I do not own any Augie March albums. I have heard a few songs here and there and I caught them live, as a support act, about 4 years ago. Apparently "One Crowded Hour" was quite a popular tune in some parts in 2006 but I never really heard it much. So I ventured to their show at the Metro on Sunday night as a blank canvas, hoping I would like them, not sure If I would. So in the end I enjoyed parts of the show, some songs were great, others not quite so much. I was with a good friend who is quite a fan, so I was able to make mental notes of the names of the songs I enjoyed. The show started a little slowly, with the vocals from Glenn Richards quite muffled and hard to hear. This improved after some suggestions from fans, although Mr. Richards seemed to be upset with his guitar at various points during the night.
"One Crowded Hour" as the closer was powerful and a good listen, but I found most of the other tracks off "Moo, You Bloody Choir" to be veering a little close to MOR to gain a lot of enjoyment from them. The songs that I was excited by were some of their older tunes. I particularly enjoyed "Men Who Followed Spring the World Round", "The Good Gardener", "This Train Will Be Taking No Prisoners", "Sunstroke House" and a blistering version of "The Hole In Your Roof". So all in all, a pleasant night of music, but I don't think I am a convert to the band yet. One other thing, it was one of the noisiest and rudest crowds I have been amongst for quite a while. People, can you please shut up during a show. For one hour of your life can you just stop talking.