The Fray Illuminated Hearts at Fillmore Detroit

With such a hectic evening in the city of Detroit between a Tigers game, Chris Brown hitting his 2-night stint at Ford Field, plus something going on at the Masonic Temple, you REALLY had to want to be in the heart of downtown. Fans of The Fray proved their dedication by finding a place to park so they could witness the 20th anniversary of ‘How To Save A Life.’

 

 

 

For someone who obsessively listened to this album in 2005, I was already well prepared for this evening’s setlist. A couple of songs were shuffled out of order, the obvious reasoning being that the biggest hits on this record, “Over My Head (Cable Car)” and “How To Save A Life” are placed at 2 and 3 on the track listing. No matter, I will allow it and bend to my previous writings’ rule of “play it in the order it was sequenced” mentality.

 

 

Photographers were present behind the barricade for the songs “She Is,” “All At Once,” and “Look After You,” before allowing the super-friendly, female-dominated front row to have zero obstructions for their viewing pleasure. This album, if you’re unaware, is semi-mellow, so the band focuses mostly on their playing chops rather than flashy kayfabe-choreography. We’re not complaining because these songs have such a unique, raw quality; anything more would feel disingenuous.

 

 

 

 

Even for a low-impact sort of night, the crowd went from intently listening to phones in the air for “Over My Head (Cable Car),” and when the chorus hit, the crowd was jumping and screaming the lyrics — something I can admit I didn’t expect, but brought the corners of my mouth into a grin. Walking into the lobby to get an eye on the merch, I passed an employee of the Fillmore that I know, and said, “See, that’s why we do this. Right there. That energy of the fans fuels us.”

 

 

After completing the round of ‘How To Save A Life’ in its entirety, The Fray completed their 20-song set with songs off of other albums, including “Lover Don’t Die,” “Never Say Never,” and a Hank Williams cover of “I Saw The Light.” Sounding as great as ever, we’ve now been re-listening to the album all day long; a release that truly doesn’t feel like it’s aged a day.

 

Catch The Fray on the road by checking out their site, TheFray.com.