crowd was treated to a collection of mostly new songs from both bands, played by two of the most well-rounded live acts in the alt-rock genre. At a point, I turned to a friend during Manchester Orchestra's set, and just asked the only thing on my mind: "What if they just... don't stop playing? What if we're here all night? Would anyone complain?" Manchester Orchestra has that effect on people. They've never been anything less than pitch-perfect since I started seeing them in concert nearly a decade ago, and have constantly found ways to fine-tune things and sound even better. Even if they played for two hours, it wouldn't have felt like enough. So when they rang out the end of their set with "The Silence," the sprawling closer to Black Mile to the Surface, even after a set that cemented the band as the best live band on planet earth in my eyes, there was still a yearning for more.
Shortly after that leg of the tour ended, I got my wish. The band announced a second leg of the tour, once again with Foxing as direct support, and with Michigander subbed in for Slothrust in the opening slot. It's rare that a band would go on back-to-back tours with the same direct support, even if both the A- and B-market tours are in support of the same album. As Foxing and Manchester Orchestra proved at Starland Ballroom over the weekend, however, more of these two bands on the same bill will never be a bad thing.
Before we get into the exploration of the dynamic between Foxing and ManchOrch, as I've decided to call them for some reason, I just wanted to park for a second and talk about Michigander. I got in right as the band was in the middle of its set, so I was unable to photograph them, but I won't be making that mistake again. Blending Holy Ghost-era Modern Baseball with, well, Manchester Orchestra's theatrics, this was a band that easily won the crowd over at Starland that night. I think it's safe to assume that they won a lot of people over on each stop of the tour. For a band that was so unknown to so many before the night started, frontman Jason Singer displayed a breezy comfortability, and served as an engaging, inviting presence onstage. He ended his final speaking break by saying "We know you're not here for us, but we can sure tell you're here with us." I've seen stage banter be really weird, really drunk, and really awkward, but I've never heard a line quite that good from a band I hadn't heard of before. This is a band that'll be on my radar for whatever comes next, for sure.
For all of the compilation posts that pulled Foxing under the "emo revival" umbrella, they sure seem like they're hellbent on becoming a huge rock band. Of course, the aching melancholy they've scattered throughout their discography is still present in Draw Down the Moon, but the band's sound has clearly evolved beyond the basements they've played and moved into some of the biggest rooms around the country. Once again, the band played a set mostly consisting of Moon songs, while ending with a couple of fan favorites in "The Medic" and "Nearer My God" before making way for the headliner. Once again, vocalist Connor Murphy was bounding and writhing across the stage, hellbent on not staying in the same spot for long. Once again, guitarist Eric Hudson did a little bit of everything, from his driving guitar solos to his emboldened backing vocals, and tickling the ivories on his keyboard at times, too. Once again, Foxing proved that they more than belong on stages as big as Starland's, perhaps even bigger.
And then, of course, we get to the main course. Beginning with the first four tracks of The Million Masks of God, Manchester Orchestra wasted little time re-establishing their claim to the throne as the best live band on earth. While lead single "Bed Head" felt like the point the early part of the set was building toward, it was "Keel Timing" that really shined from this portion, with Andy Hull shifting his vocal delivery a bit and adding even more emotion to the track that was initially revealed as the prelude to "Bed Head." The night's set proved it has plenty of punch to stand up for itself.
Once again, the band's set shifted from a showcase of Million Masks to a stroll through the band's older material. The band ran it back with the classic "I Can Barely Breathe" and "Virgin," but this time around the crowd was treated to the title track from Cope to round things out. Each of these tracks seemed to build momentum into the next, and it lead to another mini showcase set, this time for Black Mile. The band brought out the extended version of "The Maze," which takes what was a great opening track into one of the highlights of the band's sets for years to come, and "The Gold" was likely the track that had the loudest sing-along from the crowd. Transitioning perfectly between "The Alien" and "The Sunshine" brought a great end to the set, and then it was time to go back to the album that brought the entire tour together. It's here that you find the best song of the band's entire set, bar none, and it hasn't even been a single (so far). I'm talking about "Dinosaur," one of the final tracks of Million Masks, and a track that the band have clearly enjoyed expanding upon in the live setting. Bringing back the song's breakdown in the extended outro is something that was truly a sight to behold, and provided the emotional apex of the evening. The band rounded out the set with "The Internet," then a stripped down version of "The River," which flowed perfectly into "Telepath." The band took a brief reprieve before returning with another Mean Everything to Nothing track, and while "100 Dollars" may not have been the first, second, or third (or fourth...) choice, it still brought the crowd's energy up, and led into "The Silence," once again rounding out a phenomenal set.
On the surface, it may be easy to complain about the fact that Manchester Orchestra took the same band out on tour together, and ended up playing a setlist nearly identical to the first iteration of the tour. Sure, they've got a new album to promote, but they also have a discography full of songs that fans haven't seen in years, if at all, and since many people are like me, and will see the band every chance they get, it can be upsetting to see the same songs in the same order. Somehow, it never felt like that in Starland Ballroom. Somehow, once again, the band found a way to outdo themselves, and that's the point. Manchester Orchestra could have played the exact same set, and no one in that room would have complained. They can run the same set back on the next tour, advertise it that way, and I'd be first in line to get tickets. They're that good live. They continue to be a band that you must see in concert to understand their greatness in person. And what's even better, they've seemingly found their successor, too.
The choice to bring Foxing back must have been one that was incredibly easy for Manchester Orchestra. The band provides a great show just before they take the stage, and have a sound unique enough to keep things fresh each night. They're also extremely big fans of the band, as evidenced by Connor Murphy essentially cutting a wrestling promo for Manchester Orchestra before cutting into their last track. With an opener who so passionately supports your band, why would ManchOrch choose to bring anyone else out on tour? They even got Eric Hudson to provide additional guitars on "The Silence," driving the set's outro to another level. It's rare that a simple choice of a supporting act ends up meaning so much for a headliner.
That doesn't make Foxing anything like a leech, either. Sure, they get to tour with perhaps the greatest band of their generation, but they also provide inspiration to their tourmates. It's obvious that there is a mutual respect between the two, evidenced by Andy Hull providing production assistance on Draw Down the Moon. This is not the first time these two toured together (Foxing was also supporting ManchOrch's Mean Everything to Nothing Anniversary Tour), and it doesn't look like it'll be the last. There's a symbiosis here, a joining of two supremely creative bands who clearly benefit from one another's presence, and push each other to the height of their sonic potential.
Of course, it likely won't always be like this. Foxing still hasn't had a proper headlining tour to support Draw Down the Moon, and one is more than likely coming soon. Andy Hull just announced that he'll be embarking on a solo tour later this spring, and you'd have to imagine that'll make way for more Manchester Orchestra shows, here or abroad, to round out the year. After that, who knows? Both bands have notably taken their time with new music recently, but will they tour again in 2023? There's just no way to know that with the state of the world as it is, but for one more glorious run, Manchester Orchestra, the world's greatest live band, and Foxing, who are quickly climbing into those ranks themselves, toured together. And anyone who witnessed is all the better for it.
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