Last night I went to go see State Radio at the Fox Theatre in Boulder. Incredible show. If they keep it up like this it will only be a short time since they hit the popularity that Dispatch had before breaking up.
Out of the three guys in Dispatch, I would have to say that Chad wrote my most favorite songs. The General, Passerby, Cover This, Elias - his style was the upbeat rocking, political song writing. You can definitely tell that he picked up right where he left off. State Radio's new CD "Us Against the Crown" is one of the best CD's I've heard. I can listen to it over and over. The songs have a great drive, a beat you can really get into, and lyrics and melodies that you can listen to for hours on end.
The energy that they brought to the stage with their songs were incredible. Not only was the music really tight but they bring a political message to their shows through their songs and also between songs. They had a petition next to the merchandise table to try to push our country to act in the recent genocide that is going on in the Sudan and being greatly ignored by the US. Also, before playing the song Camilo, Chad said that he had a friend fighting in Iraq and when he came back to the states for leave, he said that he couldn't under good conscious return and fight, so he was arrested and put in military prison - so Chad wrote the song for him, and soldiers like him. You can download a free copy of the song at State Radio's website.
The show was great, the crowd was really into it - I think there were around five or six people who got up and did some crowd surfing - and overall it was just a great time.
If you haven't heard of them you should definitely check them out, and if you're a fan, be sure not to miss them the next time they come to your neck of the woods.
State Radio's website
