HomeMusicPop-Break Live: Anthony Green (Freehold, NJ)

Pop-Break Live: Anthony Green (Freehold, NJ)

lauren stern and erica batchelor survive with anthony green…

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Pre-Game this live review by reading our interview with Anthony Green from earlier this year.

Anthony Green (a.k.a. front man of Circa Survive) is simply an amazing performer who has never disappointed me in all my years of being a fan. With distinctive, raw vocals and an unmatched stage presence, he is far from being your average musician. His lengthy career would not be complete without its ups and downs but he always finds a way to prevail. His latest album release titled Beautiful Thingsshows a more intimate side of his personality including songs about his wife and young sons.
 
The Encore Events Center hosted the solo acoustic performances of Anthony Green and opening act Geoff Rickly (a.k.a. front man of Thursday) on Saturday December 8. The venue is located in Freehold, NJ and reminded me of a wedding reception hall but with surprisingly clear acoustics.

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Rickly’s opening performance included a few Thursday songs and some new acoustic songs he released for free at geoffrickly.bandcamp.com. Having never seen Rickly perform live, I was not sure what to expect from him acoustically. Soothing, lighthearted vocals with deeper, meaningful lyrics defined his life and struggles over the years.
 
Green’s performance began with “Stonehearted Man” off the album Avalon, stopping midway through to help his adorable son off the stage. He was very grateful for the support of his fans over the years and was very interactive with the audience throughout the show. I have seen Anthony many times before in an acoustic setting as well as with Circa Survive and this show ranks high in my top 10 favorites.
 
Before and after the show, Green and Rickly were signing and taking pictures with fans. As a whole, I would recommend both artists as a must-see in the future. It was a great holiday gift for me and being able to hang out with Green and Rickly was just the icing on the cake. –-Erica Batchelor

Erica and I have similar opinions about Anthony Green’s performance at Encore Events Center in Freehold, NJ. This is my fourth time seeing him and definitely one of my all time favorites so far. I don’t think he could ever fully disappoint me; he always puts on a great show. I liked how unlike some of his previous solo performances, he went up stage without a setlist or the Good Old Warriors (Good Old War for short) to back him up. It was a more intimate setting that was something new that I wasn’t used to or expecting.

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Green played a lot off fan favorites, mostly off of his first solo album Avalon. My personal favorite moments were his acoustic rendition of “She Loves Me So,” “Babygirl,” his duet with Geoff covering Circa Survive track “Act Appalled,” and his final performance with the crowd of “Devil’s Song.” These songs are personal favorites and some of them I have never heard previously in a live setting.

As much as I loved Green’s performance, I was really surprised to not hear a lot of new songs. That was one of the main reasons why I went so it was kind of a bummer. The one song I really wanted to hear was “Can’t Have it All at Once” and I don’t understand why it wasn’t considered. It’s one of his best songs in my opinion and has been done acoustically before on Beautiful Things b-sides. Maybe I should have been that asshole to scream it out but either way, I guess I’ll have to wait until there’s another solo tour.

Also I do want to give a huge shout out and a ton of love to Geoff Rickly, who as Erica said above, performed as the opening act. Since Thursday called it quits last year, the singer has been pretty quiet and under the radar so I was totally happy to see that he’s been busy producing and recording his own music. After listening to some of the tracks lives, I am happy I can now say that his new solo music is worth a listen. It’s very different from some of Thursday’s best work (well.. it is acoustic) but there’s also some very subtle similarities. Rickly also performed some more familiar tracks – most notably “Turnpike Divides,” one of my personal favorites off Thursday’s last album No Devolucion.

Overall, I had an amazing time at the show. It was really nice to see Anthony Green switch things up a bit and to see Geoff Rickly play music again. I can’t wait to see both of these guys back in the Jersey area again, both alone and with their band mates. –-Lauren Stern

Pop-Break Staff
Pop-Break Staffhttps://thepopbreak.com
Founded in September 2009, The Pop Break is a digital pop culture magazine that covers film, music, television, video games, books and comics books and professional wrestling.
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