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SHOW REVIEW: Pierce the Veil on No Guts, No Glory Tour
Pierce The Veil-November 26th, 2011 at The Plaza Live Theater in Orlando, Florida.
“Any true fan of Pierce The Veil can’t deny that they certainly know how to put on a show. The band is made up of 4 guys that make music simply for their fans to sing along to.
The set started off with a grim reaper slowly making his way out on to the stage through a wave of fog, from then on the show was anything but somber.
They were playful with the crowd, had their moments where they comforted those who, as Vic Fuentes said, “Find comfort in music”, and allowed everyone to let out any remorse or anger they had in the pit. They were nothing but smiles and energy, giving the best show they could, which they always seem to give.
Pierce The Veil has certainly been a band to watch the past 2 years. They’re making their way up the popularity ladder of the music scene with full force and certainly have no intention of backing down; they certainly have the guts and glory to do so. Here’s to hoping that good things are ahead for these four California native Mexicans.”
- Yaritza M. Rivera
WARPED SPOTLIGHT: Bad Rabbits West Palm Beach, Florida 7/30/11
Bad Rabbits – July 30th, 2011 at Cruzan Amphitheater in Pompano Beach, Florida
Over the years Warped Tour has no longer become known for it’s punk rock and hardcore line up, but for having an eclectic one. It has now become safe to say that the days of a completely punk rock line up are over, but that does not mean that all is lost. Boston native soul rockers, Bad Rabbits, are a prime example. Deemed the best band on warped tour by tour mates such as Of Mice & Men, Gym Glass Heroes, and The Acacia Strain, the band has been gaining tons of exposure on their current run on Vans Warped Tour. After the hype they had built up over the weeks prior to my date of Vans Warped Tour I found myself extremely eager to review them and see if they would actually live up to their title as “The best band on Warped Tour”
The band took the stage and began to play a very mellow intro as the audience anticipated the group’s vocalist Dua Boakye taking the stage. After 45 seconds or so Boakye ran out from behind the drum riser, took his position on the stage in front of his mic stage, and began to belt out a “Oooohhhooo” into his mic as the band’s tempo changed to the stylings of an unreleased track titled “Eyes On You” As the guitars and bass complimented each other, the drums kicked in and both the band’s guitarists Salim Akram and Santi Araujo began to slide from left to right in unison with the band’s lead vocalist Dua Boakye as he Boakye soon began to sing “I’ve never ever, ever had this feeling, this feeling, this feeling. When I look at you I see something special, something special” and effortlessly move to each side of the stage, after singing a few more verses of the song, he began to sing his heart and soul out during the chorus “I got my eyes, I got my eyes, I got my eyes on you” Boakye’s voice executed each note with such soul and passion it was hard for me to wonder if the band’s set could get any better after their first song.
After the band concluded playing “Eyes On You” they picked up the tempo and began playing “Stick Up Kids” the title track of their most recent release of the same name. “Do you think I’m wrong? You put my back against the wall, You make it so damn hard la la la…” sang Boakye before the old school hip hop stylings of the song kicked in. Boakye again showcased his vocal talent during the course of this song, but it became quite obvious to me that the talent of the band did not just lay in Boakye’s powerhouse of a voice it was in the band all around. The band as a whole’s music gave off a soul circus vibe. What gave me this impression were the groups’ lively antics right before their third song “Girl I’m Like Damn!”
Both Boakye and Akrim put down their instruments and began to have an impromptu dance battle to an instrumental playback of Bill Bev DeVoe’s “Poision” each of them smoothly two-stepping and transitioning into one legged jumps on order to meet the other’s ankle in a fashion similar to a tap or kick. After Boakye and Akrim concluded their dance battle Boakye said “This next song is for the ladies. Can I hear all the ladies sa ‘ooo’? Can I hear alll the ladies say ‘ahh’? So this next song can be like ‘Girl I’m like ooo ahh’” right before the intro to the song.
During “Girl, I’m Like Damn” it was quite obvious that the band had completely captured their audiences attention, this was made obvious when members of the audience began to dance as Boakye sang “Me and you look so good beneath these strobe lights, baby”
After the band concluded playing “Girl I’m Like Damn” they continued to have playful banter with their audience. When a someone from the back of the band’s increasing crowd yelled “Play souls on fire!” the Boakye remarked something to the likeness of “Nigga said what?” and began to playfully make punching motions to a beat created by the band’s drummer along side Akram.
“Florida let me hear you say ‘hell yeah’” as the crowd echoed “Hell yeah back at Boakye. “Now let me hear you say ‘shit’” as the crowd echoed “Shit” back at him “Now say ‘horse shit’” said Boakye before the crowd echoed it back it him. “Now why would y’all say that?!” Boakye joked before the band’s next song “Advantage Me”
After “Advantage Me” the band played their final song “Can’t Back Down” and encouraged their then substantially larger crowd to dance and slide from side to side at the band began to play the into to the song. During “Advantage Me” it was clear that Boakye was going all out with his vocals by wailing out “You can’t back down” with a falsetto that would rival the one of the artist formally known as Prince.
As the band wrapped up their set and Boakye belted out the last few words of the song the band exited the stage and left their audience blown away and still in the mood to dance.
Overall, I will say that I found Bad Rabbits to be a breathe of fresh air amongst the aggressive metalcore and screamo acts that Warped is notorious for having on it’s line up. When I look back on the band’s set I can also say that at no point during their performance was I bored or felt the urge to look away and check the time. I was impressed by lead vocalist Boakye’s vocal talent, his ability to smoothly transition in and out of a high falsetto into a normal singing voice blew me away with out a doubt. I was also impressed by the band’s ability to hustle on Warped Tour by selling their CDs for only a dollar all day long before and after their set. So all in all, I look forward to hearing more music from Bad Rabbits to see if they can sustain their eccentric mix of power pop soul rock and 80s Purple Rain flare.
- Nicole Stephens
Bad Rabbits
Recommended for fans of: Prince, Micheal Jackson, Parliament, Gym Class Heroes
Rating: 5/5
Would I pay to see them again?: Yes. The band’s high energy set actually kept my attention and there was never a dull or lackluster moment.
WARPED SPOTLIGHT: Go Radio
“Tallahassee natives, Go Radio, made their crowd forget how incredibly hot it was at the Orlando date of Warped Tour and made them sing their hearts out while simultaneously jumping up and down until they were in their own pools of sweat.
The crowd followed Lancaster’s every move and sang back every word. I had flashbacks of his Mayday Parade days and almost expected Derek Sanders to show up second, but of course that didn’t happen. Jason Lancaster has made this band his own, and he certainly has done it well.
The scorching heat didn’t stop anyone in the band from giving 100% the whole time they played. You could almost feel the passion radiating from them all. It could have been because they were in their home state, or simply because they’re are just that kind of band, either way you put it, Go Radio put on a show to remember.
They ended with Any Other Heart and I had to keep myself from dancing in the crowd. The rest of those surrounding me of course had no problem moving along to the beat and singing along to the upbeat song.
I’d heard so many good stories of Go Radio’s performances, and I’d have to agree that they do put on amazing shows. If you haven’t gotten a chance to see these wonderful guys, head out to your nearest Warped Tour date or catch them when they’re on tour near you in the near future, you will not regret it.”
- -Yaritza Rivera
SHOW REVIEW: Title Fight
Title Fight – May 28th, 2011 at The Talent Farm in Pembroke Pines, Florida
Rock shows. Before you were probably even old enough to attend them you saw them on T.V shows, in music videos, and in movies, and fantasized about being the person that the crowd lifts up and pushes toward the stage or perhaps even being the daredevil that makes their way on stage and dives into a sea of uplifted hands. In the modern day, rock shows have become less about stage diving and crowd surfing and more about simply jumping up and down or the infamous circle pits. Title Fight is a band that hasbecome notorious for putting on shows in packed venues and their music bringing on a canon of unrelenting crowd surfers. When the band played The Talent Farm a DIY venue in Pembroke Pines, Florida they put on a show worthy of deeming an unforgettable rock show.
After the crowd had been well warmed up by opening acts Go Rydell, Dead End Path, The Mezingers, and Touché Amoré, Title Fight took the stage and briefly began sound checking before beginging their set. The band opened with “No One Stays At The Top Forver” off the the band’s first full length The Last Thing That You Forget. While the song was slower in pace than the band’s other songs, the crowd was still very high energy in anticipation of what song the the band would play next. Right after they finished playing “No One Stays At The Top Forever” they immediately transitioned into playing “Shed” off the band’s most recent full length of the same name, which immediately lit a fire in the audience to begin singing along to the chorus “You are the same. Shed your skin! Find a better body to fit in.”
After “Shed” the band again transitioned into their next song “Loud and Clear” which caused the crowd to go wild as every member of the audience began to sing along “I walked by your house last night. Yeah it’s always raining. It’s way too cold for this time of year.” as a few daredevil fans began to climb up the stage and launch themselves back into the crowd. After the band wrapped playing “Loud and Clear” lead vocalist Jamie Rhoden casually said the name of their next song “Symmetry” and the crowd went absolutely insane as the beginning of the song kicked in.
“There’s symmetry in the way you cut me straight in two. Each side reflects the image of a crowd in an empty room.” was sung in unison between vocalist/bassist Ned Russin and the fully energized crowd. During the song an unrelenting canon on stage divers was unleashed on the crowd, and one fan even attempted the infamous head walk on unsuspecting members or the audience. After “Symmetry” the crowd surely didn’t die down, regardless of the lack of air conditioning in The Talent Farm, with pile up after piled up of bodies crammed against the stage all screaming the lyrics to the next eight songs.
When it finally came time for the band end their set the sweat soaked crowd begged for one more song and one last chance to pile on each other, stage dive, and dance together. “One more song, one more song, one more song!” After around a minute and a half of uncertainty the band began to play one last song, “YoureYeah”, for their fun loving crowd.
Overall Title Fight, put on not just a show, but an experience, which was genuinely fun with no frills or gimmicks attached. As a matter of fact there was little to no talking in between songs the lead vocalist Jamie Rhoden all that was said by him as “Thanks for coming out and sticking around” and “If my dad is watching this at home he’s going to call me after we play and tell me I didn’t talk enough. I don’t really have anything to say.” the band just played music and the audience had a great time. There was a simplicity there that is often not found in the large production that shows have become. On top of that the crowd was a great one, the entire room was packed with over 500 people which were all jumping around and having a great time. Then on top of all that the band’s set sounded very close to the actual recorded version of their music, just more amplified and in your face. I can say with confidence that Title Fight’s show that night was one every single person that attended including myself will never forget.
- Nicole Stephens
Title Fight
- Myspace
- Merch (Their shirts where only $12 at the show I recommend you buy one at a show)
Recommended for fans of: Blink 182, Bad Seed, Stage diving, Pop Punk
Rating: 5/5
Would I pay to see them again?: With out a doubt.
