The Olympian

Issue date: 12/5/07 Section: Features

Media Credit: Chris Carter It's for the best. John Nolan of Straylight Run belts it out to a small but dedicated crowd at Seattle's Chop Suey [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Chris Carter Bend to Break. Fred Mascherino, formerly of Taking Back Sunday, plays his fi rst tour as front man of The Color Fred [Click to enlarge]

Having just returned from a tour with Motion City
Soundtrack in the United Kingdom, Straylight Run, an
indie rock band from Long Island, N.Y., started a nationwide
tour here in the States, stopping at Seattle's Chop
Suey on Nov. 23.
Straylight Run features ex-Taking Back Sunday guitarist
and vocalist John Nolan, his sister Michelle DaRosa,
bassist Shaun Cooper, also formerly of Taking Back
Sunday, and drummer Will Noon formerly of Breaking
Pangaea.
Nolan and Cooper's split from Taking Back Sunday
allowed them more creative control over their sound.
With engagingly melodic piano and guitar-based ballads,
pop, almost jazzy vocals over acoustic guitar and
even a glockenspiel thrown in for taste, their sound has
a hard time being classified as any one genre.
Their new album, "The Needles, The Space," has
somewhat of a different feel from their previous work
on their self-titled album, which featured their breakthrough
hit, "Existentialism on Prom Night."
The Bravery accompanied the Long Island artists for
the first 16 stops on the tour before lending the opening
spot to three bands that are now making waves in the
indie music scene.
Despite Chop Suey's small stage and limited capacity,
the crowd was at a comfortable number leaving plenty
of room up close and personal with the stage. Concertgoers
mingled and became adjusted to the oddly lit,
room full of Asian decor for an hour before Cassino, an
indie folk-style rock band hailing from Alabama, hit the
stage and set a soft yet lively tone with several acoustic
songs off their "Sounds of Salvation" album that hit
stores in March.
Cassino was followed up by indie rock up-and-comers
Dear and the Headlights, based out of Phoenix, Ariz.
Dear raised the tempo and the volume making use of
everything from tambourines to stomping feet
The Color Fred, the new solo project of Fred
Mascherino, ironically also a former Taking Back Sunday
and former Breaking Pangaea member, joined Straylight
Run bringing with him a small dedicated fan base of his
own. His energy and enthusiasm was present long after
he left the stage while he mingled with the crowd, signing
autographs and taking pictures before Straylight's
performance.
Finally, Straylight Run took the stage to a strong welcome
and opened their set with several songs from their
new record before moving onto a rather well organized
mix of songs from their self-titled album, their "Prepare
to be Wrong" EP and their newest work. Michelle
DaRosa's husband Jeff DaRosa, although not an official
member of the band, filled in on various instruments
throughout their set.
Just as it seemed the crowd of screaming scene kids
and the casual bar-goers were peaking their interest,
the headliners looked utterly unmoved and genuinely
annoyed at their very act of being onstage. While
Cooper and Jeff DaRosa put out an obvious and exciting
effort, brother and sister Nolan tried half-successfully
to attempt smiles throughout their hour-long
set, but wrapped things up nonetheless with a strong
performance and left the crowd wanting more from the
band that could not sound more different than where its
founding members originated.

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