THE DAMAGE IS DONE

The Features
“Thursday”
Live @ Cannery Ballroom
January 13th, 2007

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
Thursday/Rabbit March, 10” single release (1999)

OTHER VERSIONS  

The Features
“Leave It All Behind”
Live @ Cannery Ballroom
January 13th, 2007

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
Exhibit A, album release (2004)
Leave It All Behind, single release (2005)

LINEAGE:
Was “Stick Together” (same first verse)

OTHER VERSIONS   

The Features
“Circus”
Live @ Cannery Ballroom
January 13th, 2007

Yeah, there’s a minute of crowd-noise before “Circus” starts rocking your eardrums. Whatever, it accurately recreates the anticipation you feel before a Features show! This is an experience, okay? Yeah!

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
Exhibit A, album release (2004)

OTHER VERSIONS 

The Features
“Exorcising Demons”
Live @ Cannery Ballroom
January 13th, 2007

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
Exhibit A, album release (2004)

OTHER VERSIONS 

The Features
“Exhibit A”
Live @ Cannery Ballroom
January 13th, 2007

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
Exhibit A, album release (2004)

OTHER VERSIONS 

The Features
“There’s A Million Ways To Sing The Blues”
Live @ Cannery Ballroom
January 13th, 2007

The most recent bootleg I have of this essential jam features what I think are some new keyboard flairs, courtesy of Mark Bond.

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
Exhibit A, album release (2004)
There’s A Million Ways To Sing The Blues, US single release (2004)

OTHER VERSIONS 

The Features
“Lions”
Live @ Cannery Ballroom
January 13th, 2007

It took a very, very long time, but they finally got it right. Parts of this song started out as “Stick Together” back around 2000 or 2001 and, through a couple reworkings, they eventually got this modern day Features masterpiece.

And that’s really what I consider it to be. This is the buzz song from the band’s second album, I believe. The opening vocal hook is infectious, and the explosion of propulsive pop that backs it up grabs you from head to toe and makes the former bob and the latter tap. I especially love the “aw girl, but what are you thinking” part, with that snoopy and sneaky bass line creeping underneath it. It’s coy and sly, you can picture Matt backing away from the mic and glaring at you, with a half smile (which I’m pretty sure is exactly what he does during this part of the song). The guitar solo is also masterful, an upward climbing bit of classic rock, elevating constantly.

As I mentioned earlier, “Lions” began as “Stick Together” way back when. The songs share a chorus and nothing else. “Stick Together” almost immediately became “Leave It All Behind” (as the two share a first verse) and the chorus of “Stick Together” was cast aside. That is until the band brought the chorus back in a song called “Lions Dressed In Leather” in January 2006. This version of the song lasted a brief time, as it debuted rather close to the band’s 2006 hiatus. Post-hiatus, the music of the song was reworked completely and transformed into “Lions” as we know it today. They also ditched the “dressed in leather” part which was probably for the better, as “lions dressed in leather” conjures up a very peculiar Disney/biker image in my head that I’d rather not be there. “Lions” has become a staple at shows over the last couple years from what I can gather from the few bootlegs and setlists that are out there. Rightfully so. It’s also a single from their second album, Some Kind of Salvation.

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
Some Kind of Salvation, album release (2008)

LINEAGE:
Was “Lions Dressed In Leather” (2006; fewer lyrics but all are the same, slightly modified chorus)
Originally “Stick Together” (2000; same chorus, slightly modified)

The Features
“Contrast”
Live @ The Cannery Ballroom
January 13th, 2007

“Contrast” shot up my iPod most played list as soon as I got the Contrast EP in late 2006. The song now sits comfortably as my third most-listened-to Features song (after “Hold (You Alone)” and “Failed Attempt”) and it’s understandable why. That warped circular guitar at the top that rings out loud is such a great way to start a song. The verses are dance-rock masterpieces, with Roger’s bass and Rollum’s drums beating in a propulsive rhythm. The moment, though, the moment in this song that makes it a five-star affair is Mark Bond’s keyboard solo. It’s not heard very loud in the mix here, I’ll have to post the recorded version on a later date, but the breathtaking soundscape Bond places in front of the listener during the solo is such a joy to take in. It’s at that moment, when I heard that keyboard solo in late 2006, that I knew this band was back and taking no prisoners. Thanks for that, Mark.

A song called “Contrast” debuted at a show in Chicago on June 3rd, 2005 and would make its Tennessee debut a little over a week later at a show held at 3rd & Lindsley in Nashville and broadcast on Lightning 100. I’m not sure how similar this version is to that one, and apparently the mix on that Lightning 100 show was so dreadful that the people who have recordings of it have still not made them public. This “Contrast” song made one more appearance in March 2006 before the band’s hiatus. This version of “Contrast” then debuted on the Contrast EP in 2006 and was played on the following tour. It has not popped up on the most recent tour.

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
Contrast, EP release (2006)