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Copeland, The Lonely Hearts (Holland), The Connotations, Lukas Hollow
The Revelation Room
Canton, TX
3/13/04
By Scott T. Hearne

Saturday, March 13, 2004, was a record night. According to David Ellis, the owner of The Revelation Room in Canton, TX, they had the largest crowd ever for this show. 315 people came out to see Copeland, The Lonely Hearts, The Connotations, and Lukas Hollow. The largest crowd they had before was for a Thousand Foot Krutch concert, but Copeland dethroned The Rev. Room record holders.
 

Lukas Hollow opened the concert and started off their set with a cover of “God Bless Texas”. Lukas Hollow’s set was competent and fairly entertaining, reminiscent of Thursday, and could easily be classified as light screamo. The bassist/lead singer’s singing vocals were a little weak, but the two talented guitar players and drummer made up for whatever the vocalist/bassist lacked in the singing department. Lukas Hollow had many rowdy fans in the crowd and will continue to win many more if they continue to play rock shows.
 

The Connotations took the stage next. In every way possible Taylor Muse, primary songwriter and lead singer/guitarist of The Connotations posed as a lithe rock god. Taylor owns any stage he steps upon. He caressed the mic the entire set, pounded his guitar, and wheeled his body around like it was the last time he was going to play rock 'n' roll. Lead guitar player Nick Davis (aka Beardo) also stood out with his excellent guitar playing. The most surprising band personnel issue was their old keyboard player was playing bass. He did a great job filling the bottom end and was more than competent on his instrument. Midway through The Connotations show, they played a new song which heavily borrowed from Radiohead. The song began with a loop and Taylor sang beautifully. The song built in intensity and ended in classic Connotations rock style. They ended the set with “We Are Trouble by the Truckloads,” a song on the __Mono vs. Stereo__ compilation that nearly rocked the place out of control.
 

After The Connotations, The Lonely Hearts, formerly known as Holland played some tunes. As Holland, their lead guitar player did his best to sound like The Edge from U2, and all their songs sounded the same. While the lead singer has a great voice, and they are all really good musicians, the music is a little boring. During The Lonely Hearts set, the high point was when the lead singer put his electric guitar down for the last three songs and he played new material on an acoustic guitar. apparently, the idea for The Lonely Hearts is to play acoustic-based rock music that is similar to Wilco. At the end of the set there was a hopeful glimmer of change for The Lonely Hearts.
 

Then came the moment everyone was waiting for all night. Copeland took the stage. The song highlights were “When Paula Sparks” and “When Finally Set Free.” They ended the normal portion of the rock show with a reworked, amazing, electric version of “California” that left fans in awe. They also played a new song in the middle of the set that nearly rocked off faces. The bass player said something about a motorcycle and then they roared into the song.
 

Aaron, lead singer/guitarist, played the whole set with his shaggy, blonde hair in his face and his beautiful nose ring glimmering in the lights. The only negative thing about a Copeland show is Aaron may spit on those up close to the stage. Despite the spit, Aaron sang with a deep intensity that echoed the personal nature of the songs. The lead guitar player could have been accused of loitering on stage, except his riffs fleshed the music out wonderfully and made up for his lack of stage presence. The bass player sang great background vocals and was the most active on stage. He moved like a cat, and sang like a bird. The drummer was great and the whole band was tight. Copeland was so good on Saturday; even Demon Hunter T-shirt wearers and Living Sacrifice fans said Copeland rocked. Also, Copeland got a bona fide encore. They hadn’t planned an encore, but the crowd clapped until they came back on the stage and played another song. At the end of the night, Copeland exceeded all expectations, even those of a hardened music snob, with their sincerity and proficiency at playing fabulous rock 'n' roll.

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