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The Appleseed Cast played 'Mare Vitalis' in full at Webster Studio with Annabel and Adjy (pics, review)

photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Andrew Sacher

The Appleseed Cast @ The Studio at Webster Hall – 7/28/15
The Appleseed Cast
The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast are currently on tour playing their 2000 sophomore album, Mare Vitalis, in full for its 15th anniversary, and that tour hits NYC’s Studio at Webster Hall last night (7/28). Appleseed Cast are one of those bands where it’s hard to pick a favorite album — each one has its merits and they are all different but never too drastically. Still, there was something extra great and cohesive about seeing this excellent album played front to back. Of course there’s the nostalgic value of an entire set of songs you’ve known for years, and the given fact that these songs were *meant* to be played in this order, but it also felt like the band was more locked in than the last couple times I saw them.

The Appleseed Cast are the kind of band that mesmerizes, more than inspires dancing and singalongs, and mesmerize they did. The Mare Vitalis songs have their individual intricacies (like the tricky lead riff of “Fishing The Sky”), but mostly they build the kind of walls of sound that make you forget where you are. When they announced they had one song left last night I thought “it’s over already?” They did of course give us an encore, which began with a cover of The Stone Roses’ “I Wanna Be Adored” (you can watch a video of that cover from the Seattle stop of the tour, below).

Opening was Ohio’s Annabel, who recently released their new album Having It All on Tiny Engines. They make the kind of ’90s-style emo that The Appleseed Cast briefly dabbled in on their 1998 debut, and though Mare Vitalis isn’t really up that same alley, it was still a good fit. Before them was Adjy, who make similar quirky multi-instrumental pop to Anathallo, Freelance Whales, and other oft-forgotten bands that came in the wake of Arcade Fire and Sufjan.

More pictures from The Studio At Webster Hall below…

Adjy

Adjy

Adjy

Adjy

Adjy

Adjy

Adjy

Adjy

Adjy

Adjy

Adjy

Adjy

Adjy

Annabel

Annabel

Annabel

Annabel

Annabel

Annabel

Annabel

Annabel

Annabel

Annabel

Annabel

Annabel

Annabel

Annabel

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast