Emery at the Studio at Webster Hall

Emery is a post-hardcore band formed in 2001 in Rock Hill, South Carolina, but which relocated to Seattle, Washington in search of a better musical environment. The band was named after a first grader that vocalist Toby Morrell met while working as a teaching intern in college. The band has recorded five albums and, after a series of personnel changes, presently consists of Morrell, vocalist/synthesist Josh Head, guitarist Matt Carter and drummer Dave Powell, plus additional musicians for the live shows.

At the Studio at Webster Hall tonight, Emery played a short but power-packed set; apparently there was not enough time allotted to include the band’s occasional acoustic mini-set, so the band stayed with a full-on set of hard and heavy, almost metalcore songs. While the band tempers much of its recordings with smoother pop hooks and melodies, on stage the band’s screams and breakdowns were rawer, louder and faster. The audience fed off of this. Emery’s core New York fans packed itself only about five deep by the edge of the stage, as the rest of the audience members took more relaxed positions throughout the small room. This core of devotees, however small, spent the show pushing, moshing, reaching for the microphones and diving from the low stage (even though the landing area was sparse after five feet) like it was a crowd of hundreds.