After 15 years and six albums, mewithoutyou has matured well, the band has moved solidly authentic into a sound that that challenges a defining genre. Mostly considered a post hardcore act, they exhibit leanings into folk, modern rock, and hardcore and sometimes all within a song. Singer Aaron Weiss’ stylings are poety and prose in an unrepentant emotive energy that can be harsh as sand or soft as silk, all contained within the singers small and wiry frame.
mewithoutyou started from humble beginnings in Philadelphia (circa 2000), originally the prototype band called “Thief steal Me a Peach” was taken from a Sunny Day Real Estate song. Today Aaron Weiss, his brother Micheal on guitar, Greg Jehanian on bass, Richard Mazzotta on drums and Brandon Beaver also on guitars, produce music that is moving and poignant. The bands early obscure alt rock roots can still be heard, but well refined and original.
Opening song “Pale Horses” at Mesa’s Nile Theatre on November 6th, was the first of an engagement that would take the audience on a safely guided trip through the apocalyptic themes of the their latest album of the same title. Though mewithoutyou is not considered a Christian music band. Weiss’ lyrically poetic leanings stem from a self-professed “relationship with God” and his own personal struggles within this human experience. Lyrics like “Sideshow words if the songs don’t mind, God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no more water’ is the H-bomb next time/” evoke images of the end of times and are as rooted in Judeo-Christianity as Weiss himself.
While the musical intention and over all showmanship of the band stayed intact, the sound through parts of the set was muddled, incomplete. It harbored the “subtle nuances of the five pieces orchestrated sound. Shouts from the crown like “Turn up the mic” were heard in protest. The band during the performance seemed composed, un-phased and locked into a blissful sync. Each member’s eyes closed naturally and leaned into the music with abandon. It was a juxtaposition to see Aaron Weiss almost sideways screaming into the microphone while holding his acoustic guitar.
The band’s placement of second to headliner The Menzingers didn’t allow for crowd banter or an encore. The closing song “Rainbow Signs” brought the crowd down from a whirlwind of a set that started soft, fevered out and then ended on the same chords that the opening song of the set started with. It was eerie as it was symbolic for the completion of a musical journey. After the set the crowd dissipated significantly despite the headliner. The band was seen outside the venue by their vegetable powered tour bus ad approachable. Weiss emerged from the bus holding his baby daughter Margret, who is obviously upset with the headlining act. There is a genuineness to him, and it is paradoxical to see the once animated rock singer holding his child adoringly outside the alley of the music venue.
