Candlebox
Town Ballroom
Buffalo, NY
Wednesday May 9, 2012
Review/Photos By: Joseph Suto
A semi-sparse but loyal crowd was on hand at the Town Ballroom Wednesday evening to witness the return of Candlebox to Buffalo. Their last Buffalo appearance was at Lafayette Square back in 2008 as singer Kevin Martin mentioned at one point during the show. Martin led the band through a ninety-five minute set that covered band’s recorded career from the humble beginnings with their 1993 debut to its current release Love Stories and Other Musings. Their latest release marks the bands first in four years.
The stage was covered with oriental rugs as a big tapestry with the Candlebox logo hung from behind drummer Scott Mercado’s elevated kit. The band lit right into “Bitches Brewin” from their 08’ release Into The Sun. The first highlight of the show was the energetic performance of their latest single “Believe In It” which had fists pumping along. Lead guitarist Peter Klett has been with the group since the debut. His blistering solo on the aforementioned “Believe In It” sounded so invigorating as the song seemed to be written with the stage in mind.
Kevin took a few moments to talk some NHL hockey asking if the majority of the crowd were Sabre fans. He quickly retorted “How’s that going for you?” to several groans and a few snickers. On a more serious note Kevin dedicated “Cover Me” to a fan who recently passed away. The band closed out the show with the double encore barrage of arguably their best two songs in their arsenal the classics “Far Behind” and “You”.
Candlebox may have started out as a grunge band from Seattle back in 1990, but these days they are more in the mainstream as their writing has matured. Martin has the ability to frequently write songs that vary and tend not to stick to one type of particular genre as demonstrated by his side projects The Hiwatts and The Gracious Few. Judging by the reaction of the Buffalo faithful, as long as Candlebox keeps recording new music and touring they will continue to support them just as they have for the past twenty-two years.
Set List
Bitches Brewin’
Simple Lessons
Don’t You
Believe in It
Underneath It All
Change
Blossom
She Come Over Me
Breathe Me In
Arrow
Stand
Turn Your Heart Around
Sweet Summertime
Miss You
Cover Me
Encore
Far Behind
You
Special Thanks to Nina Kolb for assisting us in reviewing the show!
