“I didn’t want to hurt you, I didn’t want to hurt you, I didn’t want to hurt you but you’re pretty when you cry,” was one of the many simple, yet entirely effective lyrics which forced me, even in my inexperience with Vast, to sing along. Crosby had a tendency to clip the end of a phrase, or come in late, as if his lyrics were too painful for him to recount. However, although front man Crosby is a staple of Vast’s success, Vast would be nowhere without their always changing, yet constantly perfected ensemble players. To be blunt- the drums kicked ass, the guitars were always played to perfection, the bass, perfectly stoic, and the back vocals, jarring yet melodic, blended harmoniously with Crosby’s howls. The band, which seemed to be more about brotherhood than creating a spectacle, talked occasionally with the audience. They weren’t there to fromp around onstage and google eye the young girls, they were there for one reason and one reason only- to play good music for listeners everywhere to get lost in. In one of Crosby’s few speeches to the audience, he asked, “Do you guys want to hear some more?” As the audience explodes, he coolly replies, “Right on.” Playing a song then which did not make it to their new album, Nude, I realized how surreal it is to watch a live band perform while a backtrack is playing. Somewhat to the effect of a Radiohead show with less focus on aesthetic pleasure and more focus on pumping out the songs.