cuz i know that my steel train, we're gonna ride on till the end

I have found that experiences with opening bands usually go one of three ways. One is that you spend their whole set wishing them off the stage and counting how many songs are left till you get to see the band you actually want to see. Another is that they're enjoyable enough that you don't really mind that you aren't yet seeing the band you actually want to see. More rare, but most pleasantly surprising, is when they put on such a great set that you leave that show a fan of theirs as well. As hard as the first option is to deal with and as relieving as the second one is in not being the first, the third always excites me. I mean, isn't that the purpose of an opening band in a lot of ways? They don't just fill that time before the headliners out of the goodness of their hearts, they're there to hopefully gain a few new ears, people who may not have been that into seeing them when they walked in but are happy to have when they walk out.

Such was my first experience with Steel Train. I had no idea who they were when I saw them open for Hanson in October. Usually I at least listen to a few tunes to get an idea and I didn't really even do that. I saw them that first night and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked them. The songs were catchy and the band members had a fun and endearing vibe about them. I left excited to see them again the next night. I enjoyed their set the second time around even more and purchased their most recent album, Trampoline, soon after. It's been one of my most listened to albums of the past few months, full of catchy and quirky songs, rooted in that area of music that I sometimes have a hard time putting into words but my ears recognize almost immediately. It's kind of crazy to me that they're yet another band that sort of found their way to me in the sense that I would not have thought to even know who they were had they not opened for a band I already loved, but since they did cross my path in that way, they are another band on my list of favorites. It's one of my favorite ways to find new bands to love and it excites me that it's been happening more and more lately.

I went to Hoboken on Wednesday night for night two of their two show stay at Maxwell's (which is an awesome venue! Can't wait to go to another show there). Night one had been mostly songs from Trampoline while night two was set to be an all-request show, the set decided upon based on a poll sent out by the band. Each person attending was asked to choose twelve original Steel Train songs they'd like to hear as well as twelve songs from a list of covers the band provided and the top six of each would be performed that night. I decided to go with that show and after seeing the list of covers, was even more happy with that decision. They opened the show with "I Feel Weird", and after that, it was cover/original for the rest of the night. Lots of my faves from Trampoline got play, including "Firecracker" (cameo from Jack's dad on acoustic!), "Alone on the Sea" and "Kill Monsters in the Rain", plus a few from earlier albums including "Better Love" and of course, "Road Song"! Which is the song that stuck out so much to me the first time I saw them and that I still love lots and lots! They closed the show with it and it was basically a band/crowd sing-along, so fun.


The covers that night were also pretty amazing. Among them were Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark", Bowie/Queen "Under Pressure" (Jack sang the Bowie parts, Nate from The Format was around to do the Freddie ones), pretty much all of the best parts of Billy Joel's "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" inserted into the middle of their own song "A Magazine" and my favorite, The Band's "The Weight", in which all five members switched instruments and sang a verse on their own. Jack went from guitar to drums, Evan from bass to guitar, Jon from drums to bass, Daniel from guitar to keys and Justin from keys to guitar. I love when bands do that kind of thing! That is such a great song too! A band that has great taste in covers gets extra points from me (it especially helps that they cover Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk"!).

I had so much fun at the Hoboken show that I decided to go to their show in Brooklyn last night too! They put on such a fun and energetic show and I was happy to hear a lot of the same favorites in the set and still get a few others ("School is for Losers", woo!) plus hear the new songs they had played in Hoboken again too! One of the new ones is super super catchy and fun and has a five part percussion break, which please. Part of why I love their live shows so much is that they really recreate the pretty musically layered sound on their albums. There's glockenspiel and timpani and Wurlitzer and all these things that just make it all sound so good! I love them. I'm glad they found their way to my ears.