Big breaks don’t always come for local bands, but for soulful, Syracuse-based rockers Soul Risin’ opportunity came knocking during their Grandstand concert on Aug. 29. While Our Lady Peace had been scheduled to open for The Fray during the night’s festivities, a reported family emergency forced the Toronto-based band to return home. Called in at about 2:30 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. show, according to lead singer Bryan Weizstock, Soul Risin’ rose to the occasion.

The group’s set included a variety of tunes from the band’s latest independent album, When the Bridges Begin to Burn (recorded at SubCat Studios), as well as a rousing cover of The Band’s topsy-turvy, bluesy tune “Ophelia,” originally recorded on the group’s 1975 album, Northern Lights-Southern Cross (Capitol). Other highlights from the local favorites included a decidedly funky, closing bass solo from Adam Fischer, while Weinstock’s grizzled voice gave the set the overall euphoric feel of fellow Salt City soul man Jonah Smith. 

Things went regrettably pop, however, when The Fray launched its string of mediocre hits at a predominately female crowd that barely filled about a third of the grandstand’s roughly 16,000-person maximum capacity. (Meanwhile at Chevy Court, Shinedown packed the area with more than 10,000 bodies.) Opening with a predictable run of “Over My Head (Cable Car),” lead singer Isaac Slade strutted his most Bono-like stage antics, while his vocals came across like a many-times watered down version of Coldplay’s pop-rock hits.

Other whiny rants followed, such as “She Is” from the group’s breakthrough album How To Save A Life, with Slade often baiting the audience to sing along, only to find out the audience largely didn’t know the lyrics to many of the group’s cuts. Then appealing to a member of the audience who apparently had the good sense to distance himself from the radio-loving sheep who had actually paid to listen to The Fray’s drivel (or those who had come to hear the more-lauded Our Lady Peace but hadn’t taken the fair up on their offer for full refunds), Slade bantered, “I want to dedicate this song to the person sitting in the orange bleachers by himself.” The band then launched into the dramatic, heavier tune “Look After You” with oh-so-cute irony.

Wanting to size up the crowd, Slade asked the house engineers to turn on the lights, then made a bizarre comment about the group’s demographic. “It’s a pretty white crowd here, tonight. That’s cool. I know we appeal to certain people!,” Slade attempted to kid, then asked the audience to find a little soul and to groove during his blase droning. Finally drawing the show to a close, the set’s proper ending was the single “You Found Me,” featuring overly simplified piano lines from Slade, who had taken a seat at the ivory bars toward the second half of the concert. 

The band showed just how in love they are with their Hollywood image (derived from the band’s 15 minutes of fame that followed a “How to Save a Life” plug on the TV series Grey’s Anatomy) by covering Kanye West’s “Heartless” as an encore. Admittedly talented and personable drummer Ben Wysocki made a strange decision to switch from his acoustic kit to a two-pad MIDI controller that sounded as artificial as it looked. Rounding it all off, the group closed with “Happiness,” off the group’s eponymous, latest-released spinner, having nearly lulled the crowd into a slumber in the process. 

—Matt Mumau and Lauren Reilly