Manchester Orchestra: Mr. Smalls Theatre (Andy Hull Solo Show)

Andy Hull – Vocals, Guitar Jonathan Corley – Bass Jeremiah Edmond – Drums Chris Freeman – Keyboards, Vocals Robert McDowell - Guitar Though Manchester Orchestra has only been a proper band for a year and a half, this young 5-piece (with an average age of 19) has crafted an album that sounds more aware and traveled than many of its more aged peers. Led by singer/songwriter/guitarist Andy Hull, Manchester Orchestra’s debut LP, "I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child", is a statement cinematic in scope – a series of emotional vignettes that delicately unravel over the course of an elegantly conceived musical arc that recalls both murky southern mysticism and the id borne bombast of the Pacific Northwest. Driven by lyrics that are insightful, spiritual and impressionistic, "I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child" is a litany of intimate details presented in widescreen. Just as the pointillist paintings of Georges Pierre Seurat or the films of Robert Altman lead our attention to the fine details, Manchester Orchestra also find inspiration in the intimate; but it is when we are able to gain some distance we begin to see the bigger picture and wonder where our experience fits in. Manchester Orchestra’s beginnings lie in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia where during Hull’s junior year in high school, his talent as a songwriter was garnering the attention of fans and industry types alike. One of which prompted the idea of Andy to home school himself and put all of his focus into to writing and recording an album. Heartened by all the positive feedback, Hull took the advice and spent his senior year in the studio. Freed from the traditional senior year rigmarole of finals and proms, Hull delved deep into creating the characters and stories that were to make up an ambitious concept album that was to be Manchester Orchestra’s debut. But as time passed and the band’s line-up began to solidify, the tenor of Hull’s songwriting began to change. Emboldened by longtime friend, and band-mate Jonat