Music can be a religion, and I guess for most of us at The Sponge, it is. Therefore, it’s not surprising that, among my friends, we occasionally suggest that a live appearance by a revered artist is really a High Holy Day. The last such High Holy Day we celebrated here at EvilSponge was the concert by Wire last fall. But then, local venue the Echo Lounge announced that Mission of Burma was coming, and the hue and cry began anew. It seemed like everywhere I went, I’d hear the same thing: “Are you going to Mission of Burma? Are you excited about Mission of Burma?” Inevitably, I’d answer yes to both queries, although after a while I began to ask myself why? Why was this so important? At the time, I couldn’t really answer. I mean, I like Mission of Burma well enough and I’m quite familiar with their music, but it wasn’t something I just had to see. In short, it really wasn’t my Holy Day.

Nevertheless, I was truly excited about this concert, and arrived quite early in order to see everything, especially the opening acts. Now, you might think from some of my reviews that I don’t really approve of openers, especially when the headliner is a band I really want to see. However, I understand that the opener’s position is a thankless one –- playing to a bunch of people who, in general, couldn’t care less. I mean, you might make one or two converts, but most people spend your performance talking and socializing and trying to ignore the noise on the stage. Therefore, despite occasional misgivings, I make it a practice to get to shows early enough to see all bands. Furthermore, on this evening, I didn’t really worry about the openers: I’ve seen Martyr and Pistol before (and liked them). And although I hadn’t seen Heros Severum, they were on my master list of bands I wanted to catch.

Shortly after we arrived, Martyr & Pistol took the stage to a somewhat sparse crowd. My first impression of them was that they seemed more together than the last time I saw them. In the past they’ve struck me as rather dark and semi-orchestral, which may be a result of singer Kera Schaley’s lead cello. However tonight their music seemed very loud and dynamic. In other words, you wouldn’t think a band with a cello could rock, but it did. I was particularly impressed by the songs they played when guitarist Brent Van Daley put down his guitar and played the bass. This created dark atmospheric noise that was almost reminiscent of early Joy Division.

After Martyr and Pistol left the stage, Heros Severum came on, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was a bit startled by their first few songs, which seemed to be very Dismemberment Plan-influenced, especially the keyboard parts and the drums. However, they quickly moved into a style of music which can best be described as straight up pop punk, such as what you’d hear by other Athens/Atlanta bands like Sharks and Minnows or Jet By Day. The one thing Heros Severum has that those other bands do not is a keyboardist. And in the case of Heros Severum, I thought that the keyboardist really added to their music by rounding out the instrumentation and bringing a fullness to their overall sound. So, in general, I liked this band, especially because I like their type of music, and I’d like to see them again.

Then, at last, Mission of Burma came out to play. As I said above, I’m a Mission of Burma fan, but perhaps not as rabid about them as others I know. I’ve never seen them in concert, although I’ve heard they’re a great live band. In other words, although I had some preconceived notions about the show, my expectations weren’t necessarily as high as those of many of the people in The Echo Lounge.

The thing that struck me most about Mission of Burma during their first 45 minute set was the level of energy the band brought to the stage. You might think from that comment that the members of the band were bouncing around the stage, however that was not the case. Instead it seemed like both Roger Miller and Clint Conley focused their entire beings around the music and their instruments, which gave the performance force. Furthermore, although the comments from the stage suggested that there were sound issues with the monitors, it didn’t appear that these difficulties overtly effected the band or their performance. Instead they took things as a matter of course, and acted like professionals, which is in and of itself pleasing. Anyway, I spent the majority of this set noticing these little details, and not paying too much attention to their set list, although I can tell you that they played This is Not a Photograph and ended with Academy Fight Song (which are perhaps my two favorites by them).

After a quick break, the band returned for their second set. This time around, I have to confess that I more or less quit looking at Mission of Burma as an object for review and instead just focused on the music. Looking back, this second set continued in much the same vein as the first one, with the band engrossing the crowd and dragging them along just on the sheer drive of their music. Things really seemed to peak when they began That’s When I Reach for My Revolver, which everyone in the crowd knew and sang along with.

However, for me, the most impressive part of the set were the multiple encores, during which Mission of Burma performed covers by Brian Eno, The Dils, and finally Pere Ubu. I’ve always thought that performing covers is a way for a band to not only demonstrate musical depth and knowledge but also to show respect to other bands they may like or find influential. Either way, seeing such an obviously talented and well versed band play such fairly obscure songs in a manner which made the music so obviously their own was a great highlight, and increased my own respect immeasurably.

So what to think, looking back on that night? I went into the Mission of Burma show not understanding the High Holy Day mentality around me. After seeing them live and witnessing the strength of their performance, I think I get it. And I’d definitely go see them again.

None available.