SHOW REVIEW: Bringin’ It Back For The Kids Fest
May 14th, 2011 - Bringin It Back For The Kids Fest at Rocketown in Pompano Beach, Florida
There is and will always be an on going debate as to what hardcore is. Regardless if someone considers it to be bands who’s music contains one relentless breakdown after another or bands such as Refused, Madball, Sick of it All, and Terror the music created will always bring people together. Back in late December rumors were circulating about a two day festival dedicated to having fun and hardcore, as those rumors were confirmed and an official lineup was announced the amount of anticipation and hype began to build. With over a thousand RSVPs on the event’s facebook page and wall posts ranging from excited to violent jokes it was apparent that the fest’s rare and diverse lineup attracted fans of hardcore from all over Florida, the east coast, and evenCanada. With that said I was very interested to see how the show would play out.
The show was comprised of two stages: the 1981 Main stage and the Royal Family side stage. At the time of my arrival I caught the last of the California based band Harbinger’s set. The band was barely visible amidst a sea of tattooed patrons adorned with t shirts with varsity lettering, flash happy photographers, and most importantly the gaping pit in the center of what normally is the venue’s pass through area to get to the main stage. After Harbinger wrapped up their set, the crowd piled into the room that contained the main stage to catch Florida locals Grenade Face. After Grenade Face’s set just like clock work, the room filled with patrons would empty as quickly as it filled, as fans flocked to the side stage to catch the next act,
As the festival started to progress, larger and more well know bands began to take the main and side stages causing more and more fans to show up at the doors of the venue. Playing the main stage after the UK based metal/punk outfit Warfare wrapped up their set on the side stage, was Lions Lions a Pop-Punk/Hardcore hybrid band from Boston, Massachusetts. Upon the band’s first song the crowd didn’t appear to be all that active, but that soon changed when lead vocalist Danny Poulin jumped over the barricade, that Rocketown had tactfully set up for the event, and into the crowd during the band’s second song and into a sea of ravenous hands. Poulin’s antics did not stop there, after jumping into the crowd on multiple occasions, he began to position himself on top of amps while singing and dramatically jump down during instrumental parts of the band’s songs.
After Lions Lions’ high energy performance on the 1981 main stage, the vast majority of the festival’s patrons excited the room as quickly as possible to catch Atlanta natives Foundation play the side stage. During the last five minutes of Foundation’s set patrons began to enter the main room in order to get an up close and personal view of the well known hardcore band from the United Kingdom, Your Demise. Again, just like clock work the band began to play right after Foundation ended their set and the sea of patrons would pile into the room with the main stage inside. The band came out to the beat of rapper Wiz Khalifa’s hit “Black and Yellow” and then immediately began to play “MMX” off the band’s most recent release The Kids We Used To Be. Which sent the gaping hole in the center of the room into a frenzy of windmill kicks, two steps, cherry picking, and other various hardcore moves. During the ban’s third, fourth and fifth songs the band’s lead vocalist Ed McRae repeatedly jumped into the and shared his mic with fans in the front three rows of the audience. The band wrapped up their set with an older song off their second album Ignorance Never Dies “Burnt Tongues”.
After the eight o clock mark it became apparent whom everyone had stuck around all day to see. With bands such as Trapped Under Ice, Stick To Your Guns, Shai Hulud, and Terror all about to take the stage, the frantic swarm of patrons moving from stage to stage died down, and became a mass of people by the main stage all watching the same band and waiting in the next one. After a memorable performance by the Maryland based hardcore band Trapped Under Ice, all the Bringin’ It Back For The Kids Fest patrons flocked to the side stage one last time to catch the Floridian hardcore outfit Shai Hulud slay the side stage for 45 unrelenting minutes.
After Shai Hulud wrapped up their set on the side stage, the patrons of festival didn’t appear to be moving toward the main stage at the same pace they normally would, but either walking around or sitting down. At this point confusion began to start about what stage and what time the night’s final act the legendary Los Angeles based hardcore band Terror were going to play.
After 15 minutes of confusion the Terror, originally booked to play the main stage of the festival, began to play the side stage which was completely surrounded by over 800 loyal fans of hardcore. “I’m just that asshole that has to get in everyone’s face and push everyone’s buttons” remarked the band’s vocalist Scott Vogel about how he convinced the Rocketown staff into letting the band play the smaller stage rather than the main stage.
The band put on a memorable set to say the least. With close to a thousand people packed into a room half the size of the size of the room of the main stage and a gaping hole filled with over 20 dancers in the center of it the band’s set was completely out of control. Lead vocalist of the band Scott Vogel asked fans to take it easy on the stage, but that was quickly ignored after the band’s third song “Overcome”. Pile on after pile on and stage dive after stage dive after stage dive all used the stage as their base of operation. During the band’s sixth song the Vogel demanded to that everyone in the room get moving by yelling “I want you to push the pussy next to you!” and “Crawl on each others heads!” which with out a doubt sent the entire room into utter pandemonium. In between the crowds absolute destruction of one another and the total disarray of the stage, Vogel preached keeping the faith by supporting the local hardcore, how Terror is against any type of discrimination in the hardcore scene, as well as giving multiple shout outs to bands such as Mad Ball, Stick to Your Guns, and Title Fight. By the end of the band’s sent the entire room full of patrons appeared to be both out of breath and ready to get into the fresher and much cooler air outside.
