Show Review

When attending a show and the first words out of the bundled up frontman’s mouth are “ I’ve been battling laryngitis for the duration of the tour and bear with me,” it doesn't usually instill a lot of confidence for the rest of the show. But somehow when these words come from Sean Nelson, lead singer of reborn 90's alt-rockers Harvey Danger, you don't fear for a painful couple of hours. Instead, it was surprising how great his voice sounded from the beginning of the opening ballad, "Pike Street/Park Slope" (to "warm up" as he said) right on through to the end of the set and a three song encore. Yes, they played that song, but it was pretty clear from the shaking floor beneath, that the almost-sold-out crowd enjoyed the lesser known gems spanning all three of the Danger albums.

It was obvious that the laryngitis was cause for an often absent high range, but it was also clear that Nelson was doing all he could to work past it. Unfortunately, the band behind him was all too willing to let Nelson take the spotlight, offering the sounds, but not necessarily the excitement that a Harvey Danger record possesses. It was certainly worth the trip to hear "Little Round Mirrors" from their new (and free to download!) album, Old Hat, sung with the help of a lucky audience member, and "Sad Sweetheart of the Rodeo" from their almost secretive second album, King James Version. Although Harvey Danger is still in their “reunion” stage, following a three year hiaturs, their performance at Great Scott’s proved Harvey Danger can still rock a club.