The revival of The Rentals

'90s alternative rockers hit the road with Copeland and Goldenboy

A newly revived and revamped lineup for Matt Sharp's The Rentals blew through Salt Lake City Wednesday, Aug.8, on the first part of their current national tour with Copeland and Goldenboy. Putting on a somewhat intimate show at In The Venue, the former bassist for Weezer's project is making a comeback. The Rentals are touring in support of their first release in over eight years, The Last Little Life EP, which is due out Aug. 14.

Doors at the venue opened at 7 p.m., but the line to get in was less than impressive. With not much waiting time for entrance, and not too many people gathering for the show, it seemed that the show may be over before it really began. Then Goldenboy took the stage. Driven by Shon Sullivan's deep, soothing vocals, listening to Goldenboy perform their set, comprised primarily of songs from their release Underneath The Radio, was like taking a nice relaxing drive on an open highway at sunset. Most of the tunes were melodic, low tempo and easy on the ears. Their performance was pleasantly inspiring.

Even perhaps more inspirational was the crucial middle set performed by Florida-based Copeland. Aaron Marsh's swinging piano melodies and the repetition of “You would break your neck just to keep your chin up,” from the song “Chin Up,” was a perfect beginning to what would be the best performance of the evening.

Playing a good selection of songs from Eat, Sleep, Repeat, including "Control Freak," and filling in the rest of the set with classics from Beneath Medecine Tree and In Motion, including "Pin Your Wings" and "Testing The Strong Ones,"Marsh and company dispelled the often thrown around notion that their live shows are lacking (see his response to these rumors in the previous post when I interviewed him about this very thing). Copeland brought an energy which, though not accompanied by any acrobatic feats, is undeniably moving.

Between Copeland's performance and The Rentals taking the stage it seemed the venue switched up the audience a bit. Many of the younger persons that huddled around the stage during Goldenboy and Copeland seemed to fade into the background and some of them even calling it a night. In their place came many of a more mature persuasion, some of them it seemed had come straight from the office as they were still dressed up with suit coats and loosened ties. A new group that obviously had been fans of The Rentals when they first began rocking in the late '90s.

Matt Sharp and the new crew, which includes Rachel Haden from the original lineup and Ben Pringle of Nerf Herder, took the tempo of the evening up a few notches more. What Sharp brought with him to The Rentals from Weezer was easily recognizable, but The Rentals really do bring their own vibe on stage with them. It's like a party all the time. A geekfest of a party, but a party nonetheless. Sharp's quirky personality mixed with a menagerie of instruments (keyboards, guitars, Moogs and much more), alternating male and female vocals and plenty of dancing made for a very entertaining performance.

Each band brought their own style of what they do best to the stage, and each had their own profound influence on those in attendance.