Switchfoot review

Lost: One pair of socks, after being rocked off by Switchfoot at

the Ogden Theater last Saturday. If found, please return

The air was thick Saturday night at the Ogden Theater in

downtown Denver with a mix of cigarette smoke and the perspiration

of more than a few youth groupers.

The crowd awaited the fourth Colorado appearance since last

March of the San Diego rock group Switchfoot, with the energy of a

packed high school lunchroom.

The opening act, Copeland, effectively got the night off on the

right foot. These young rockers could be the best thing to come out

of Georgia since the Allman Brothers Band. Dirty South

represent!

Once Copeland had cleared their gear off the stage and the

stagehands had strategically placed enough water bottles on top of

the amps to quench any rock star thirst, the lights dimmed and the

silhouettes of four shaggy-haired surfers occupied the stage.

Ambient noise began to fill the theater and as the stage lights

flashed on, the band known as Switchfoot launched into the

high-energy crowd pleaser “Dare You To Move” and filled the next

hour with their left-coast brand of rock and/or roll.

Since the release of their newest album, “The Beautiful

Letdown,” in February 2003, Switchfoot has been on the road almost

nonstop. The band is currently on tour behind the release of its

first concert DVD, “Live In San Diego,” which hit shelves on March

23, and its newest single, a reworked version of “Dare You To

Move,” a song that originally appeared on the band’s 2000 release,

“Learning To Breathe.”

Despite being smack dab in the middle of a four-night run, the

band played with enough energy to make one think the show was a

one-off in their hometown. Highlights included rare performances of

“New Way To Be Human” and “Redemption” as well as blatantly

hard-rocking versions of “Ammunition” and “Meant To Live.”

God bless electric guitars and power chords.

After a full band rendition of “Only Hope,” a song made popular

by Mandy Moore in the film “A Walk To Remember,” lead singer Jon

Foreman made sure the audience knew that the cell phone had

replaced the lighter, a comment that was followed by nearly every

cell phone in the venue being thrust into the air.

The group’s energy carried through the entire set, ripping

through 12 songs in just over an hour, before wrapping up with the

sing-along, “Gone” and leaving the crowd with the sentiment that

life is still worth living.

The set was full of sonic interludes to newly tweaked versions

of songs new and old. If one thing can be said of a Switchfoot

concert, it is that the band aims to please the audience by

exploring every musical nuance of each song.

The boys in Switchfoot manage to improve on their studio effort,

without compromising the integrity of the music.

That is what live performance is all about. Switchfoot has it

down, and they are only getting better.