Show Review: Into It. Over It.

All photos by Tessie Navarro, taken at The Echo in Los Angeles

I arrived at The Echo at around 6pm for an all ages show with an expected finish time of 9pm. As I walked up to will-call to check in I heard someone say there were only 5 tickets left. Not surprisingly, those tickets were gone seconds later.

The Echo hosted a sold out all-ages show, with a bill that would sound as though it were 5 bands long to the casual passerby. On the touring bill was headliner Into It. Over It., (and here we go…) The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die and A Great Big Pile of Leaves (phew). Opening the show was Los Angeles band French Exit, to whom Into It. Over It.’s Evan Weiss dedicated “Write It Right,” five or so songs in, admiring the band’s friendship and noting their “DIY attitude.”

It was an early show so Into It. Over It. took the stage around 8pm as planned. I glanced at the set list – an extremely long set list, might I add – and laughed after noticing some of the song titles. It all made sense once it was explained to me that the band’s tour manager/photographer, Hilary J. Corts, typed up the list and titled the songs according to a “snacks” theme (e.g. “Discretion & Doritos” and “Midnight: Caramel”).

 

Though much mellower in sound, Weiss and the band brought just as much energy to their performance as their touring counterparts in The World Is A Beautiful Place… Their set started off with “Next Stop: The Olympics,” which benefited greatly from the full band set up.  

Having been to a string of indie shows lately it was nice to be back in an environment where crowd surfing, light moshing and fervent finger pointing were almost expected – as opposed to crossed-arm standing with occasional expressed enthusiasm. Although the more sweat-breaking activities seemed reserved for fans of The World Is A Beautiful Place…the fans kicked it up a notch towards the end of Into It. Over It., but we’ll get back to that later.

Speaking of fans…it was actually while watching the audience during Into It. Over It.’s performance that I was reminded why I started going to shows in the first place. Picture this: the kids at the front of the stage, rocking their heads from side to side, eyes tightly shut while passionately screaming every single word, feeling the emotion in every single lyric, every single strum of the guitar.  It made me wish I could join in on the sing-along and rock out as well.

While the set included a wide range of Weiss’ discography, much of the songs were off of the 2013 Into It. Over It. release Intersections. Matt Fazzi (ex-Taking Back Sunday guitarist, current AGBPOL guitarist) also joined the band onstage playing keys and providing backup vocals for a few songs.

The band saved the best for last, playing “Embracing Facts” and “Heartificial” during an encore, and it seemed as though the fans did the same. The consistently calm crowd throughout the entire performance quickly turned it around with a collective voice whose volume almost rivaled Weiss’, and a constant flow of crowd-surfers.

As I mentioned briefly before, the set list was extensive. The band brought a lot to the stage and, for the most part, I enjoyed their performance. On the other hand, the set felt prolonged and because of it there seemed to be a lack of variety.

Overall, I’d say I was into it, but around 12 songs in I was pretty much over it. For the die-hard fans up front to those that packed the rest of the sold out room, it was a dream come true. For everyone who wasn’t the latter, it was just too long. But hey, props to you dudes for powering through up towards 20 songs followed by a two song encore, all before 9pm.

 

Set list:

Next Stop: The Olympics

Discretion & Depressing People

Brenham, TX

Ravenswood

Where Your Nights Often End

Write it Right

Spatial Exploration

Favor & Fiction

Obsessive Compulsive Distraction

Spinning Thread

Staring at the Ceiling

No Good Before Noon

Upstate Blues

Connecticut Steps

Contractual Obligation

New North-Side Air

Midnight: Carroll Street

____________________________

Encore:
Embracing Facts

Heartificial

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