Some of the best live shows are witnessed at small, intimate venues, where a concert is less like a production and more like a shared experience. The lighting is poor, the sound mixing isn’t quite right, but the close and personal nature of the show makes everyone there feel like they’re a part of it.

 

That’s what it’s like at the Charlotte concert hall Amos’ Southend, which was a stop this fall on The Uncle Fest Tour – another one of Relient K’s puns with a Halloween twist. Some concertgoers leaned against the railing of the balcony by the bar while the rest crammed into the front half of the floor space, pressing ever closer to the stage as the night went on.

 

House of Heroes played first, doing a great job of warming up the crowd with their energetic and unique musical style. Lead singer Tim Skipper’s voice was clear and strong as he sang a handful of the band’s songs. This Providence performed next with a good but forgettable set that included mostly fast rock tunes and one soft acoustic love song. In a fun moment between songs, they stopped to take a photo of the audience. Ludo, the third band to play, brought quirky energy and fun to the show. Most of the crowd seemed to recognize the band’s single “Love Me Dead,” which has been featured in commercials for the Fox television show House. They also engaged the crowd in an energetic version of the Ghostbusters theme, but can anyone really resist shouting out the answer to, “Who you gonna call?”

After what seemed like a long wait for those who had been standing for two hours, Relient K took the stage in silouhette to loud cheers from the crowd. The lights came on to reveal lead singer Matt Thiessen in a vampire cape and cobwebs on the drums behind him. Apparently, when these guys do a themed tour, they take it seriously. During their set, the band played two songs from their new Nashville Tennis EP, “The Lining Is Silver” and “At Least We Made It This Far.” They also performed some older tunes for longtime fans, as well as a lot of material from the albums in between. Hearing the songs back-to-back like that really highlighted how much this band’s music has changed over the years. From the fun pop-punk of their early albums to the more complex power-pop of their more recent ones, Relient K has shown an incredible amount of growth.

As a commentary on the approaching election, the band tossed in the very short song, “The Only Thing Worse Than Beating A Dead Horse Is Betting On One.” They also performed a cover of the Addams Family theme song for Halloween, of course. The vocals seemed to be turned a little low, and in some places the crowd overpowered Thiessen as they sang along, which added to the feeling of participation that night.

 

Toward the end of “Forgiven,” Thiessen paused to tell the audience, “This is a song about grace – not just the grace that we receive, but the grace that we should give to other people even when we don’t want to.” It was a pointed reminder, in the middle of a rock concert, that we are to forgive others as God has forgiven us. As the song picked back up, he told the crowd to sing along as loud as they could if they agreed with him, which is really what they had been doing all night anyway.

Thiessen switched back and forth multiple times between guitars and a piano, which has become increasingly prominent in Relient K’s music and live shows. Jon Schneck also did his share of instrument switching, playing the banjo and the bells as well as his standard guitars. Ethan Luck, formerly of the O.C. Supertones, recently took over as Relient K’s drummer after Dave Douglas left last year. It’s difficult to compare a newcomer with a long-time member of the band, but Luck played the drums with impressive strength and skill.

For an encore, the band unexpectedly launched into “Deathbed,” an 11-minute epic from Five Score and Seven Years Ago that was recorded using 115 tracks. The song didn’t sound as full or strong live as it did on the album, but it was no less emotional or powerful, as Thiessen told the story of a dying man looking back on a life full of regret, and the moment when he found Jesus Christ.

Relient K has performed technically better shows in better venues, but they both entertained and moved the crowd with their music at Amos’ Southend in Charlotte. The intimate concert ended on a hopeful note, as Thiessen’s falsetto softly brought the final tune to a close: “I am the Way, follow Me and take My hand / And I am the Truth, embrace Me and you’ll understand / And I am the Light, and for Me you’ll live again / For I am Love, I am Love… I… I am Love.”