The Noise Tour with Mayday Parade

I originally agreed to go the Noise Tour because a good friend loves that type of music and wanted someone to go with. Obviously I said yes because I love all music, especially live music...and the tickets were only $20. Then, I looked up the bands on the tour and was actually pretty excited; I wasn't a huge fan of any of the bands, but I knew a few songs by almost all of them; I'd also heard from several different people that Mayday Parade is incredible live. I started listening to all of the bands (Spotify) and discovered I really liked them all.

So, I went to the venue only semi-knowing what to expect. The first band up whose songs I had seriously listened to was You Me At Six, who I discovered I actually like. They were really very good live and put on a great show. The lead singer actually jumped into the crowd to mosh with us, which I thought was fun. However, I did feel bad for the band; Indianapolis isn't exactly the mecca for punk rock kids or any type of rock, but nobody really seemed that into it at all. In my concert experience, regardless of whether you know the music or not, if it sounds good you should be moving to show appreciation for the band. I mean, these guys came all the way over from England and this is the respect we showed them? Come on, Indy. Anyway, I thought they were really talented live. The only thing I wish is that they would have played some older stuff. Save it for the Bedroom is my favorite song by them, and despite my enjoyment of their set I would have really liked to hear it.

Next was We Are the In Crowd, who I was really excited to see. I've seen Paramore and Hey Monday, and since I kind of consider WATIC the group to round out a triangle of pop punk girl lead singers, I was excited to see how they did. What I really do enjoy about this band is that while a girl is the lead, a guy is the backup and does a lot of lead singing himself in certain songs. They played everything I wanted to hear (my favorite by them is Lights Out) and their new songs, which I really hadn't heard very much of, sounded really good as well. They also had a fun show and tried to get the crowd pumped up. Unfortunately, the problem was the same for this band: no matter what they did, this crowd wouldn't really get into it. I've been to enough concerts to know that it wasn't the band's fault--they were genuinely trying to have a party. The crowd I experienced is just exemplary of Indiana. In sum, We Are the In Crowd is a really talented band and they have a lot of potential, especially considering that their first full-length just came out and most of their fame up to this point was riding on a single LP.

Next up was the headliner, Mayday Parade. I was excited for them because as I mentioned, they sort of have a reputation for being awesome live. They opened with their latest single, Oh Well Oh Well, which (a) I absolutely loved, and (b) was a really gutsy move--most bands wouldn't begin a concert with a song that starts slow, but it totally worked for them. Oh Well Oh Well was one of my top songs of the night, along with When You See My Friends, Miserable, and Three Cheers. I also liked that they started off with this one, because its got some great higher/belt-them-out notes in it--I was ready to see right away how talented the lead singer is live. Decision: he was just as awesome as everyone promised he would be.

Mayday was really interesting to me, because normally I have a penchant, when it comes to just about any band, for liking the lead singer more than any other member. Derek Sanders was incredibly talented and so cute, but truly all of the members put on a fantastic show. The guitarists never stopped jumping around and on top of things, and swinging their guitars around. Then the drummer... As I said, I listened to Mayday before the concert but I didn't really research the band too much. I knew there was another singer in addition to Derek, but naturally I assumed it was one of the six-strings or the bassist. I couldn't figure out for a while where the voice was coming from at the live show, then I realized it was the drummer. Listening to the music, I have always thought the backup/harmony guy had a voice that is just as good as Derek's, just not as definitive (you can always tell its Derek when he's singing).  And believe me when I tell you, playing drums and singing at the same time is not easy. Guitar and singing? Not too bad. Drums are a different story. I have the greatest respect for this guy.


The thing about both Derek and drummer Jake Bundrick is that they are so natural about their voices--it doesn't seem like they have to focus too hard or strain to hit the notes. And the fact that they stopped everything to let Derek do an acoustic song on a keyboard was absolutely clutch. Mayday Parade has this weird way of being able to play slow or sad songs, but still keeping the crowd pumped. Probably this is the factor that makes everyone say they are incredible live. If I had one bone to pick with Mayday Parade it would be that they neglected to play The Silence; it might be old but its an incredible song, maybe my favorite by them. Oh well...


All in all? Mayday Parade is without a doubt a fun show to attend, but for someone like myself I was stunned at the actual talent in this band. For most bands I like, I will readily admit do not have the most natural performing talent. Songwriting and lyricism are two things my favorite bands have in spades, but natural singing and playing talent is sometimes lacking. The only reason Mayday Parade isn't more famous than they are is because of the slew of bands in their genre and the fact that its hard to break out when there is so much competition. Its also hard to be a band that's more in the pop side of the genre than rock, because many people who like pop music don't get the fact that you might have to listen to a rock album a few times before really getting it. 


