October 8, 2011, left fans of The Academy Is… upset over the band's announcement that they had split. Frontman William Beckett wrote a personal blog proclaiming the "end of TAI and the future." He left the fanbase with the message of, "I hope I can count on your support as I embark upon new and exciting waters. You can count on mine."
Now, months later, with news of a solo EP being released on April 17th and a series of live shows hosted and streamed online by Stageit, Beckett proves why his fans were right to support him.
Beckett took to Stageit on March 18 to show his fans what is "Under The Covers." Sitting on the bed of his Chicago home, with fairy lights draped behind him and a mason jar in hand, the atmosphere of heaving crowds having lined up for hours to be on or near the barrier was removed and replaced with something more cosy.
The fifty-minute set began with Oh, Love!; a track from Beckett's upcoming EP, Walk The Talk. Oh, Love!, which was debuted in previous weeks of Beckett's online performances, is full of the lyrics that fans have come to expect.
Following Oh, Love! was Compromising Me; a track Beckett wrote about the situation he found himself in post-The Academy Is… With lyrics such as, "the venom could have killed me," "forget about the past," and, "cut it loose, throw away the noose," Beckett filled his words with the grim determination of dealing with major record labels and living his life and his music career, his way. It was clear how much the song meant to Beckett, as upon finishing playing the song to an audience for the first time, he nervously asked, "I was kinda nervous, did you guys like it?"
Then, began the purpose of the night: William Beckett covering some of his favourite songs. Beginning with Tegan and Sara's Hell, Beckett fumbled through guitar chords and stopped halfway, lifting the webcam as he apologised for his head being "cut off" and returned to the song as if he had never stopped.
With nervous charm and boyish glee, Beckett announced that he "did it! Kinda," before launching into Ryan Adam's Come Pick Me Up. While some lyrics were mumbled over or forgotten, Beckett apologised and asked his audience to remember that the lyrics weren't his and that he has a hard enough time remembering his own.
Dedication to his fans was shown during his cover of Jesus, Etc., originally by local Chicago band, Wilco, when Beckett was forced to stop mid-verse to cough, showing that he was determined to play even whilst sick.
Following Jesus, Etc., Beckett took a break to intimately discuss his cat who has only just began venturing outside for the first time, and now acts as if, "she's been places and seen things," that Beckett would "never understand."
His jokes were fresh, and every word of his covers, including The Cure's Just Like Heaven and the first verse of Led Zeppelin's Over The Hills And Far Away, were sung through a smile.
Launching into Ask by The Smiths without introduction, Beckett closed the song with what he announced to be his "stoner accent" (whereby, "all you have to do is talk like Keanu Reeves. Squint your eyes and talk like Keanu Reeves") and said, "I just want to tell you everything about me… I want you to, like, know me, guys."
Already ten minutes over his allocated set time, Beckett began to play the first line of Death Cab For Cutie's Marching Bands Of Manhattan (apparently in honour of Ben Gibbard, Death Cab For Cutie's lead singer, being "dumped" by Zooey Deschanel), before stopping and asking the audience if he had sung the words correctly.
The set ended with another track from Walk The Talk, titled, Girl, You Should Have Been A Drummer as the twenty-minute encore was brought to a close.
For fans of The Academy Is…, Beckett announced that, in honour of the band he played in for eight years, he will perform three more shows on Stageit and each show will have an assigned album.
Beginning with Almost Here on 26th March, Santi on 2nd April and Fast Times At Barrington High on 9th April, the shows are not something to be missed as William Beckett reminds his fans, both new and old, of where he's been and where he's going.
