The Balance of Born Without Bones
By: Brittany Amalfi
There’s a lot of intensity when someone goes to a show, and as soon as the band starts playing, they instantly know they’re going to take over the world someday. Real, raw, and cathartic music can be hard to come by, but there’s always going to be that little spark of a band that explodes into a blaze. And Born Without Bones is ready to ignite.
I had the opportunity to go see Born Without Bones on December 11th at the Crystal Ballroom in Somerville, and the experience was equivalent to one of those “Aha!” moments someone gets when they see something that is about to be transformative. Truthfully, the band had it all. From an excellent setlist to an insane stage presence that kept the audience going all night long, Born Without Bones knew how to put on a show.
Their new album, Dancer, was the star of the band’s set list with a fantastic medley of songs that ranged from upbeat emo rock to tension-filled, bone-shattering lyrics. Of course, they played some of their older hits like “Baby” and “Stone,” which had many people in the crowd entranced with the deep lyrics that had no issues swaying the room.
Frontman, Scott Ayotte, delivered his powerful vocals despite feeling under the weather. I want to say Ayotte has that type of voice that transports someone to a new place when he sings, but I’d say he transported the audience to a different feeling. Now, hear me out. It’s no secret by now that music has powers— Powers that can send people to new oblivion, but some of that power resides in the vocalist because they’re projecting those words that are pushing people to those deeper feelings. And don’t get me wrong, no one would be going anywhere without the whole band because the melodies and instrumentals play a big part in those feelings as well. And Born Without Bones does an excellent job of sending its crowd on that journey. “Powerhouse” would be an appropriate word for them.
Born Without Bones'music provides an enigmatic balance of what everyone wants to hear. There’s the fun and upbeat melody of “Fistful of Bees,” or the intense emotions from “Heart at Home,” and everything in between. Maybe that’s why the concert was so fun, because Born Without Bones had everyone feeling every emotion in the book, and that’s certainly no easy feat.
I read that one of the central themes of “Dancer” is being celebrated for what you do and not who you are, and that’s mixed with losing that feeling of a sense of home and bettering yourself as a person. While listening to the whole album, I slowly realized that Born Without Bones was doing an excellent job of providing a balance of emotions in their tracklist, which shined through during their performances.
Concerts have a habit of being life-changing for many people, and that’s what happened at Born Without Bones. As soon as they opened with “Dancer,” I was immediately bopping around to the feeling that I could choose any path I wanted and then jamming out to all the lost relationships in my life when “Don’t Speak played. And just like I said before, only a true powerhouse of a band can send their listeners to a new feeling rather than a place. So, a big shoutout to Born Without Bones because they’re going to take over the world.