Salt

“For this next song, I want you all to sing as loud as you possibly can!” Eric requests, with a smile beginning to form on the corners of his lips, “Because Matt is the vocalist for this song. None of you want to hear that.”

After giving a quick wink to the often-abused bassist, Eric backs away from the microphone for Matt to take his place. Instead of replying with a witty comment, as he is well-aware that his opponent would easily win any verbal argument, Matt simply flexes his right-arm muscle while tuning up his bass.

The song is very simple in comparison to other songs of the evening, but it still possesses the most arena-friendly sound. Aside from possessing Eric’s warped/cynical lyrics, this seems like Infinite’s most obvious attempt at a mainstream sound. No cries of selling-out are heard or noticed, however, as the band seems to be enjoying themselves with this stab at a predictable rock-song. The feeling is infectious, as soon the audience is caught up in the interesting change of pace.

Matt’s voice, while incredibly inferior in comparison to Eric and Greg, isn’t without its charm. The most obvious influence on him seems to be Ian Curtis, and his deep voice serves as a nice contrast to the soaring falsetto possessed by Infinite’s frontman.

“I’m a simple man with simple desires
You take the fun out of me

Your beauty makes you unique, cutting away is so delicately smooth
Your beauty makes you unique, the skin for one last time can sooth

I’m a simple man with simple desires
You take the fun out of me, I take the life out of you

Your beauty’s wasted on life, excreting in buckets never seemed so sweet
Your beauty’s wasted on life, loss of movement makes you so elite”


Supernova

“I want to thank all of you for taking the time out of your day to come see us,” Eric says to the audience, with an unusual sincerity to his voice, “And, I’m sorry if I ended up disappointing you. I know I’m not exactly Ryan Ross Hernandez in my speeches, and I’m sure as hell not as entertaining as Freddie Mercury. I’ll never be a rock legend, and I’ll never be a Paul McCartney. Tell you what, though; he’ll never be an Eric Quillington.”

His speech receives a strong response from the audience; some cheer him for accepting his own individuality, while others cry against his self-depreciatory claims. Many were left wondering what had happened to the impulse-driven frontman so many had grown accustomed to. His arrogant outbursts and attention-hogging performances had been a defining feature of Infinite shows for so long, but it wasn’t always a welcome feature. For once, the attention had shifted away from the one and towards the unit as a whole.

While he still retained his typically eccentric behaviors offstage, there was something different to him as he performed this evening. A feeling of angst had surrounded him in the past, an aura of suffering similar to the likes of Kurt Cobain and Thom Yorke during the ‘Kid A’ period of Radiohead. It was all gone now, replaced by something more akin to a blissful state of being content. Eric Quillington had found peace with his inner demons.

Aside from the singer’s offhand comment at the beginning of the show, even the tension between Eric and Greg seemed to have evaporated into nothingness. Nothing but the music seemed to matter anymore, and all petty rivalries between band-members had been put aside for the preservation and progression of the trio. Far from being a band about to disband, Infinite seemed to be on the verge of new horizons.

Before bounds into the future could be made, a quick nod to the past seemed appropriate. A familiar guitar riff is heard, prompting massive roars of approval from the audience. In an all-too-brief moment, Eric sang the chorus that broke his band away from obscurity and into the stratosphere. The melody and lyrics were painfully simple compared to what was to come for the band, to be sure, but it didn’t matter; this was the song that had initially defined Infinite for so many.

Although many wished for the band to play the entire song, it was understood how out of place it would be for the experimental performance as a whole; it wasn’t as though the band was ignoring their past, they’d simply moved on from it. But, for one shining moment, the Infinite of old could be heard.

“Fall through the endless stream, into the Supernova
It’s all in our mind, it’s all in our mind
Apathy pulls me through, right to the other side
It’s all in our mind, it’s all in our mind”

End and Begin

Nothing drives home just how much Infinite had evolved than the noises of electronic bleeps filling the stadium. For several moments, it continued, bathing the audience in its relaxed vibes. Lulled into a false sense of security, they were caught completely off-guard by Greg’s drumming. Although it maintained the rhythm of the electronic noises, there was something ferocious about it. The pounding bass cemented this feeling, creating a very forceful groove. The live version of this song was more straightforward than the studio recording, as it would have to be; it’d be next to impossible to recreate the dense recording in one take.

Strobe lights flashed in perfect sync with the pounding of the drums and bass, creating a rave-like atmosphere in the stadium. Almost in slow-motion, Eric could be seen through pulses of light, running and dancing across the stage while wrestling out a guitar-riff dripped with electronic distortion. When he sings, it’s with a level of intensity and focus unlike anything heard in an Infinite show. In perhaps the most powerful vocal performance of the evening, Eric shouts to the audience;

“Sifting through the bright lights and the haze
After all, it’s just a big maze
I can’t see the figures through the pulsing red
After all, their bones are covered

But there is really nothing I can do
The only way is to push through

Been missing all the arguments and the fights
After all, it’s now so silent
I wish that we could talk about it
After all, I love irony

But there is really nothing I can do
The only way is to push through
And the worst is always hoping for more”

The crowd is, understandably, in a frenzy. An almost riotous vibe is in the air, matching the sheer intensity of Infinite’s performance. On the record, this song is displayed with a calm sense of sorrow and regret. Here, these more sensible emotions are replaced with something more akin to rage. The lyrics are sung in a way that seem to be past the point of compromise, in a way similar to a lost soul crying into the night.

It feels as though the show had come to a climax, as it indeed has, but in the most chaotic and electric way possible. Just as the band has lost all restraint in their performance, the audience lets loose in a mass collection of movement that practically shakes the stadium. All of the held-back emotions on previous songs such as ‘Vague Similarities’ came bursting forth as Eric practically screams into the microphone;

“Sifting through the bright lights and the haze
After all, it’s just a big maze
I wish that we could talk about it
After all, I love irony

But there is really nothing I can do
The only way is to push through
And the worst is always hoping for more
Nursery rhymes won’t save a life that was lost”

After the end of the vocals, the song continues in its schizophrenic open-ended instrumental solos for several more minutes before reaching a conclusion. Those in attendance are in complete shock at this uncharacteristic Infinite performance, but still cheer approvingly. Eric, looking exhausted after such a brutal grind on his voice, wipes some sweat off his forehead and laughs in a slightly lightheaded fashion before walking off the stage. Matt and Greg follow suit, after a wave to the audience.

This rather abrupt leave catches the audience off-guard, with all of them knowing that the band will be back for an encore. A slightly festive atmosphere forms as the wait for the band’s return begins. Songs and excerpts from Infinite’s catalogue are sung, but the most common line is from Problems with Pluto, one the band has yet to play;

“Look up to the midnight sky, see life as it should be”