Overall Bringin’ It Back For The Kids Fest was exactly what it set out to be which was “A celebration of unity, hardcore, and having fun” everyone regardless of gender, race, age, or appearance all attended to see the same bands and have fun watching them. Each band that played the festival where actually happy to be there and were all earnestly thankful for every patron that watched their set. Bringin’ It Back For The Kids Fest was definitely a memorable show, and I am certain that the festival will have an even high attendance rate next year as it slowly makes it’s way to notoriety.
Recommended for fans of: Warped tour and old school hardcore
Rating: 4/5
Would I pay to attend again?: Yes, but I’d make sure I got there early enough to see each and every band.
SHOW REVIEW: Sleeping with Sirens on The Artery Foundation Tour
Sleeping with Sirens – March 25th, 2011 – Rocketown in Pompano Beach
For a band that formed a mere three years ago, Florida natives Sleeping with Sirens surely have come a long way. With over five member changes over the past two years, a relocation to Michigan, and a debut album that was number seven on the Billboard Heatseekers chart the band has most certainly gone through several changes since their 2009 conception. With their upcoming sophomore album release “Let’s Cheers To This” (May 10th) and the previous success of their debut “With Eyes To Hear and Ears To See” I was every eager to see what exactly sky rocketed Sleeping with Sirens from Orlando obscurity to a top 10 album debut.
From the reaction of the crowd from guitarist Jesse Lawson’s initial entrance on stage to the intense fan girling and boying that accompanied lead vocalist Kellin Quinn’s entrance I could tell the band’s die hard fans got them exactly where they are today. A comment to the likeness of “I really want to hold Kellin’s hand while he’s singing” to the multiple “I LOVE YOU KELLIN!”s shouted from both male and female voices each overly eager look on each member of the audience set the tone for their performance.
The band opened with “Eyes to Hear and Ears to See” and within the first 10 seconds of the song the first six rows of the audience were already moving. As the band’s lead singer Kellin Quinn sang “True friends lie underneath, these witty words I don’t believe. I can’t believe a damn thing they say, anymore” his voice was nearly drowned out by the voices of the audience singing along in unison. He then effortlessly switched from singing to throaty screams that seemed out of character for his small stature. “Lie! Liar you’ll pay for your sins! Now! Liar I know all the places you’ve been!” he belted out while the song intensified and the crowd began to push back and forth profusely. Quinn quickly impressed with what he was able to do next, he returned to singing with out a second thought. While most bands will just have two different people for the parts, it was impressive to see a single vocalist effectively fill both vocal roles in a live setting,
Then right before the band’s third song “In Case Of Emergency Dial 411” the band took the time to thank their fans for coming out to the show and supporting them while also announcing the name and release date of their new album and concluded by dedicating the song to each and every member of the audience. As “I can save you if you ask me, just ask me to. There’s hope for you tonight.” was sung by Quinn with enough unrivaled fervor and passion to set the room a blaze looks of intense satisfaction were on the panned across the front four rows. At this point in the band’s set the amount of movement and energy in the room wasn’t quite cutting it for the band. “With this next song I want to see everybody moving it’s called ‘Captain Tyin’ Knots’!” with the song being one of the heaviest tracks on “With Eyes to Hear and Ears to See” the audience knew that was their queue to go absolutely ballistic. During the course of Quinn belting out “In this place I’m so afraid of, bring me back to life, I swear I wont let you down, Just one more chance I swear its all that I need” an space opened up in the middle of the room as nearly every audience member jumped up and down. While this appeared to be the pivotal moment of the song it came no were close to its ending. Shortly after Quinn’s voice filled the room with the words “I fall apart and it figures, It’s just the way I’ve always been” the song did a 180 as he wailed out a long and throaty “YEAH!” and threw himself into the crowd and was abruptly swallowed by a sea of hands while backing up guitarist Lawson yelling “These things I’m so afraid of they don’t mean a thing!”
This pace was kept up through the course of the song “The Bom Dot Com” from bassist Justin Hills’ stage antics of splits and head stands and flinging his bass around (all while still playing) to the amount of times Quinn would lean into the audience and grab a hold of a few hands. Looking out into the crowd it was obvious that the song was reverberating through out the entire venue filling the entire audience with the desire to move. As Quinn said “We’ve got one more song left and it’s called ‘If I’m James Dean Then You’re Audrey Hepburn’” the vast majority of the audience began to look towards their friends or significant other with an excited look on their faces. While looking into the crowd Quinn held the mic out towards the crowd and began to mouth the words and gesture to sing along which caused the crowd to immediately take on a choir like sound while singing “Stay for tonight. If you want to, I can show you what my dreams are made of…” acapella right before the band kicked in and Quinn began to belt out the verse again. As the song reached its pivotal chorus “They say that love is forever, your forever is all that I need, please stay as long as you need” it was apparent that many were screaming the words at the top of their lungs in unison with Quinn. The song ended with an unexpected bang as Lawson abandoned his guitar, joined Quinn to sing “I couldn’t love just anyone, I was created to love just one baby”, and finally jump into the crowd at the song’s end.
