A Silent Film and Flagship – A Concert Review

     A Silent Film visited San Francisco again. This time it was at The Independent and it was in support of a third album, which is entitled “A Silent Film.” The show was attended by an audience that was less than capacity, but demonstratively knowledgeable about the music of the band and appreciative of the performance. A Silent Film was upbeat and energetic, which was a contrast to the somberness of the opening band, Flagship. The members of Flagship put on a strong performance that certainly increased their fan base, but were clearly still affected by last week’s death of former member Grant Harding.

      A picture of the setlist resting on the stage of The Independent is included in this post. Frontman Robert Stevenson brought his usual level of charisma from the UK (Oxford) and performed enthusiastically for fourteen of the fifteen songs. The exception was “Message in the Sand,” the first song of the encore. Only the two core members (Stevenson and drummer Spencer Walker) returned for “Message in the Sand,” a song about a man who struggles with voicing his love, but has no problem with using a stick to write it in the sand. The song was down-tempo and heartfelt. The other three members of the band returned for “Harbour Lights.”      

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     Interestingly, Flagship also has its frontman and its drummer as the two core members, who are joined by other talented musicians. The band is based in Charlotte, North Carolina and includes Drake Margolnick and Michael Finster. Particularly in view of the recent death of their friend, Flagship surpassed expectations.