Aaron Gillespie's side gig, the Almost, takes center stage

Tag : side roll

So, too, can Christian rock. The subgenre's littered withanointed-then-discarded, fantastic-then-flat,smoking-then-burned-out acts.
But in this spiritual and brotherly camp, bitterness is rarely apart of that fall from grace. So surely the other members ofChristian emo's reigning sonic cathedral, Underoath, aren'tfrazzled by the fact that their eldest son is already better thanUnderoath has ever has been.
The Almost, Underoath drummer Aaron Gillespie's side project,howled into the Door in Deep Ellum on Monday with a purity of focusand intent that trumped anything that his shaky main gig hasdisplayed in years. About 650 young, squeaky-clean types witnessed– no, experienced is more accurate – a masterful display of modern-day hardemo that flaunted the usual trade tools, tasteful aural curveballsand a noble message in equal doses.
In short, Mr. Gillespie's CD Southern Weather is intensely warm but temperate and breezy with melody and unity,whereas Underoath blows through you like a spring-storm downdraft.
That's Mr. Gillespie's point. The Almost's material is morepop-centered and bouncier; that the set was preceded by house musicfrom spacey British power trio Muse was a hint. But the Almost'stransformative and thunderous cover of Coldplay's "Yellow,"performed only 16 minutes into the hourlong set, crowned Mr.Gillespie as a legitimate star.
Who knew he could falsetto live better than Chris Martin could in50 studio takes? Who knew that Mr. Gillespie and his band couldtransition from that to a truly uplifting roll through "AmazingBecause It Is" as seamlessly as they did? The Almost's past gigs inDallas have been spotty by most accounts.
This kind of improvement comes only from two sources: confidenceand faith. That the first single from Southern Weather , "Say This Sooner," hit No. 7 on Billboard 's modern-rock chart must be a source of the former, particularlysince the band opened the set with it. Rapt, receptive and genuflecting crowds such as the oneat the Door – as well as that mystical deference to a higherpower – plainly fuels the latter.