State Radio, 9:30 Club, Washington, DC

Former Dispatch multi-instrumentalist Chad Urmston focuses on guitar and vocals as frontman of punk-influenced trio

The long absence of an entry on this blog wasn’t that I quit writing, it was just that there’s been a recent lull in the number of concerts that I’ve attended. This is partially due to a lack of high quality bands in the winter months in the DC area and partially because of a busy schedule on my end. After nearly an unprecedented three month hiatus from shows, I finally got some tickets to see the second of State Radio’s two night run at the 9:30 Club. Truthfully, before Schiz invited me to the show, I had never even heard of State Radio. However, he sold me on the sole fact that it was the new project of former Dispatch member Chad Urmston.

Though I wasn’t particularly excited to see the band, for my money, there aren’t too many better ways to spend a Saturday night than at the 9:30 Club, especially after so long. Led by Urmston, State Radio’s sound is distinctly reminiscent of Dispatch, but more eclectic, with influences from punk, roots-reggae, ska, and hard rock. They also write much more left leaning, politically charged lyrics (e.g. “Fall of the American Empire”), as if in a nod to Rage Against the Machine, though with a more blunted edge that prevents them from truly picking up their mantle. Though State Radio probably won’t instill much social change, they nonetheless got the crowd moving for an evening in DC. The highlight of the evening for me was when they played the Dispatch song “Time Served,” a song that I never expected to hear live again. I’m inspired enough to download their album and give them a more thorough listen.

Setlist:

Ill Advised
Black Cab Motorcade
Calling All Crows
Gang of Thieves
Good Graces
Riddle in Londontown
Omar Bay
Right Me Up
Guantanamo
Let It Go
Time Served
Fall of the American Empire
Indian Moon (Long View Farm Sessions)
Knights of Bostonia
Rushian
Democracy in Kind
Olli Olli encore
The Waitress