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Sanctus Real in Concert with Hawk Nelson

Posted in CD Review. on Saturday, May 28th, 2005 by Bill Tags: concert, Hawk Nelson, punk, rock, Sanctus Real

May 28

Hawk Nelson opened the night with 9 song, 35 minute set to the nearly packed sanctuary of Riverlawn Christian Church. HN was received warmly as they played the top songs from their album “Letter to the President” . These included the title track, “Letters to the President” and “California” among those. HN closed with “Every Little Thing” which really had the crowd going.

the sunset limited the movie

download Battle: Los Angeles movie

The large group at the front of the auditorium kept the beat going with the usual bouncing and some slight moshing (to the annoyance of the RCC members) but it generally died out halfway through a song. It wasn’t necessarily due to the band, more to do from the slight heavy-handedness of the RCC bouncers next to the stage. It did make me wish I was 16 again though, but I still enjoyed the set from my place in the back with the rest of the adults.

Hawk Nelson was cheered heartedly as they left the stage, which announced Sanctus Real coming up. SR drummer Mark Graalman came out before the set and gave a small talk about the organization Food for the Hungry which the band has taken on to support through the tour. A short break was given before Sanctus Real took the stage.

The crowd erupted as Sanctus Real took the stage. SR played an 11 song set with 1 encore at around 1 hour and 10-15 minutes. They played their top songs including “Alone”, “Everything About You”, “Closer”, “Say it Loud” and “Audience of One”. The tour is in support of their album “Fight the Tide”

One of my favorite songs of the night was the cover of U2’s “Beautiful Day” that they did remarkably well. I’m of the mindset that most songs shouldn’t be remade, especially of groups in the caliber of U2 (of which I must say that I’ve been a fan of since 1980 when they were only played on college radio but I digress). They really did a good job of it. I can really here the influence of U2 in some of their music. Lead vocalist Matt Hammitt and guitarist Chris Rohman can really get an Edge/Bono thing going at times. You can also hear it on “Everything About You”.

Sanctus Real connected with audience and gave a great show. It had high energy, great music and one of the better messages I’ve heard from a band in a while. I enjoyed the concert. I only had one complaint really and that was with the sound. I’m surprised I’m saying this as usually its way over the top, but it needed to be a little louder. The volume level was somewhere around 8 or 9. I like mine at 11.