Anyway, this is an great show and if you have any opportunity to ever see Mayday Parade live, it will be more than worth it. Trust me. 

In reference to my earlier ramblings about incredible artists who don't have much natural singing talent...I often wonder what would happen if there was a mix-and-match band gathering the best songwriters with the best lyricists with the best singers and instrumentalists. If one band had everything? Either the world would implode...or it would suck.

Drop Out of Life

I was reading a review of this album, the latest from This Time Next Year, and the author mentioned how the pop-punk era that happened about 10 years ago brought about some annoying bands, but it was worth it to end up with legends like Yellowcard and Taking Back Sunday. First off, this author and I are obviously of the same soul in that respect. However, this author then (in a deceivingly nice voice) basically said he/she didn't see much in a new pop-punk/punk revolution. 

Hmm. That part was curious to me because I do see some potential in new bands. I will be the first to admit that there are many new bands I don't like and will probably never listen to, but This Time Next Year does not fall in to that list. About a year ago I was cruising the interwebs for some new music, ended up stumbling upon "New Sensation" and never looked back. I bought Road Maps and Heart Attacks with real money, and rocked out hard in my car for months. When I found out Chad Gilbert was producing their newest record, Drop Out of Life, I was beyond excited. (Have I discussed my A Day To Remember/New Found Glory obsessions yet?)

Anyway, it took me some time to get around to listening to this album due to its release date of September 27th...(we all know that despite my excitement over TTNY, blink had to take the forefront on this magical day). Now, I've listened to it multiple times, and I'm ready to give a solid, well-thought out review. Spoiler alert: It ends with me wishing sincerely, even more than before, that the Pop Punk's Not Dead tour was coming a little closer to where I'm at. 

Drop Out of Life, the album's namesake, is the lead track, and it was a great idea with which to begin the album. Its such a catchy tune and I really do like the meaning behind the lyrics. He gets cheated on, and just wants to drop out of life for a second and forget it all happened. I love the lead-up to the chorus: I let you run around and do me like this/Now we're falling out, she's falling over this fucking prick... it sounds better with music added in, trust me. 

The next three songs (Better Off, Living Hell, and Last Call) are all good songs, just not quite standouts to me. All are catchy and I especially like the intro and verses to Last Call. However, next comes two of my favorite songs from the album: Modern Day Love Story and Spoontonic. Modern Day Love Story just has such a great chorus and is one of those songs that on the fourth album run-through, you're like oh! I get this now, and its awesome. Spoontonic is generally recognized as the standout song on this album, and for good reason. In the chorus, it really gives some tension with some accidentals or minor chords, maybe both. And the lyrics are great: In the middle of the night, it's not that easy/In the middle of the night, I am alone. 

The rest of the album generally reflects how I felt about that aforementioned run of three songs. Great stuff, definitely great, catchy music and lyrics, just not the standout tracks. Matchbook is good, and a sing-along for sure; I also love the slowdown at the end of the chorus on My Side of Town. This tune will ring true for anyone who feels a certain connection to their hometown, or any town. Get it, Got it, Good is a bit of a harder tune, and I truly enjoy the punk-ness of it. Note has real potential to become my favorite track on the second half of the album with the guitar riffs in the intro and verses. The album closes with This is an Airport Train, and this is also in contention for one of my favorite second-half tracks: such a great chorus. I'm not waiting for you/This time I won't be back again/I'm not waiting for you/Life's not over yet. 

This band may have a little growing up and practicing to do, but they have real potential. And as with any rock album in this genre, you need to give it a couple listens to really get it. I know I like this album because every time I hear it, I have different favorites. Don't start off this album by comparing them to any certain band, just listen with an open ear. It may or may not rock your world, but it definitely won't be a waste of your time. The one piece of advice I have to give to this talented band is to change things up a bit more in their songs: more slowdowns, more tension, maybe more minor chords and/or key changes. I sincerely hope the Pop Punk's Not Dead tour drums up some new fans for This Time Next Year, because they deserve it (obviously, or they wouldn't be touring with a legend...duh). 

If you haven't heard of this band, here are some tunes to start off with:

From Road Maps: New Sensation, Alex in Wonderland, Liquid Diet (my personal favorite), Rhyme and Reason

From Drop Out: Drop Out of Life, Spoontonic, Modern Day Love Story, Airport Train

Neighborhoods

“I have a really bad problem. I feel like I can do anything in the world.”—Tom DeLonge, in a recent interview for Rolling Stone. 


