Philly 'burb boys of Balance & Composure bring "Light We Made" home to a sold out Union Transfer gig - WXPN | Vinyl At Heart
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Balance and Composure | Photo by Sydney Schaefer for WXPN | sydneyschaeferphotos.com

Last month, the Philly ‘burb boys of Balance and Composure, released their newest and third studio album, Light We Made, their first in about three years. When the album was released back on October 7, the band played a record release show at South Philly’s Boot & Saddle, which was sold out in minutes. Immediately following the album’s release, the band left for a full U.S. tour with support from St. Louis sad boys in Foxing, and local Philly indie-pop rockers in Mercury Girls. And on Friday night, Balance made their way back home to serenade their hometown fans at a sold out Union Transfer show.

Mercury Girls | Photo by Sydney Schaefer for WXPN | sydneyschaeferphotos.com

Mercury Girls | Photo by Sydney Schaefer for WXPN | sydneyschaeferphotos.com

Foxing | Photo by Sydney Schaefer for WXPN | sydneyschaeferphotos.com

Foxing | Photo by Sydney Schaefer for WXPN | sydneyschaeferphotos.com

Mercury Girls were first to play on Friday night, dazzling the crowd with their psychedelic, far out guitar riffs, and frontwoman Sarah Schimeneck’s dreamy pipes. Humbled by the experience, the band posted on their Instagram account the next day, stating: “It’s every Philly band’s dream to play before a sold out crowd at Union Transfer. So grateful and moved to have had that experience. Thank you Balance and Composure, Foxing, and R5 Productions for having us.” Well, Mercury Girls, I think I can speak on behalf of the whole audience that night that we loved having you.

Foxing was next to play, which is always an emotional rollercoaster ride –especially since the band opened their set with “The Medic” from their breakthrough album, The Albatross. Union Transfer had a photo pit that night (a very rare occurrence), so standing in front of the crowd, shooting Foxing during that first song, all I could hear coming from behind me was a tidal wave of voices, screaming, “IF YOU WANT ME TO SLOW DOWN, JUST TELL ME TO SLOW DOWN.” Following “The Medic”, the band went right into “The Magdalene”, a song off of their newest release, Dealer, which came out last year.

Before ending their set with “Rory,” another song off of The Albatross, frontman Conor Murphy took a moment from the band’s set to talk about how Philadelphia is the band’s favorite city in the country, and they look forward to coming here every tour. To Foxing: thank you. We absolutely love having you, please come back soon.

Balance and Composure | Photo by Sydney Schaefer for WXPN | sydneyschaeferphotos.com

Balance and Composure | Photo by Sydney Schaefer for WXPN | sydneyschaeferphotos.com

Minutes after Foxing left the stage, the fog started. Balance was about to take the stage and take the audience for a trip (at least that’s what listening to this album makes me feel like, in a good way of course). Jon Simmons, and the rest of Balance came out on stage and immediately started playing “Midnight Zone,” the first song off of Light We Made, followed by “Spinning”, the second song from the album. It also made me think that Balance was about to play Light We Made in full, from front to back, but then the eery guitar drew nearer and Simmons took the microphone and sang, along with everyone in the audience, “Found out everyone is shallow”, the first line of “Void”, which is the opener from the band’s 2011 full-length debut, Separation. Simmons’s voice was swallowed by the crowd’s screaming, then the bass dropped and the guitar riffs started. “Void” is probably my favorite Balance song, literally ever. So getting to watch Balance perform it live, while also shooting it (as it was the third and final song all photographers were allowed to shoot), was definitely cool as HECK.

Balance and Composure | Photo by Sydney Schaefer for WXPN | sydneyschaeferphotos.com

Balance and Composure | Photo by Sydney Schaefer for WXPN | sydneyschaeferphotos.com

The rest of the band’s set consisted of a mashup of songs from all three of their studio albums, Separation, The Things We Think We’re Missing, and Light We Made, before ending their set with “Reflection”, a song off of their second studio album (TTWTWM). Returning after their main set, the band encored with “I Tore You Apart In My Head”, a super heavy song off of Separation. To Balance: thank you for a great hometown gig, Philly loves you. Check out more photos from Friday night’s show below!

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