Hopefully concertgoers won't find themselves in over their heads when a strange and beautiful concert hits the Orpheum Theatre Friday night. After opening for Ben Folds last year, up-and-coming rockers The Fray return to Madison along with opener, Aqualung.
Products of the Sony enterprise, both The Fray and Aqualung rely on piano and catchy lyrics to draw listeners in. Each band had a unique start, and after the success of each of their first major record albums, both are heading back to the studios to create second albums due out by next year.
The one-man band, Matt Hales, otherwise known as Aqualung, got a young start in music. The talented musician was writing songs by the age of four and was awarded a scholarship to Winchester for music composition at the age of 16. By the time Hales turned 17 years old, he had already completed a symphony performed by a 60-piece orchestra — a goal most people spend a lifetime trying to accomplish. After spending time in different bands, Hales decided it was best to embark on his own, releasing an album in Sept. 2002 and again in Oct. 2003, before releasing Strange and Beautiful in March 2005.
In the several shows this year, Aqualung has performed in the company of the Goo Goo Dolls, Nickelback, Counting Crows and Pink. Hales has been on a short break since late summer to work on a follow-up album, and is returning to open for The Fray for the month of October, before heading back to the studio to complete his new material.
Opening act The Fray had a much different start. After coming together in 2002, the band created a strong fan base through local gigs, press and radio play. The band attributes a lot of its success to word-of-mouth and MySpace. Virtually unknown last year, The Fray has enjoyed a surge in popularity since the 2005 release of their single, "Over My Head (Cable Car)," and it has since gone platinum.
The band's quick rise to fame can also be attributed to the uses of their music on many successful shows — most notably its frequent use on Grey's Anatomy. The Fray's newest single and title track, "How to Save a Life" was recently used in an HBO promo. (The former HBO promo featured none other than Aqualung's "Brighter Than Sunshine." )
How to Save a Life, an album full of emotional tracks, has been on iTunes' top 10 albums for the past six months. While "Over My Head (Cable Car)" was written about Isaac Slade's (lead vocals) temporary fallout with his brother, and "How to Save a Life" is about Slade's mentoring of a drug-addicted teen that lost a lot of friends during his downfall, many people have written to the band expressing their connection to the words.
After virtually back-to-back shows since the beginning of 2005, The Fray won't be taking
much time off until next fall. The band spent some time around the world in September, going to Australia, New Zealand, England and Germany and has returned to the United States for a small tour during October and November. Of The Fray's 35 stops on their American tour, 21 stops along the way, including this Friday's at the Orpheum, are already sold out. With their ever-increasing momentum, The Fray's future looks promising, but time will tell.