Anberlin at Irving Plaza

Stephen Christian

While still in high school in 1998, vocalist Stephen Christian formed a punk band called SaGoh 24/7, which released two albums. Eventually changing direction to alternative-rock, the band evolved into Anberlin in 2002, based out of Winter Haven, Florida. There were a few personnel changes, but since 2007 the band has consisted of vocalist Stephen Christian, guitarists Joseph Milligan and Christian McAlhaney, bassist Deon Rexroat, and drummer Nathan Young. After 14 years and seven albums, Anberlin released it final album, Lowborn, on June 23, 2014.

Yahoo! Live streamed Anberlin's concert from Irving Plaza tonight, as the band shared its first of three New York farewell concerts with the world. Shouting out a cry of "New York," Christian and crew ripped into a career retrospective beginning with "Never Take Friendship Personal" and "We Owe This to Ourselves." On the third song, "Paperthin Hymn," Christian hopped across the photo pit and stood on the rail of a barricade, holding a microphone to his mouth with one hand and balancing himself with the other by holding the outstretched hands of the fans below him. Throughout the 20-song, 90-minute set, Anberlin honed its refined sound, which blended an energetic power-chord-driven hard rock base with sweet melodies and Christian's soaring vocals. The pace slowed mid-set with "(The Symphony of) Blasé", "Take Me (As You Found Me) and "The Unwinding Cable Car," the latter song performed acoustically and dedicated to the musicians' wives. Beyond that, Anberlin returned to its muscular radio-ready rock, finally ending with Christian crowd surfing at the end of "Feel Good Drag" and an appropriate encore of "(*Fin)." Anberlin ends its tour and its career in two weeks, and the band made every second count.

Anberlin performs again at Irving Plaza on November 16 and will perform the album Cities at the Gramercy Theatre on November 17. Visit Anberlin at www.anberlin.com.