February 22, 2003
Deep End Cafe, Lambertville PA
Ever since Aaron Anastasi and I met at a winter retreat, the half of my brain that craves music every second of every day has been yearning to hear more of Unsent Letters. Almost every Saturday the Princeton based trio puts on shows nearby the school, and I finally had the chance to check one out. It was definitely worth the drive!
I forgot to bring a notebook again, but thanks to the Deep End’s board game selection, I managed to borrow a pen and some score cards from Yahtzee to scribble down some notes. The Deep End also served up some great coffee at extremely reasonable prices. If you like energy via sugar and caffeine, you might like their house favorite, the “Snowflake”. The Snowflake is a compelling blend of espresso, chocolate, carmel, marshmallow and more.
Unsent Letters’ set included well-balanced portions of worship songs as well as new “love” songs. Aaron tackled “Hero”, the punk-rock opening track on Aaron’s most recent album “Worship”, on acoustic guitar. Aaron pulled off the intricate guitar riffs he so cleverly wrote with ease. Concertgoer Mike Chini was overheard saying “all of his stuff seems really well written to me.” The Deep End had suprisingly high quality equipment and the mix of instruments versus vocals couldn’t have been better.
“Dream”, Unsent Letters’ random song about insomnia, had a terrific groove and was well received by the crowd. Next was Aaron’s heartfelt “I Remember You Here”, a song he wrote about the loss of a good friend to a shark attack. “Three Weeks” is a heartfelt story told from start to finish and featured sudden guitar jabs, one of my favorite elements in a song.
Aaron’s honesty is hard to come by in a music scene swamped with generic love tales. Although personal lyrics leave him vulnerable, it’s a sacrifice he’s no doubt glad to take if but one kid can relate. Perhaps Aaron can sleep better tonight knowing he reached at least one person. I could certianly relate to lines like “Your silence was screaming I’m over you” and “Late night movie on a Thursday / I’ve taken enough kisses on the screen and not enough between me and you.”
Unsent Letters’ heartbreak theme was definitely long-distance relationships, and was just one of the obvious signs of their strong Dashboard Confessional influence. Aaron’s music is as real and as heartfelt as the beautiful lines of Chris Carraba, but contain their own originality and message at the same time. Aaron’s emotional stories are as well written as they are real. On stage and off Aaron is one of the most appreciative, caring and perceptive guys I know.
MUSIC 8
PRESENCE 9
FUN 9
MERCH 3
