Train Live at the Tabernacle

Columbia recording artists Train pulled into the Atlanta station Tuesday PM in support of their fifth studio album “Save Me, San Francisco“.

Train is band known for superb musical performance and simple yet profound and thought provoking lyrical content. As such, the band has always seemed to find it landlocked in a gray area between rock stars and adult contemporary artists. This creative friction of identity perhaps explains the diverse and loyal fan base that came out this night to support the band touring for the first time in four years.

From the opening notes, as original members Patrick Monohan (vocals), Jimmy Stafford (lead guitar), and Scott Underwood (drums) took the stage, it was evident that the show was to be all about the fans. The band immediately engaged the audience and the audience engaged the band and in return, and held one another in their respective hands for the nearly two hour set.

The band opened the show with mainstream fare including “Parachute” from the new album, “Meet Virginia”, “Get to Me”, and “She’s on Fire” with Patrick making full use of the large stage with intense and direct crowd interaction throughout.

As the band moved midway through their set, the pace picks up with “Soul Sister”, “All About You”, “Cab”, and the intense crowd sing along “Calling All Angels” before moving into the exceptional acoustical passages of “Hopeless” and Led Zeppelin’s “Going to California” which highlighted the band’s diverse musical prowess and amazing vocal capabilities. The band then moved into the hip-hop influenced “Save the Day” followed by “I Got You” and closing the set on a peak with the straight up rocking “Free” and perhaps the bands most famous hit, “Drops of Jupiter”, leaving the audience begging for more from this amazing performance.

Train reclaimed the stage treating the audience to the title track of their latest album “Save Me, San Francisco” and closing the night with one of the great covers of all time – Aerosmith’s “Dream On” as the house lights shined to reveal a sea of smiles, hands, and overwhelming and endless cheers. Answering the call, the band took the stage for a second encore performing “If It’s Love”.

Much like the bands musical style, the performance was part rock show, part mainstream adult contemporary and part classic rock homage. Most importantly it was a celebration of good music, by a great band, for its fans in a setting promoting mutual adoration.