AWOL Nation - June 27, 2018

Venue: The Pageant, St. Louis
Reviewed by: Jerry

I have been to a lot of concerts.  Some of the bands I know very well, others not so much, and some not at all.  AWOL Nation fell into the latter category when I first saw them live back in 2015.  Their big song, “Sail” was everywhere.  I wasn’t a big fan of it but my son who’s into music asked me to go to the show so I did.  And WOW.  These guys were a great live band.  So, when the opportunity came to see them again, I jumped on it.  And again, was not at all disappointed.  There was only about 1200 people in the venue.  And while the venue didn't seem empty at all AWOL really needs to be playing in front of about 10,000.  There shows are energetic.  The lead singer does a great job of involving the audience.  Their songs are engaging.  And the stage presence of the band is great.   

I am only familiar with their first album, Megalithic Symphony and they played a few songs from it that I recognized.  My two favorite songs of the night, ‘Seven Sticks of Dynamite’ and ‘Miracle Man’ I’ve since found out, are on their new album.  So, I’m going to have to pick that one up.  They also did a cover of Springsteen’s I’m on Fire.  Not one of my favorites but they did a good job with it.  And, if you happen to look on setlist.fm, you’ll see it listed that they also played AC/DC’s Thunderstruck.  This is wrong.  They only teased us with the intro to that song.  This was one of the two annoying points of the show.  The other one being that the lead singer kept “looking for the best dancer” in the crowd.  I kept expecting him to pull someone on stage and he never did so I guess he never found one worthy of the best.

So, if you like energetic shows and are open to AWOL’s style of music, I highly suggest going to see them live.  It’s a great show.  And, when you watch the videos below, no, I have no idea what the shrubbery signifies.  Perhaps they are anticipating meeting up with the Knights of Ni.

Not Your Fault
I'm On Fire / Burn It Down