After seeing Sleeping with Sirens live and giving their debut album a few good listens I now understand how they sky rocketed from the local Orlando scene to being on a consecutively sold out tour supporting Of Mice & Men. For one their lead vocalist Kellin Quinn has a great vocal range which meshes well with the melodic post-hardcore song structure of the band. But more importantly their undying love and appreciation for their fans is the number one thing that stood out to me as their wow factor. While many bands may thank their fans on stage repeatedly and meet them after shows not many did what Sleeping with Sirens did. Shortly after the tour’s headliner Of Mice & Men’s set ended the band gathered their fans together in front of the venue and played their songs acoustic for them. They even went the extra mile and made up a song on the spot for them called “The Slong Song” This most certainly made the band stand out for me and also help me understand their short success.
Overall, Sleeping with Sirens put on an excellent live show as well as went the extra mile for their fans which all got them where they are today. I genuinely look forward to their next release and future tour plans as well as hope they come back to Florida on their next tour. If you live in Florida or in any of the cites listed here you can catch them on the remaining dates of the Artery Foundation Tour with Of Mice & Men, I Set My Friends on Fire, Woe, Is Me, and The Amity Affliction.
– Nicole Stephens
Recommended for fans of: A Skylit Drive, Closer 2 Closure, Pierce the Veil
Rating: 5/5
Would I pay to see them again?: With out a doubt
Set list: (In order)
- With Eyes To Hear and Ears To See
- You Kill Me (In A Good Way)
- In Case Of Emergency Dial 411 + the chorus of Big Gulps Huh?… Well, See You Later added to the end
- Captain Tyin’ Knots vs. Mr. Walkway (No Way)
- The Bomb Dot Com V2.0
- If I’m James Dean, You’re Audrey Hepburn
SHOW REVIEW: Anthony Green at The Culture Room 3/18/11
Anthony Green – March 18th, 2011 at The Culture Room in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
In early February Anthony Green announced a single solo show in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Being dumb founded and curious as well as to why Anthony Green would pick Ft. Lauderdale of all places to play a solo show I became even more eager to see what the show had in store.
After an unusual performance from Miami locals, Jacob’s Ladder, an overly anxious crowd awaited the entrance of the only act they came to see that night, Circa Survive front man Anthony Green solo and acoustic. In contrast to a Circa Survive there was no huge production of LED light boards, balloons, and confetti canons. Instead the use of a fog machine and a few stage lights were put into play as Green took the stage. The crowd cheered and an audience member even shouted out a reference to a TV show Green enjoyed prompting him to yell back “Fuck yeah man!” after laughing to himself about it. Before Green played his first song he earnestly thanked everyone for showing up and being the reason he can even do what he loves. Then, introduced his family (whom he was kicking of vacation with) including the newest edition to it his son James then quickly joked “Okay now he needs to get off stage he’s stealing all my thunder!”
After the attention was taken off his son Green began his set with “Baby girl”, off of his solo album Avalon and the crowd immediately turned into somewhat of a choir as both the audience and Green sang “Baby girl twist away, when you’re talking to me I can’t breathe” in unison. During the course of the song Green looked over at his wife and sang “Meredith I miss you when you go anywhere” as he and the crowd both sang “She’s so lovely, she still loves me” again in unison. After Green finished his first song he admitted “I really don’t have a set list or anything planned out for this show” which immediately caused multiple members of the audience to start yelling out various song titles such as “Seven Years”, “Meet Me in Montauk”, “Semi-Constructive Criticism”, and even “Plays For Pretty Baby”. Green then said “But I’m not going to play what you guys want me to play” with a smile on his face, and began to play “She Loves Me So”
After “She Loves Me So” Green played a new song that with sincere and heart felt lyrics such as “…I don’t care if you shit spiders or have spikes on your head, I’ll love you no matter what, I’ll love you no matter what” after which he played “Slowing Down” and brought up how when he was practicing for the show he would practice in front of his son and change the lyrics to whatever his son was at that moment and said “So if I mess up some of the lyrics you know why.” Shortly after he concluded the song the crowd’s antics, when a security guard threw an extra bottle of water into the crowd, Green found to be entertaining and remarked “I love how that guy over there just snatched it from everyone like ‘No IT’S MY WATER, BITCH!’”, then an audience member towards the back of the crowd yelled “SAOSIN!” causing Green to remark “Yeah man I love Saosin! They’re awesome! And I was totally in that band!” Then after taking another sip of his own water Green played “Drug Dealer” and after which he began to play another song and then abruptly stopped and said “Oh! I wrote this song for a friend and it’s a new one” the feel of the song was soulful and folksy and the lyrical content was very blunt and to the point. Lyrics to the nature of “I’m if feeling pessimistic, fuck you, that’s just how I feel” and “…I could snort 200 lines, but that shit just won’t get me off, cause I can’t be satisfied, I can’t be satisfied” all sent the crowd into light cheers and applause. Through out the course of his set Green played about 4 or 5 new songs each of which were untitled.
Over half way into his set Green switched it up and covered “Not For You” by Good Old War which I personally found to be a treat. After that he transitioned into playing “Miracle Sun” and then “Every Way” off of Circa Survive’s Appendage EP. As things seemed to be winding down Green played another song off his solo album Avalon “The Devil’s Song” in which he put the choir like feeling of the crowd to the test and had the right side of the crowd sing “This feels like a nightmare” and the left side sing “We’re all in the same spot” repeatedly as he sang “I was told you’re a liar and not but my name means nothing.” to end the song with a bang. At this point in the set Green again thanked everyone for showing up and expressed how crazy he found it to be that so many people would show up just to hear him play at a small venue in Florida on a random day in March with less than a month’s notice. This led many audience members to shout “I love you!” and “You’re amazing!” and cause Green to say “Everything amazing you see in me is in you too. You guys can do this too!” Prompting him to begin playing “The First Day Of Work at the Microscope Store” to end his set. Singing “Like Adam and Eve, high and driving, no one could stop us” in unison with the crowd it was obvious that Green felt as on top of the world as everyone else did in the audience. Within 20 seconds of leaving the stage the audience began to chant “One more song! One more song! One more song!” causing Green to quickly return to the stage and begin playing “Dear Child” and again thanking the audience before exiting the stage for good.
