Eyes Lips Eyes Final Show -- The End

At SXSW in the spring of 2011 debuting their music video "Pretty" at the film festival, Eyes Lips Eyes caught people's eyes and ears.  The venues were small, they weren't an official SXSW band, but the small crowds that came were excited about them.  I remember seeing some of the "offical" bands at SXSW and being underwhelmed and wondering why they were selected and not ELE.  If they were just given a big crowd with a big stage they would destroy the other bands with their raw energy alone that they brought.

They finished releasing Blue Red with a song a month until the middle of the summer and then toured into the fall.  When they released the album on vinyl I made a short documentary of the making of the vinyl covers.

I was very tempted to take a couple weeks off and tour with them and take pictures but I could never make it work.  Later on that year they caught the ear of a small label called Roll Call Records.  They finally had some recognition from the nonstop year of touring and releasing singles and videos every month.  The manager Rob set them up with a great producer to put out their next album that was set to release the following year.  They put out a pledge music to raise funds for the recording they did and to release the album.  They hit their goal at the last minute thanks to my sister Jane.  They recorded the record in Seattle in the same studio where Nirvana recorded.  It was exciting to hear of the progress as they were recording and mixing the songs.

Eyes Lips Eyes at the Frost Revival.  Opening for Modest Mouse

The highlight of that year was their invite to open for Modest Mouse at Stanford University.  I was really really excited for that.  Apparently there were some very avid fans from Stanford that were putting together a show and wanted ELE to be on the bill.  This would be in front of a crowd of a few thousand.  I had access to the back stage and got to photograph the whole thing.  It was a lot of fun.  The crowd was big and liked it.  They seemed to be heading in the right direction, with more and more momentum.

Velour show Sept 2012

 Later that summer they released their EP, which was in preparation for the album release the next year.  They played a show that I arranged for my co-workers, which could have turned into a disaster but turned out pretty good and then played a "Cowboys and Indies" show at Velour to a very energetic crowd.  One specific memory from that show is when Spencer and I swapped places for the finale.  We both had big beards, so I put his shirt  and hat on and Spence was playing his guitar in the back while I was acting it out on stage.  No one knew the difference.  I was going crazy, doing all kinds of weird positions and what not and then I stopped playing during the middle of a guitar part.....but apparently people still believed I was playing still.  People came up to Spencer and me afterward and complimented us on how amazing the guitar work was on the last song.  I wished someone had taken a picture of video of it, but it was pretty funny and cool.

 Then after this show...........there was silence.  The album was supposed to come out that spring and there was no word.  Months went past and no word or updates.

Velour Show 2012

Behind the scenes, Tony had gotten married in 2011 and by the end of 2012, news of a baby came.  The newly added obligations to his family took him to Chicago, far away from LA and the band.  Unsure on what was going to be become of the band, the others decided to work on their own projects.  Spencer and Tom started playing in various other bands (SWIMM, The Moth & the Flame) while also writing their own music (Sego), Aaron created his own band/group/entity called Fresh Big Mouf where he produced other bands and groups and also created music out of nothing literally in his Beat Scout project.  I constantly pestered my brother and Tony on when things were going to come back together and continue.  As 2013 came and went, my hope had dwindled that they would ever get back together as a band.  I had heard some of their new songs and I really really wanted to hear them live....at least one more time, but things still looked pretty bleak.  I knew that the momentum that had been building for the last 6 or 7 years was now gone.  They were almost back to square one it seemed if they got back together.  Now, I wanted to just hear them play one more time.  Tony moved back to LA in 2014 and I thought there was a sliver of hope that it was going to happen.  They were able to block out some dates and they planned on their last shows in LA and in Provo.  In the weeks previous they released their album after a long wait.  I had forgotten how much this music meant to me and how juiced up I got when I heard it.


Their final show in LA came.  I flew in for the show and took in all of the prep.  They rehearsed while I was there.  It was a little rough.  I hadn't heard their live performance in a long time, I was used to recordings, so I wanted perfection.   I had requested certain songs to be played of course, but there were only so many they could fit into the set. But the really big reason was they were not in Eyes Lips Eyes shape.  Even though they had been playing in bands, the playing was not nearly as intense as an Eyes Lips Eyes set.  When I asked for them to play Carolina's Cut, Tom's response was "Are you trying to ****ing kill me?".  I think most of the band members were in denial that this was it.  It had been so long since their last show that I think they had finally come to terms with it fading away.  But now that they were doing the final shows, it was like bringing up all the emotions to the surface again.  A lot more emotion had come from Tony.  The other members of the band had been playing in other bands, but Tony had been out of the game for two years.  I could tell that he truly missed going crazy on stage in front of a raucous crowd.  It was a release for him.  The show came and 60 or 70 LA fans and friends showed up.  It's funny what a cheering crowd can do for your nerves.  They sounded pretty great for their first set in two years.  The whole crowd was drenched in sweat as was the band.  I didn't feel emotional as much because I knew the Provo show was still to come.  

