Arborview at The Venue Coffee House on April 3rd, 2009
A somewhat new hard rock band hailing from areas around Dallas Texas, who go by the name of Arborview, played one nice show at The Venue Coffee House on April 3rd, 2009. The Venue Coffee House, which is located in Arlington Texas, was a very suitable place for such amazing music. Arborview had come to play another show, still one of their firsts, and they blew me away again, just as they did back in March at The Door in Dallas. Their music is amazing for the amount of time the band has been together.
Concerts like the ones that go on at places like The Venue Coffee House are very fun and exciting, but they are a little different from your normal concert, as most people imagine it. Instead of being seated in bleachers or seats in an auditorium or out in front of a huge stage, it is just a little coffee shop with a small stage and a couple of tables. Of course, that is the kind of place you would expect a new band to be playing at. The stage was just large enough for the Arborview guys to spread out, but bigger would definitely be better. The music was loud, but for some people, like myself, it makes it all the better. I loved being right up close to the stage.
For the amount of time that Arborview has been playing live shows, which Donovan (Arborview’s lead singer) said was about three months, their music was amazing. They only have about five or six songs written and perform five, but each and every one of them was absolutely splendid. They did amazing, and they were always together, meaning they never got off beat from each other. If they messed up, it wasn’t noticeable. Their music creates a sense of what I like to call awesomeness in the atmosphere.
As mentioned above, Arborview played five songs. Their first song, titled Revelations in Stereo, was a very good opener. Doug let his amazing screaming vocals loose during the first few seconds of the song, which grasped our attentions. The song was full of catchy tunes and beautiful lyrics which were very relatable. The second song, which was entitled Saints, was one of their best. It had an amazing guitar part that was very enjoyable, and the lyrics are very expressive. They talk about how we all basically believe we are saints, but we are truly only sinners, and we need God to help us realize. A Working Title, the third song Arborview shredded our faces with, was a slower, but very catchy song. The interaction between the guitars and the tune was very amazing, and it left me wanting more of that one song. Then the guys melted our faces with a song they like to call Apocryphillia. This song had some catchy vocals, and some pretty wicked action. The togetherness of the band made this song so much better. The final song played that night was called Anchorage. It happens to be my favorite song by the artist. Anchorage is about how we are drowning in our sin, and how it can really wreck our lives. The songs guitar riffs are completely unforgettable. They are amazing. Then, a ways through the song, Doug (one of Arborview’s guitarists) rips out a nice little screaming section that is absolutely amazing, one of my favorite parts of the whole song. The lyrics are really what gets the song to my favorites list though.
The actual music itself is not the only part that made this concert far over worth it. I also loved to watch how they moved about onstage. They were very cool at times, yet really amusing (purposefully) other times. With swinging guitars, to wearing Viking hats, to pushing each other, Arborview sure put on a sweet visual show as well. Doug’s amazing guitar rocking, Donovan’s hand talk, Nathan’s hard rocking drum skills, Forrest’s hilarious hat and bass swinging, and Coltons guitar swinging made this show so very awesome. They are amazing people who really know how to rock, musically and visually. They are also very nice looking, so it makes them so very much more cool and impressing.
This concert was completely worth the long drive to get to. I plan on going to every concert that Arborview plays that I am able to make, so hopefully I will see some of you guys there. These guys are very talented! I cannot wait to return, and I sure hope they get that EP recorded, and start writing some new songs! I love every bit of Arborview, and I would love to get a whole lot more of it.