Overall, Anthony Green’s solo show in Ft. Lauderdale was very intimate and enjoyable. From Green having his family standing side stage to cheer him on to his sister-in-law opening the show with a few of her songs, the whole show felt personal. On top of that Green’s honesty about not having a set list, relaxed demeanor about playing songs he wasn’t entirely sure he knew how to play, and personal interaction with the crowd caused everyone in to room to relax and just have a good time rather than standing around and watching him play. Along with that the unity of the crowd was unparallel to any other show I have attended. Each member of the audience sang along in perfect unison with Green and made the show feel more like a sing a long with friends than an actual show, which again added to the intimacy of it all. I honestly wish more people were there to experience what everyone who did as well as to hear the new songs Green performed. I look forward to hearing more his new solo material and hopefully another solo tour similar to Green’s 2008 tour with Good Old War.
Recommended for fans of: Circa Survive, Kevin Devine, early Saosin
Rating: 5/5
Would I pay to see him again?: Yes. You never know what kind of tricks Anthony Green has up hs sleeve when he preforms.
SHOW REVIEW: Decoder opening for Emarosa
Decoder February 17th, 2011 @ Rocketown in Pompano Beach, Florida
Being the opening band on any tour can either be a great thing or a terrible thing. If no one knows a single thing about the band it immediately becomes make it or break it for the band. When it came to the opening band for Chiodos and Emarosa’s co-headlining tour the six piece Florida native band Decoder the band seemed to hold their own against what started out as an unmoving and disinterested crowd. Being a huge fan of The Tide by Oceana I was eager to see what the band had to offer live.
After an anti-climatic intro the band’s first two songs failed to get the crowd going, but after the barefoot unclean vocalist of the band Keith Jones (ex-Oceana) encouraged the crowd to have fun by saying “Don’t be afraid to have fun. It’s what you’re here for!” the crowd began to be more receptive to the band. Song after song Jones would lean into the crowd enticing everyone to jump around and push each other. Which I found to be interesting considering the band’s sound was more ambient than upbeat. Around 4 songs into their set the band played “Conflicts” and Jones demanded to see everyone in the room jumping around and said “I want to see everyone jumping to this, and if you know the words sing along” As the infectiously ambient melody began to kick in and then faintly fade out he screamed “So calm is the was the wake from a dream, returning to the world feels so strange” which finally got the vast majority of the crowd moving. Being familiar with the song I must say that their performance of it sounded parallel to the recorded version.
When the crowd finally became more receptive to the band they unfortunately only had one song left “The Horrid” Jones took control of the song by sporadically leaning into the crowd and yelling his lungs out in the process when his part was over an infectious ambient melody over took as hands in the audience rose and began to clap in rhythm, clean vocalist Spencer Pearson’s sang in beautiful high pitched vocals “This loss burdens the condemned letting the horrid consume you. From believing in anything that makes you feel whole” the song went out with a bang as Jones put his all into the last few vocals and Pearson sang “Fear is constant in coursing through your body”
I was impressed by the band for the following reasons:
- Their sound. The band’s sound can’t be easily classified as just post-hardcore or ambient. If I had to I’d say they were more progressive than anything . It’s always more than uninteresting to see a band live who’s songs don’t sound any different from the other and start to run together and leave you thinking “When is this song going to end?” only to find out the song you’ve been waiting to end has been three different songs played back to back. There was a clear and distinct difference between each of their songs.
- Their persistence. Keith Jones would not give up on trying to win the crowd over or at least getting their attention from leaning in the crowd and getting directly in the face of those in the first three rows of the audience to repeatedly encouraging the audience to just jump around and have fun. Most opener bands simply try to get through their set and plug whatever they’re selling at their merch table regardless of whether or not the crowd is interested. They actually just seemed to be trying to get everyone to move around and have a good time instead of just standing there watching them play.
- Their focus. After the show Keith Jones asked random on goers if they caught their set and if they liked it or not. When one person said “Oh I just saw you with Oceana [January 29th at the same venue fyi]” Jones replied and said “Well we were way better tonight than we were then” What I noticed about the band on stage as they played is that they weren’t consumed with getting cool guitar moves down or synchronized head banging. They were consumed with actually playing their instruments and playing them well enough to do their album justice rather than showing off that they’re a band that has shiny guitars and long hair.
- Ex-members from other bands. Most of the time when new bands are formed each member most likely has little experience with playing a live show causing that aspect of the band to be weaker than more experienced bands. Decoder consists of ex-members of Oceana, Of Machines, and VersaEmerge which obviously gives the members more knowledge and experience about writing music, touring, putting on a good live show, and the other ins and outs of being in a band.
In all honesty I haven’t liked a band this much after vaguely listening to their music and then seeing them live in a while. The band has only been together since early 2010, and this tour is their first major tour so the fact that they have their live show down was impressive. The four reasons I listed above really made the band stand out to me and not be just another band I review and forget about afterwards. I am actually looking forward to seeing what is in store next for the band, and really suggest checking them out if you can on the remaining dates they have on the tour supporting Chiodos and Emarosa.
