Circa Survive Connects With Crowd

“I just walk into a place like this and immediately know it’s gonna be a good show,” said Anthony Green, lead singer of Circa Survive, before the band’s performance in the Great Hall last Thursday, March 17.

Circa Survive, brought to UMW courtesy of Giant Productions, is widely renowned for their exhilarating live shows, and their St. Patrick’s Day concert was absolutely no exception.

“We’re 100% enthusiastic about the music and appreciative for every person there,” Green said when asked about the reputation they’ve earned. As he later put more bluntly, “We don’t act like a bunch of douche bags.”

Those who were in attendance are sure to agree.

“There are bands that play really, really well but it’s not entertaining and it’s not exciting so you sort of feel a disconnect between what’s going on with them, like they’re doing their job for you and you should watch and appreciate it,” elaborated Green.

No such disconnect was present at the show. In fact, during the band’s encore, “Get Out,” Green waded out into the middle of the audience, requesting only that they not kill him.

Green and Circa Survive had the audience in the palm of their hand with their awesome performance, which include fan favorites ranging from the band’s first album, “Juturna,” to their latest EP, “Appendage,” which the band released on iTunes late last year.

The enigmatic front man quickly developed a connection with the audience, requesting they participate in various actions throughout the night, like screaming as loudly and high-pitched as possible, waving arms back in forth to make an ocean for him to “swim” in and, of course, not to kill him.

Green also made a point of informing the crowd that if the Great Hall’s elaborate hanging chandelier were to fall, they would more than likely be decimated.

The music was loud and exhilarating. Fan favorites like “Act Appalled” were met with just as much enthusiasm from the crowd as more recent hits like “I Felt Free” and “Imaginary Enemy.”

The audience really got into it, sometimes to a fault, as more casual fans were no doubt turned off by the long haired, easily excitable guys thrashing their arms about like windmills. But even the most ecstatic fanatic couldn’t keep the audience from enjoying the show.

So what’s next for a band with a batch of acclaimed albums and an incredible live show to do? “I really wanna go play in Brazil or Indonesia; places that my friends bands get to go to”, Green explained. “My friends just got to go to Japan right before [everything] went down. I wish we could’ve gone before all that. We’re actually putting up stuff on our Facebook. We’re going to start auctioning off stuff [like] original lyric sheets and guitars to raise money for Japan relief.”

The band is also currently working on a new album, which they hope to have out sometime next summer.

By the time the band finally left the stage, after nearly an hour and a half of relentlessly rocking the Great Hall, it’s safe to say that most everyone in attendance had an amazing time. If you weren’t able to attend the Circa Survive concert, you owe your St. Patrick’s Day an apology.

[Photo credit: Niku Azam]