St. Louis Music Press

Senses Fail at Fubar, March 13, 2011

Senses Fail at Fubar. Photo Credit: © Christopher Davis.

Senses Fail began their month long tour in Pennsylvania this past Thursday night. The tour just stopped by Fubar in Saint Louis on Sunday, March 13, 2011. The New Jersey-based group is on Vagrant Records’ roster and is touring in support of their fourth full-length release, ’The Fire‘. It contains a CD/DVD in the physical format; on I-Tunes it contains a bonus track. In addition, this tour welcomes a new member to the band. Matt Smith from Strike Anywhere has stepped up to fill Garret Zabocki’s role. Garret was a founding member of Senses Fail, and in the band for just short of ten years. The spring tour features Man Overboard and Transit, plus The Ghost Inside. The Ghost Inside begin The PMA Tour officially on March 15th in Palatine, Illinois.

Senses Fail at Fubar. Photo Credit: © Christopher Davis.

Fubar was packed. It was very hot inside the venue; meanwhile, outside it began to snow. Got to love Missouri weather.

The group Senses Fail has an excellent sense of humor. Right away this could be noticed by the entry of the band and their comedic intro that played over the loud speakers. Vocalist Buddy Nielsen is not only humorous, but thoughtful as well. This notion began at his demeanor while taking his place on the stage. In the way he carried himself, one could tell that he doesn’t take himself too seriously. In other words, he doesn’t have a rock-star ego.

According to their profile on Rhapsody, Buddy suggests the music is anything but a sensual breakdown. “In Hinduism, they believe that being alive is
hell, and the only way to each Nirvana is to ultimately have no attachments to anything. So, people go out and live in the middle of the woods and they don’t eat and don’t drink… And if you want to reach the highest level of being and see God, you have to have all your senses fail.”

Bassist Jason Black got in on the fun, adding in background vocals
and adding some solid and poignant low-end to this fan favorite.
Buddy then began to talk to the crowd and thanked them for all coming out on a Sunday night. He stated that they have played here
in Saint Louis before, but this show was their favorite. The atmosphere
was really intense the whole night. It just got better and better. He was talking about the new release and then joked with the crowd and with Zach about Pokemon. Apparently, Zach has a thing for the game. Zach announced his player name and told anyone that likes the game to hit him up online.  Buddy then stated that the song is about Pokemon. “The Fire” raised the bar. It was my favorite of the night, thus far. It has an anthem type of quality to it and a really abrupt and driving bridge that is just pure hardcore. “It’s okay to feel lost”, the lyrics mention. The song seems to be about walking through the fire, so to speak. They also mention, “Through the ashes we will rise”, later in the chorus. Moving song. Nice to see someone acknowledge this type of subject.

Buddy of Senses Fail. Photo Credit: © Christopher Davis.

Before beginning the song “Martini Kiss”, Buddy continued with his antics, conversing with the group and the crowd, talking about topics such as Albert Pujol’s contract and his thoughts on Jack Buck. The crowd was engaged fully, attentive and ready to act. “Martini” began, and all hell broke loose. The self-aware crowd was swiftly moving, dancing, moshing, if you will. Slowly, one by one, the brave sneaked up on the stage from time to time. Quickly, followed by a stage hand motioning them forward to get off, of course they obliged. Some unexpectedly fell forward, to be caught by others.

“Shark Attack” began with flailing guitars and double-bass pedal supplied by Dan. Buddy was literally surrounded by a sea of faces when he approached the front of the stage, with people reaching out to him. He reached out to them with the microphone, sharing the limelight with the fans. “New Year’s Eve” was the third and final new track they performed from The Fire.
You can watch their brand new video of it right here:

Appreciative, once again, Buddy thanked the fans and also all the bands that sold tickets and helped make the show such a success. He reiterated about this show being the absolute best experience they have had in Saint Louis.

“You’re Cute When You Scream“ is a high energy, fast paced song, with more of their melodic side showcased. The highlight of this song is the end of the bridge, when the song climaxes and goes back into the chorus. The music abruptly stops while the vocals continue the song, then the music picks back up and there is an awesome drum fill thrown in there, just before
the song falls right off the map.

Matt of Senses Fail. Photo Credit: © Christopher Davis.

“Bite To Break Your Skin” began. At this point, the pace at which people were descending from the stage was reminiscent of a revolving door. It was controlled very well and nice to see the crowd looking out for each other. With two songs left, Buddy mentioned the fact the night had to end soon, so everyone could get home and out on time. “Can’t Be Saved” was next to last on their set-list. The crowd was so into this one, as the band was; you could hear the crowd singing the chorus almost as loud as Buddy. He even stopped singing at one point, to let them carry the melody before the song ended.  The last song was off of the debut EP, “One Eight Seven”. They went back to the beginning to reach the night’s end, an ironic and truly fitting ending to an awesome set by Senses Fail. Such a relentless display of fan fare and emotional execution on the band’s part is few and far between. Their musicianship is incredible to witness.