Date: Saturday November 17th, 2012
Line-up: Streetlight Manifesto
Location: The Ogden Theatre. Denver, CO
The Ogden Theater is located on East Colfax, one of the most interesting streets in Denver. Located in Capital Hill, the Ogden is a historic venue that has great sound for the amount of music that was going to be made. Capital Hill still boasts independent record stores specializing in vinyl. You can typically catch an in store signing at Independent Records next door. Just down the street Gramatik and Talib Kweli brought their beats to the Fillmore Auditorium. Needless to say, there was a diverse crowd on the streets on Saturday, November 17, 2012.
Lead singer & guitarist Tomas Kalnoky, of the ska band Catch 22 off of Victory Records, and Jamie Egan of One Cool Guy, formed the band when they brought a orchestral group of musicians together to form 
Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution. They formed Streetlight Manifesto where they re-recorded a few older songs and gave them a slightly new sound. There are currently seven different musicians with seven diverse music styles within Streetlight Manifesto.
When Tomas Kalnoky walked on stage it was like a thousand old friends were welcoming him. The rest of the band followed and they immediately went into “Everything Went Numb” and quickly followed with “We Will Fall Together” while the whole crowd sang in harmony. No elbowroom was left on the dance floor and every eye on the balcony was fixed on the stage.
Their use of saxophone by Jim Conti and Mike Brown separate them from any ska or jazz band that dares to touch the punk rock crowd. Their individual talents are well acknowledged and the energy that rolls through the fast tempo from drummer Chris Thatcher, keeps feet moving as the soulful touch of Matt Stewart’s trumpet and Nadav Nirenberg’s trombone is enough to call the authorities.
As Pete McCullough grooved his bass into “Watch it Crash” off the record Somewhere In Between, it was apparent that this band actually enjoys playing music with each other. Streetlight writes songs for singing along. When the song ended Tomas acted like he was going to say something witty and the build up left him muttering, “Arrggghhhh”.
Poetically, they played “A Moment and Silence” followed by “A Moment of Violence”. Chris Thatcher utilized his five-piece kit with six-cymbal ensemble as good as any drummer of his genre. When the song ended, it appeared Christ Thatcher was having minor drum malfunctions. Everyone thought this was the time to get some words of wisdom out of Tomas Kalnoky, who playfully interacted with the crowd saying “I’m supposed to say something clever” as he harmonized poorly while strumming his guitar. “People will clap because I am clever.”
Always keeping a tight beat, the band immediately led into “Who Hides the Night (Oh Me)” from their newest album, The Hands That Thieve. Their forthcoming album was originally set for a November 6, 2012 release, but has been pushed back to sometime early next year.
The last two songs included their song regarding suicide that pleads “When you wake up, everything is gonna be fine. I guarantee that you wake in a better place, in a better time. So you’re tired of living, feel like you might give in? Well don’t, it’s not your time”. The positive energy that filled the auditorium during the song paid homage to the whole night!
After performing their “fake last song” titled “Somewhere in Between” they came back out for an encore while the crowd erupted, as if they had not seen them play in years.
Streetlight slipped “Keasbey Nights”, a cover from Catch 22, in between “Point” & “Counterpoint”. Nadav Nirenberg’s face looks like it was about to com-bust during a wailing trombone solo towards the end of the song “Point”. All in all this was a great show & not once did a smile leave Tomas Kalnoky’s face.
Streetlight Manifesto Set List:
Everything Went Numb
We Will Fall Together
Down Down Down to Mephisto’s Café
(Unknown)
Forty Days
Intro: This is a Call to Arms/Here’s To Life
Watch It Crash
A Moment of Silence
A Moment of Violence
Who Hides the Night (Oh Me)
A Better Place, A Better Time
Somewhere In Between
Encore:
Point/Keasbey Nights/Counterpoint
The Big Sleep
Article By: Blake Taylor
Photos By: Steven Lynds
Check out more of the photos from the night!
