THE DAMAGE IS DONE

The Features
“The Beginning (Week One)”
Live @ Blue Cat’s
March 8th, 2003

Apologies for the break in posting. Hurricane Irene threatened to get all up in my business, so I ran away for the weekend. But now I am back and everything I own didn’t even get wet. So, good!

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
The Beginning, EP release (2001)
The Beginning, Fierce Panda EP release (2003)
The Beginning, Universal EP release (2004)

OTHER VERSIONS

The Features
“The Beginning (Week One)”
Live @ 12th & Porter
November 8th, 2003

Every version of this song is amazing. Never. A. Dull. Moment.

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
The Beginning, EP release (2001)
The Beginning, Fierce Panda EP release (2003)
The Beginning, Universal EP release (2004)

OTHER VERSIONS

The Features
“The Beginning (Week One)”
Live @ Tucker Theater
January 20th, 2006

Quite one of the coolest things my college ever did was have the Features play in Tucker Theater, the same theater I saw MTSU’s productions of “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “The Music Man” and “Fiddler On The Roof” at.

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
The Beginning, EP release (2001)
The Beginning, Fierce Panda EP release (2003)
The Beginning, Universal EP release (2004)

OTHER VERSIONS

The Features
“The Beginning (Week One)”
The Beginning, EP release (2001)

Few other recordings capture the energy of the band’s live performance as well as this one. The title track from the band’s second EP is a raucous outpouring of pure rock and roll emotion that rolls along at a breakneck pace. The production is very straight forward, void of overdubs, backing vocals or heavy guitar distortion. This is simply the Features playing rock and roll, and that’s why it succeeds.

THIS VERSION APPEARS ON:
The Beginning, EP release (2001)
The Beginning, Fierce Panda EP release (2003)
The Beginning, Universal EP release (2004)

OTHER VERSIONS:
Live @ Bingham’s (February 1st, 2003)
Live @ The Exit/In (August 19th, 2005)

The Features
“The Beginning (Week One)”
Live @ Bingham’s
February 1st, 2003

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
The Beginning, EP release (2001)
The Beginning, Fierce Panda EP release (2003)
The Beginning, Universal EP release (2004)

OTHER VERSIONS:
Live @ The Exit/In (August 19th, 2005)

Today’s request comes from me, as this is one of My Top 10 Features Songs.

The Features
“The Beginning (Week One)”
Live @ The Exit/In
August 19th, 2005

Geez Louise, I can’t think of any other Features song that gets me more worked into a frenzy. Listen to that opening keyboard charge! Listen to Matt scream his vocal cords to shreds! Listen to that psychotic guitar playing on the second verse! Listen to Rollum crash those symbols with intensity! Listen to Roger’s insanely anxious bass line! No band should ever play this hard, they run the risk of ripping the space-time continuum apart.

This song is fast, furious, and perfectly captures the head rush of a new relationship. I love how brutally honest this song is, how it presents newfound attraction as completely overwhelming and exciting. Overwhelming and exciting are definitely two words that can describe this song. “The Beginning” was my first favorite Features song all those years ago, and it has only gotten better with age.

“The Beginning (Week One)” debuted sometime around early 2001 and was written alongside a couple other similarly themed songs at the time. These songs would form The Beginning EP. From then on, the song would constantly be in rotation. A common complaint from fans would be that the band rarely if ever used this song to open a show. The song was played less in 2004 and 2005, but was still popular. By the time the band returned in late 2006, it seemed like “The Beginning” was unofficially retired. The song was recently resurrected, and played at the beginning of the concert, at a show in June 2009. I freaked out.

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
The Beginning, EP release (2001)
The Beginning, Fierce Panda EP release (2003)
The Beginning, Universal EP release (2004)