I was exhausted from the LA show and couldn't imagine what the Provo show was going to be like.  I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it through the whole set.  Provo seemed like a pressure cooker ready to explode when they were starting their set.  They pulled an old trick that they had used in previous shows.  They had a group of 20 or so fans stand on the stage, like a human curtain, to help block the view of the audience being able to see band setting up and to help build up the hype even more.  I can't remember the last time they did that, but it had been years.   They started with a classic of "Soy Sauce Sailor".  The extended intro added more pent up energy.  Everyone had a smile on their face as they grew close to the explosive climax of the intro.  Once that happened everyone jumped off the stage and went berserk. The top of the pressure cooker blew and the whole crowd danced, jumped pushed, yelled and cheered.  I chose to take pictures during the first song, but I had chills the whole time watching the band feed off the energy from the crowd.  The next song was "Sweat Swat Swote", which is a song that destroys me with its 4 1/2 minutes of constant dancing.  I was breathing pretty hard after that song and wondering how I was going to make it the rest of the way.  The next song was "Pretty" and "Don't Blow It" and that was a little bit of a breather.  The second song feature Nate Pyfer who has since helped Spencer with his other project Sego.  He stood and yelled and beat the cow bell with a stone face.  "Lumiere" gave the crowd a little bit of a breather overall since its more of a listener versus a dancer.  The song seemed a little misplaced amongst the other dancers.  This song is about Tony's father (my uncle) who had passed away a few years ago and so I understood immediately why it was being played.  The next song was an oldie, "Hola May" which rocked the crowd into a frenzy.  Cooled off a little bit for the song "Bear Trap".  I really liked hearing that one.  It seemed like forever since I'd heard it.  It has such a strong driving bass line with the perfect amount of accented guitars.  Then came happy and feathery "Hollywood" got the crowd into a bouncy mood especially for the ending chorus when everyone was jumping up and down.  "Ghosts" was next which was a never ending bounce fest......very stressful to the calves.  My friend Jim said his calves were so tired, heavy and tight that he could hardly walk around after the song.  He had to sit out until for a handful of songs to recover for the finale.

Final Show Velour Oct 2014

Then came "Itty Bitty" in which I was skeptical they could pull it off because its a song that requires the band to completely be in sync.  But they pulled it off and sounded awesome.  Its not really a dance song, but more of a sing along song that has a chaotic ending.  Only two songs remained from the main set.  The next was crowd favorite "Never Alone" which by the end became a mini mosh pit.  I was expecting them to talk a little bit more and tell some stories or something.  Spencer shared his thankfulness for being in the band and how great Provo has been to the band.  Tony added his gratitude as well earlier and could tell it was a sensitive issue as his voice cracked a little.  I think they avoided talking to much because they didn't want to get too emotional.  It was the end of an era in Provo music.  Spencer started the jangling intro for "Tickle" and everyone went nuts.  Girls on shoulders of guys, everyone was chanting "hey" and they jumped around.  It was probably the most active and energetic I've seen a crowd at Velour ever.  At the end of the song, Cole Barnson of the Toy Bombs planted a kiss on Tony, which I thought was hilarious.    It was hard to top that ending.  It definitely climaxed there.

Final Show Oct 2014 - Psycho Killer

In the encore, several friends with guitars or just themselves came on stage for "Psycho Killer".  A song that they've been playing since the beginning of the full band.  With that many people on stage it was hard to tell who was playing. It ended up being who ever felt like getting up on stage by the end, but it didn't matter, everyone was having a good time.  I took the song off and took pictures.  I was wanting to capture the amazing site of people everywhere dancing but also wanted to save myself for the last song, "Old".

  Even though the song is my current favorite and I go absolutely crazy for it, I wouldn't have ended with it.  With the amazing energy of Tickle and the chaotic party of Psycho Killer, "Old" seemed anti-climatic since it was a semi-new song.  But now that I think about it.....I believe it was the perfect choice.  I don't know what it is about that song that brings out a lot of emotion from me.  When listening to it in the car I go crazy hitting the wheel of the car.

Final Show Velour Oct 2014

So for the final song in the history of Eyes Lips Eyes, I was determined to go nuts the entire time.  Of course it had an extended intro, Spencer playing a single note.  Just building it up for me like crazy.  Then the bass and drums come in perfectly and start the beginning of the end.  I had tears welling up in my eyes after each time the chorus was sang and then I'd emphatically go crazy during the guitar follow up.  I was shoving and jumping on people and yelling to the top of my lungs and I didn't care at all.  I remember thinking during the final build up that it was so weird that this was going to be their last song.  I let out my emotions in the form of jumping and pushing and yelling to the top of my lungs for the last 20 seconds till my eyes started to go black and I felt like I was going to faint for a minute.  It was a great ending to a band that will always be my favorite.  It was an incredible show that I will always remember.  As I was talking with Cole Barnson afterward, he echoed a thought that I've always had since the beginning.......which was that bands like this don't come around that often....they are rare.  Bands can play loud and go crazy on stage or whatever, but its the way ELE wrote the songs, the way they played the songs and who they were as individuals that drove this unique band into almost unattainable energy during their shows.  The band will now disband officially and pursue their own goals in other bands or in life.  I think they'll always look back at those times as something special......I know I will.

Tony bows after the final song at the Frost Revival, May 2012