I really liked this quote when I read it because it made me think: what is it about blink-182 that makes them so awesome? Why can they do anything? After 6 albums, a 5 year hiatus, side projects, and almost 20 years since their beginning, why are they more popular now then ever before? Coming from guys just skateboarding and messing around with guitars, this is a band that influenced a generation of music and has become more well-known than almost any other punk band. And now, numerous new-school pop punk and punk bands are citing blink-182 as a huge influence. Best of all, not only are they favorites of multitudes of punk kids and twenty-somethings, but critics have liked their past few albums too.


So how can they manage this? Well, it might be the fact that Travis Barker is the greatest active drummer alive. On the other hand, it could also be that no matter what Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus do, they just cannot write a bad song--some people can write good lyrics, and some can write great catchy music, but these guys can do both at once. Every. Single. Song. 


Neighborhoods is a genuinely good album. When you hear the first song, you may be confused: Am I listening to blink or Angels and Airwaves? I like Ghost on the Dance Floor a lot, but then I'm a huge AVA fan. When Natives started up, I also got an AVA vibe--maybe because Tom's guitar riff sounds strangely like an AVA song (see: Young London). However, when the verses actually start, it broke more into a blink-182 vibe; then, when Mark joins in the chorus, you know. You know that finally, this is what you've been waiting for.


Up All Night is next, and I love that fact that Tom and Mark have competing lines in the verses. I've always thought one of the greatest things about blink is the fact that Tom and Mark have such drastically different voices, but somehow they are complementary. After Midnight might be one of my favorite songs on the album; it takes a little longer to catch on to when compared to Up All Night, but after a few listens I was obsessed. Snake Charmer comes next, and is hands down one of the catchiest on the album. At first I thought the lyrics were a little...weird, but I find myself humming it literally all the time--can't get it out of my head.


Heart's All Gone Interlude is just what you'd expect it to be. It leads up to and gets you excited for what is undoubtedly the most punk song on the album (you guessed it: Heart's All Gone). Travis goes absolutely insane on this song, and while the song itself might seem slightly out of place when compared to the style of the rest of the album, I don't think the album would have been complete without it. I love the songwriting on this one, and the style of it is going to make a lot of die-hard punk fans happy.


But now is the point in the album where I have to be honest: after Heart's All Gone, the rest of the album is slightly lacking. I've always held the position that the worst blink-182 songs are still close to par with a lot of bands' biggest successes; thus, I'm not saying these songs are bad--in fact they are still great songs--they just aren't as great as the first half of the album. However, this isn't exactly unusual, as blink seems to have a penchant for loading the hits on the first half of their albums.


Wishing Well is a song that has amazing lyrics (I reached for a shooting star, it burned a hole through my hand/ Made its way through my heart, had fun in the promise land) and makes me wish the music was slightly better, but still a great song . Kaleidoscope is what I thought I was waiting for the entire album: a song with Mark on the verses and Tom on the chorus. I'm am a gigantic fan of songs that seem calm and then absolutely explode--absolutely rock your world--on the chorus. However, even though it wasn't what I was expecting, this is my favorite song on the back half of the album. This is Home goes back to AVA-like tones again, and next comes MH 4.18.2011.  Since its a Mark-composed song, it sounds more punk again and has a catchy chorus.

Now, we're into the bonus tracks. Love is Dangerous sounds more like AVA than almost anything else on the album, with the exception of Mark's backing vocals (the two singing at the same time marks the high point of the song), but as previously stated I'm an AVA fan so I like it. Fighting the Gravity has definitely got some really cool sounds going on; the whole song is sort of trippy, and its got a catchy chorus so overall I like this one; in fact, the more times I went though the album, the more I found myself looking forward to this song. Even If She Falls is a Tom-led song that is definitely new blink: sometimes a distinction between "new blink" and AVA is hard to make, but this song brings memories of "Not Now." Maybe this isn't the most catchy song on the album, but I'm a big fan of the lyrics.

So, there you have it. I could listen to tracks 1-7 all day long, every day. The rest of the album makes me happy because its blink-182 and is still really good music, but the first half is really where the greatest music lies. I've read reviews where people love the album, and read reviews where people hate the album. I would recommend this album to anyone, but whether you actually like it or not definitely depends on your taste in music. If you don't like the album, I would challenge you to ask yourself whether you would like it if you didn't have any expectations. I think some bad reviews don't stem from it being a bad album, just from the fact that its not as good as the impossibly high expectations. I can say that as a true blink fan, this album may not be their greatest ever, but its still terrific to have blink-182 back in action and Neighborhoods is a great, great new beginning for my favorite band.

