Road Trip! Canton Buzzbin, Morning Theft Edition

Two weekends ago I took a little road trip to Canton to catch a couple of local Columbus bands taking the stage at BUZZBIN.

The bill included Athena Rex, Morning Theft and tOd and The Bad Ideas. Ironically, it’s the last and same group of bands I caught at Victory’s in Columbus just days before the Covid-19 shutdown hit back in March.

Morning Theft is one of the first local bands I had the opportunity to shoot so I have a great fondness for them. Their shows are always electric to experience. They have this magic about them that is just unexplainable. So of course when I found out they were part of the show, I knew I’d make the drive up to see them. Plus, I hadn’t made a concert road trip in 7 months and if I’m being honest, I really missed it. A feeling I think a lot of people are experiencing when it comes to going to shows.

I know Morning Theft hadn’t played in 7 months either so I wanted to get Jenelle, lead singer of the band thoughts on what it was like finally being back.

“Summarizing feelings about a show and putting it into the right words is always tricky. This one was certainly no exception. It was great to be back on stage and playing to people again. Seeing pretty much everyone following the rules helped ease the tension on whether we should be even playing out. We all thought the show probably wouldn’t happen when we joined, and our show the night before was canceled. Being away from the stage for so long, along with debuting several new songs, strangely recreated the feeling of playing as a band for the first time. Plus, it was hard to hear, and we’re making a lot of mistakes. We were squinting eyes to signal to the other you’re missing a step, the whole first-time shebang. But it was oddly pleasant to get captured by a wrong note. It was therapeutic, to only be able to focus on one thing and one thing only. Unlike the first time where you’re suffocating in nervous energy, this time, it was like meeting up with a friend you haven’t seen in forever. “

Despite the fact it felt like the first time for the band all over again, I don’t think anyone noticed. They did debut two new songs that night and I can tell you they have a little bit of an edgier sound than we’re accustomed to with Morning Theft. I’m excited to see what else they come up with in this style. Here’s hoping we get to hear more of it soon!

A huge thanks to Jenelle for letting me pick her brain!