02.18 – Gainesville, FL @Common Grounds CANCELLED …or not?
02.19 – Douglasville, GA @ The 7 Venue
02.20 – W. Columbia, SC @ New Brookland Taven
02.22 – New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place
02.23 – Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East Downstairs
02.25 – Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Loft @ The Chance
02.26 – Buffalo, NY @ Xtreme Wheelz
02.27 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theatre
03.01 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock
03.02 – Joliet, IL @ Mojoe’s
03.03 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave II
03.04 – DeKalb, IL @ The House Café
03.05 – Indianapolis, IN @ Emerson Theatre
Unfortunately it looks like they’re not coming back to Florida on tour any time soon.
Decoder:
Recommended for fans of: Circa Survive, Old and new Oceana, VersaEmerge “Cities Built on Sand” EP
Rating: 3.5/5
Would I pay to see them again?: Yes.
SHOW REVIEW: Woe, Is Me on Rock Yourself to Sleep Tour
Woe, Is Me January 25th, 2011 @ Rocketown in Pompano Beach, Florida
It is no coincidence that bands of the same genre are put on tour together. Each band will attract its own breakdown addicted fan base that will claim in a second that the band they support is different and more unique than the rest of the bands in the genre. The truth is most bands have the same formula they all just present it differently. Out of the four opening bands that opened for the headlining band We Came As Romans the evening of the Pompano Beach date of the Motel 6 sponsored Rock Yourself To Sleep tour the one that stuck out the most to me was the seven (Yes. seven whole members) piece Atlanta native band Woe, Is Me.
The band made quite an entrance to a crowd that appeared to be ready to dance. Decked out in various button down and black fest combos the band opened with their most recent single “[&]Delinquents” At this point my expectations for the band appeared to be fulfilled by an the energetic screamer Michael Bohn, however my first impression of the band was not fully complete, after around 30 seconds of screaming the band’s clean vocalist Tyler Carter began to sing “Your mind is like a candle stick, my ambitions are constantly burning out.” Carter’s voice wasn’t typical to the basic post-hardcore formula it had a type of smoothness to it rather than an edge.
After “[&] Delinquents” the band kept the already beaming energy level of the crowd up by playing their own cover of the pop song “Tik Tok” by Ke$ha which sent the crowd into a frenzy of jumping and dancing. What impressed me the most about this was that Bohn’s screams didn’t become obnoxious through out any point of the cover and nicely complimented Carter’s clean vocals. Four songs into their set the band as well as the crowd did not seem to be loosing any steam as they played the band’s first released track “Hell or High Water” which again sent the crowd into sheer madness. Before the band’s last song clean vocalist Tyler Carter spoke about the meaning of the song “How many of you have a best friend out there?” he asked “…this song is about the things we can do together because we all together are numbers.” and the band began to play their last sing of the night “Our Number[s]”
Despite my original ignorance of Woe, Is Me’s music and lack of understanding about their type due to them forming exactly 1 year ago and getting signed with only one song up on their MySpace, I was impressed by their set and found them to be memorable due to three things:
1. They weren’t playing in cut offs and ripped t shirts. The fact that they have real stage clothes rather than clothes they just happened to wear on stage was impressive.
2. Tyler Carter’s voice. In a music scene were clean vocalists really don’t have to know have to sing or even have a decent voice hearing him sing was a breath of fresh air in contrast to the other clean vocalists of the night.
3. The band has seven members. I originally found this to be excessive due to the fact that I doubted that those members even contributed anything to the overall live performance of the band, but each member did bring something to the table especially Ben Ferris who kept the band’s set from being dull in between songs by making sure random bits of electronica were played.
Overall, I found Woe, Is Me to be a pleasant surprise, due to they amount of energy they brought to their set as well as the wonderful clean vocals Tyler Carter brought to the table causing their set to be my favorite of the night. Woe, Is Me is headed back to Florida in March on Of Mice & Men’s headlining tour. Dates are as followed:
March 25th, 2011 at Rocketown in Pompano Beach
March 26th, 2011 at The Social in Orlando
March 27th, 2011 at The State Theater in St. Petersburg
Recommended for fans of: We Came as Romans, Old and New Emarosa
Rating: 3.5/5
Would I pay to see them again?: If they were the headlining band and I did’nt care for any of the openers no. If they were the openers and I liked the headling band yes.
- Nicole Stephens
SHOW REVIEW: Pierce the Veil on This is a Family Tour
Pierce the Veil – December 7th, 2010 @ Revolution Live
When it comes to live shows there are the good, the great, and the “What did I just watch?” The piece four piece San Diego native post-hardcore (or jokingly called mexicore by the band and their fan base) band Pierce the Veil has one awfully buzzed about live show by fans and non fans alike. “We put a lot of time and effort into our live show” remarked vocalist/guitarist and front man Vic Fuentes in an interview from the band’s full stint on this summer’s Vans Warped Tour. I was curious to see if what the front man of the band said was actually rather than something just said to attract kids a lackluster show.
