Review & Photographs by Diane Fleischman
 

The Musikfest Café rolled out another appealing concert as Tonic and Vertical Horizon performed Thursday night.  Their official tour also included The Gin Blossoms as the headliner, and as their summer tour winds down, Tonic and Vertical Horizon decided to book some dates on their own.  These two bands pair nicely, just as they were steak and potatoes. 

 

We flashed back to the 90’s, in the wake of grunge music, splattered by alternative oriented songs, and found Tonic, the opening band for the evening.  Probably best known for their smash hit, “If You Can Only See”, from the ‘Lemon Parade’ album.  Lead singer and songwriter, Emerson Hart, remarked that he couldn’t believe that this record is now 22 years old.  Time flies for a band that has kept busy over the years.  They also included a heartfelt tribute to Tom Petty as they performed “Running Down a Dream”, the audience cheered with approval. 

After a brief intermission, Vertical Horizon took the stage.  Whether it’s your first time seeing this band or your tenth, one thing is for certain, lead singer, Matt Scannell, has a knack of getting the audience to sing along.  In every song, there’s a different arrangement in place for the audience, from breaking the room down by sections, to women competing against men. 

It was exciting to hear that the band has recently released a new album, ‘The Lost Mile’, with two songs included in the set.  Scannell explained the origins of “True Illusion”, by stating, “I’ve become very good friends with Rush, who’ve encouraged us to write longer songs.” Also performed was a hard driving tune, “I’m Going to Save You.”  And while Scannell boasts that this new album contains new sounds for the band, it seemed more like a natural evolution to revitilize Vertical Horizon’s core sound, which made it more compatible to today’s music. 

The concert ended with two of the bands best known songs, “You’re  A God” and “Everything You Want”, as the crowd sang along at the top of their lungs.   It was a great night to relive some classic alternative music with these two bands.