Everything Goes Numb Will Make You Rob A Bank
Streetlight Manifesto/Reel Big Fish/Less Than Jake, 7/19/07
This would have been the best show of my life it had been Fall 2003. I would have recently discovered Streetlight and played them in my car non-stop for over a month. Just ask April about that. Anthem would have recently been released, and I would not have realized quite yet that every LTJ CD is exactly the same, with the later ones being more cynical than the rest. And Cheer Up! would be the last decent RBF album before I lost faith in their ability to be more than an amazing cover band.
I would still be innocent in my love of ska music. It would make me happy and jump around with joy. And although the decline had come many years earlier, I still held out hope at being one of the few who held out hope during the dark years between the 3rd and 4th waves.
And although my musical tastes have changed a bit, I can always put on Turn The Radio Off and travel back to those years where I was looking for something to identify with the most. But now I don’t get the scene. Maybe growing up in a place so far removed made me ignorant to the way things really are. I have never dealt with a crowd like I did last night. They were ultra violent and extremely rude. So first, I will review the bands, and then a review of the crowd.
Streetlight Manifesto was up first. By far my favorite band going into the night, I had never seen them perform live. The main thing I left with was the entire set was extremely tight. Thomas is a perfectionist and it comes out on the records and it is present at the shows. The set featured a lot of material from Everything Goes Numb, with one song from the new album. They said the new album is finished and will be out soon, which means its only another two years before it sees the light of day. Along with the amazing Point/Counterpoint, Everything Went Numb were my favorites of the set. Although it was great to hear album like percision, I always like live shows to be unique. A place where a band can be raw and fun. 7 fueds with Catch 22 of 10.
Reel Big Fish were next. The first half of the set were hard to hear due to crowd issues (I’ll discuss later). So I’m going to focus on the second half. A much better live band than their albums. The second half of the set were great. Between a multi-style rendition of S.R. and closing with Beer it featured their strongest songs. And throughout it they kept the childish antics down to a minimum. I know they like to be vulgar, which is fine when you are 18, but these guys could be a little smarter about how they throw around the word Fuck. Overall it was great, they were tight. Throw in Enter Sandman and I’m still hooked. 8 Master… Master’s out of 10.
Last but not least, Less Than Jake. I really dug the whole Price is Right theme. They have always been able to take a brand and bend it to their will. Better crowd conditions made this way more enjoyable. Opening with All My Best Friends Are Metalheads hooked me in from the start. Then contestants were brought up to help decide what songs would be played. First up was a plinko board and plink…plink…plink, we get stuck with In With The Out Crowd. Their newest album which wasn’t all that great. Best part was, they know we didn’t like it and enjoyed making the audience suffer a bit. Next up was the large wheel, and finally… Pezcore! Their first and much better album. I really enjoyed the fact that the band is flexable enough to play anything from any of their albums. It isn’t just hits and crap from the newest one they have got. 8 plink…plink…plinks out of 10.
The crowd review to come in a following post. I want to put some time and effort into it.
-Nick
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