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Finding ways to reinvent themselves

Switchfoot
Exit/In
Nashville, TN
Nov. 23, 2009
Switchfoot Switchfoot Switchfoot

Review and photos by Kate Seesholtz

Adding an extra show due to an already sold out performance the previous evening, San Diego rockers Switchfoot brought songs from their new album, Hello Hurricane to the Exit/In in Nashville on Monday evening. Lead singer Jon Foreman climbed into the crowd and up onto the balcony to start the evening. The band told the audience that they were going to play through their entire new album from start to finish. For most bands, this would mean certain lags throughout the performance, but Switchfoot kept things moving and the crowd captivated.

Adding in a variety of extra instruments (like a ukulele on the album's title track and a harmonica and accordion on another), Switchfoot added new elements to the album. A highlight of the set came when a full grand piano was brought onto the stage for the song "Always." Foreman spoke about growing up and singing in a Led Zeppelin cover band (he joked that it was easier to hit the high notes in junior high), a fact that was trying on his mother. He then dedicated the song about redemption and second chances to his motherÉ and Led Zeppelin of course.

After playing through Hello Hurricane in its entirety (including radio hit "Mess of Me" and the moving "Your Love is a Song"), Switchfoot moved into the songs that have earned them their fame. Inciting a renewed energy in the crowd, Foreman thrust the microphone into crowd for their huge hit, "Meant to Live," and allowed the crowd to take over the familiar chorus. They also created a mash up of Twitter requested, "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine" and "Stars." After thanking Nashville for a great two nights, they exited the stage, only to return moments later for a crowd demanded encore.

Adding a bit of humor to the evening, Foreman started off thanking an audience member for throwing a DVD of A Walk to Remember onto the stage, a film for which Switchfoot provided a large portion of the soundtrack. Though, before the band would play "Only Hope" from the film, Foreman made sure to dispel the rumor that Mandy Moore had written it herself, bringing loud cheers from the crowd. Switchfoot finished off the encore with Foreman leaping into the audience and climbing onto the bar to sing "Dare You to Move."

After unprecedented cheering and shouts of "one more song" from the venue, Switchfoot returned for an unheard of second encore. Following a crowd sing along of "Oh! Gravity," Switchfoot decided to give the mash up another shot. Jon Foreman declared that if they were going to do another, they might as well do it right and include pop artist Beyonce. The band launched into a blend of Beyonce's "Crazy in Love" with their own "Gone," even throwing in a line from Rhinana's "Umbrella." It was a perfect ending to the nearly two hour set, showing that after eight albums Switchfoot are still finding ways to reinvent themselves.

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Switchfoot Switchfoot
Switchfoot

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