I had the pleasure of seeing the band on the Ft. Lauderdale stop of the metalcore band Attack Attack!’s “This is a family” tour. Initially I was expecting full bottles of water chucked at them by fans of the much heavier bands on the tour: Of Mice & Men, In Fear & Faith and Emmure. But by the band’s suspenseful and eerie intro the theme song of the popular TV show Dexter as the red velvet curtain drew back to reveal the stage I could literally feel the excitement and anticipation of their fans whom where decked out in t-shirts that read the band’s name or their recent album title Selfish Machines. As drummer Mike Fuentes entered the stage, followed by the band’s overly energetic bassist Jaime Preciado the crowd began to scream and cheer as if they were teenagers in the 1960s and The Beatles were in the room. As the last two members of the band Tony Perry and the probably most anticipated to come of stage lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist of the band Vic Fuentes entered the stage the band played their own short and street rendition of the theme song as their stage lights flashed black and white.
The band quickly kicked their set into gear the second front man Fuentes exclaimed “What the fuck is up Ft. Lauderdale?!” and began to play the first track off their recent release Selfish Machines “Besitos” It became hard to hear Fuentes as what sounded like hundreds of their fans began to sing the lyrics that appeared to be ingrained on each and everyone of their hearts.
“How many of you guys have seen us before?” asked Fuentes after the band was two songs into their set. The amount of hands raised was a good 45% of the audience “Well we want to thank you for coming out again and supporting us. We literally have the best fucking bands in the world.” Then once again the band quickly kicked things back into gear and played another new song their new album “The Sky Under Sea” at the end of the song an eerie piano track began to play and hardcore fans in the first few rows began to sing along “La da da da da da da da” to the eerie harmonies attached to the track.
After the song Fuentes did something a tad out of character for a singer guitarist. He took off his guitar and walked toward the end of the stage “I want to see all of your fists up” he yelled while thrusting his fist in the air as Perry and Preciado played a couple chords louder than usual. Fuentes walked along the edge of the stage to each side of the crowd and thrusting his fist his fist as the crowd cheered and did the same. He soon resumed his normal guitar and mic stand positioning and said “We’re going to have a little dance party right now and I want to see everybody jumping: as the beat of the popular club hit “Like A G6” by The Far East Movement began to play. The band played their own heavier rendition of the song over the beat as strobe lights began to flash and every person in the crowd began to either dance or jump up and down in unison. Only 30 seconds in Fuentes declared “SLOW MOTION” and the strobe lights began to not just flash, but pulsate even more as the band played their own neatly worked breakdown.
Things appeared to return to normal as the band began to play “The Boy Who Could Fly” which was their fastest and most out of control song of the night. From Perry’s incendiary* guitar work to another out of character move from Fuentes; throwing his guitar across the stage to a tech and jumping into the crowd, sending everyone in the first 15 rows into a pushing and showing frenzy and crowd surfer after crowd surfer headed for the barricade.
Things finally looked to be slowing down when the band played the first single off their first album “Yeah Boy and Doll Face” “Were you honest when you said I could never leave your bed” was sung in unison between the crowd and Fuentes as the full band started to kick in.
For their next and final song the first single off of Selfish Machines “Caraphernelia” Fuentes has the crowd clap with their hands in the air and sing the chorus “What’s so good about picking up the pieces” acepella before the band began to play the song. “What if I can’t forget you? I’ll burn your name into my throat and be the fire that’ll catch you!” screamed Preciado as Fuentes quickly switched from a soft harmony to the chorus. In the last two minutes or so of the song Fuentes took hold of the screaming duties and belted out a long and deep “You can’t just throw me away” and walked to the left of the stage and soloed on one knee for the audience. Soon after he quickly resumed his normal stage position to sing the last bit of clean vocals and wrap up the song as Perry and Preciado threw their extra picks into the crowd, and then jumped into the crowd themselves only to crawl back onto the stage as the curtains closed and fans gave their final cheers.
So would I concur with Fuentes’ statement about the band putting a lot of time and effort into their live show? Well, out of all bands I watched that night Pierce the Veil had the most energetic and well thought out set. I could tell that each member loved what they do and would not trade their position for the world. Fuentes’ was being honest when he said (see what I did there?) the band puts a lot of time and effort into their live performance. From Fuentes’ guitarless antics to Perry and Preciado jumping a top the band’s amps while playing their instruments only to jump down and land effortlessly. * I was expecting Perry’s finger tips to ignite due to the rediculous speed he played with during “The Boy Who Could Fly” I believe that the hype all the band’s live show gets is well deserved, and I definitely look forward to seeing what the band will pull out of their sleeves when they decide to headline their own tour.
My only gripe with the band is that I feel they should have evenly balanced their set list with songs that have been played live more often and songs that have not been played live at all. For a band that has just released an album less than six months ago I feel the band could have gotten away with playing only one older song and six newer ones. With that said I will say that Pierce the Veil’s live show didn’t leave me wondering “What did I just watch?” or simply leaving the show thinking “They were good” but trying to figure out what didn’t quite make them great. I left the show with a great lasting impression of the band and their showmanship, and looking forward to see what the band will do next.
Unfortunately the band does not have anymore Florida dates remaining on the “This is a family” tour or any on their next upcoming tour with Silverstein, Miss May I, The Chariot, and A Bullet For Pretty Boy but if you don’t live in Florida check out the band’s upcoming tour dates (click here) to see if the band is coming to a city near you.
- Nicole Stephens
Pierce the Veil
Recommended for fans of: A Skylit Drive, screamo pop with good production, Before Today, Sleeping with Sirens
Rating: 5/5
Would I pay to see them again?: On a headliner yes. Opening no.
Warped Tour 2010 “A day with a disposable”
I didn’t have a functioning digital camera for this year’s warped tour so I brought along a disposable and captured the day. Pierce the Veil, Confide, and Closure in Moscow definitely stole the show!