As Tall As Lions Kick Off The Semester Right

By KYLE SHEARIN

To welcome back old students and help ease new ones into the occasionally exciting life at UMW, alternative-rock band As Tall As Lions performed in Ball Circle on Friday night.

If you’ve never heard their music, imagine a more atmospheric version of Snow Patrol with Jeff Buckley as the front man. This makes the band’s intimate but powerful sonic texture quite fitting for small clubs but also translated to an outside venue surprisingly well.

The band’s onstage presence was a little awkward at first, as it was a little hard to distinguish if they were trying to be funny or just saying whatever came to mind. The band’s tight playing secured the crowd’s interest throughout though and impressively brought the life out of their recordings.

Eventually the audience loosened up, and the band seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. A running joke during the concert was that the members of As Tall As Lion’s were part of the graduating class of UMW in the early ‘90s but couldn’t remember which year exactly.

The funniest moment of the night was the impromptu hot dog eating contest between three students halfway through the band’s set. It gave the whole evening a distinctly summery vibe.

If the sleeping gentleman sprawled out next to me was any indication, As Tall As Lions can be a very relaxing band. If I can fault them for anything, the show offered very little thrills for those not already diehard fans.

Nitpicking aside, As Tall As Lions was received well and hopefully secured a place in many freshmen’s hearts as the first band they saw play at UMW.

[Photo courtesy Marie Sicola/Bullet]