Jason WadeStory and Photo by Phil Bonyata
Kicking off their solo American tour at the Rave Monday night, Lifehouse upped the ante over their engaging, but rather lifeless performance at the Marcus Amphitheater last summer. One reason is they opened for 3 Doors Down and were barely granted 30 minutes of stage time. Apparently not enough time to absorb Jason Wade's personal and introspective lyrics. This time they played for nearly an hour an a half. Much more time to absorb their style of music. The band consists of lead singer, guitarist and principal songwriter, Wade, bassist and band co founder Sergio Andrade, drummer Rick Woolstenhulme and tour guitarist Joerg Kohring.
Wade states that "my songs come from a broken place. Writing was therapeutic for me." The music of Lifehouse certainly resonates with a heartfelt desire for others to hear and hopefully respond and react in personal ways. Opening with such melodic and introspective numbers like "Unknown" and "Only One," the adoring crowd took in the slow wave of music that crept out of the gates then pulled you in as Wade's raspy baritone and sometimes falsetto expressed the urgency and directionless mood of the collective teen-age spirit. Success has come swiftly for Lifehouse. Their debut album No Name Face is multi platinum and has taken the band and many fans by surprise. On the pop anthem "Everything" Sergio let the frets burn as his short legs danced a stutter step to every note change. It helped to energize the music. Make no mistake Jason Wade is a sex symbol, a kind of Val Kilmer meets Jim Morrison, except much more humble. As the girls shrieked midway through the concert the band surprised almost everone by playing their huge and only hit to date, the love song that tries to say it all "Hanging By a Moment." This is a brave move for a band with only one hit. It worked. By getting the familiarity out of the way rather quickly, the fans were able to focus on other strong songs like "Sick Cycle Carousel," "Simon" and the sad "Quasimodo" without the anticipation.
The future of Lifehouse weighs heavily on the young shoulders of Jason Wade. If he is able to tap into the painful memories of his youth and exorcise his demons through his lyrics, this young band might just have a promising future.