Tom, Mark, and Travis: Thank you. I can't tell you how many people I've met who have told me that blink-182 changed their life, or helped them through a particular point in their life, and I'm also one of those people. Hopefully this album represents a long road ahead for blink-182 so they can keep inspiring youth and music lovers everywhere.

Taking Back Sunday w/ The Maine and Bad Rabbits

Its Sunday night, at a slightly shady venue just outside St. Louis. I'm about four rows from the stage, and my friends and I turn around and see Adam Lazzara, the man himself, walking around the nightclub. Like he's a normal person. It took everything we had not to run up to him--it typically annoys famous people to be bothered, and the last thing I would ever want to do is annoy Adam Lazzara. Besides, what would I say when I got close? Hey Adam...No, no, I'm not crying tears of joy over meeting you...my allergies are just acting up. 

Anyway, after we got over the excitement of seeing the great man himself, it was time for the concert to start. Bad Rabbits opened the show; I'd never listened to this band before and they definitely weren't what I was expecting, but they without a doubt gave it their all. They really seemed to be great musicians--the lead singer had a great voice--and the songs were catchy. They knew how to pump up the crowd. At the end of their set, I may have still been a little confused as to why they were on tour with Taking Back Sunday, but I nevertheless enjoyed their show. These guys know how to party. 

The Maine were next, and admittedly I've only listened to a few songs by The Maine, but I really liked those few songs. Therefore, I was excited to see them and find out if they were any good live--unfortunately, I got my answer. I was not really that into their set; they didn't do much to pump up the crowd, and the few things they said appeared to be planned. My favorite song by The Maine is "Into Your Arms," and I was really disappointed that the lead singer didn't even try to hit the high note at the end of the chorus, not once throughout the entire song. Then, "Inside of You," which I always thought was a cute song about getting inside someone's head, getting inside someone's heart, getting inside someone's life, was pretty much ruined for me when the lead singer announced it was about "Having sex. With a female." I'm not even going to get started on the notes he skipped in this song.

I will say that backup vocalist was at least attempting the higher parts, and the drummer and bassist seemed pretty cool. I have to wonder if the lead singer thinks he can do whatever he wants because he's gorgeous and girls will fall over him no matter what. Not I, sir. I will say though, that it wasn't necessarily bad. The instrumentation was overall good--they didn't seem to make many technical errors--and I don't really have many specific gripes except skipping high notes. I was just a little bit bored throughout the set. 

Then for the main act. There have been very, very few times in my life when I have been as excited as I was that night waiting for Taking Back Sunday to come out on the stage. They started their show with El Paso, which I love and think is a great opener. I can't remember the order of the songs for the rest of the show, but the order is kind of irrelevant--they placed just about everything I wanted to hear. What I can say is that after El Paso, they without a doubt kept up the energy and the excitement for the rest of the show. My only small disappointment was that with a small venue, such as the one we were at, Adam doesn't really have the room to swing the microphone as much as he normally does (I saw TBS this summer in a slightly larger place and it was incredible--really pumped up the show). But the group still had an awesome dynamic, from John Nolan's banter with Adam to Adam jokingly rubbing Ed Reyes' chest during a song. I particularly loved this because it shows me that the members of the band are actually friends, and its not just a front they are putting on for their fans.

I love that they still play songs like "You Know I Do," even though that's not necessarily one of their most famous tunes. Also, the fact that they do "Existentialism on Prom Night" really gets me; the harder ending they add in makes it even more perfect than it was when only John Nolan was singing it. Basically, I just can't stress enough that they simply put on a fantastic show; when you go to one, you'll understand why I can't really find the right words. 

I have to say the greatest part of the night was when Adam made a comment that he can't believe he lets us see how open and emotional he gets during shows--and then after a moment of consideration, saying that he guesses we do the same for him. I think it really means a lot, as a fan, to know that the people in the band still care about the music they are performing--its not just to have something to do, or just to make money. Adam made a great effort to connect with his screaming fans, and the entire group put all they had into the performance. 

I realize that I'm prejudiced about TBS, but I truly think that if you like Taking Back Sunday at all, or if you are at least neutral on their music, its worth going to a show. They perform a great mix of old songs and new, and you won't be disappointed by the performances. (They don't skip difficult guitar riffs or drum parts, and they never reject hard vocals--at least I don't think so--I'm usually too busy singing along and getting thrown around by the crowd to pay too much attention.) Even people who aren't really into music would be able to see the joy on Adam Lazzara's smiling face when he lets the crowd finish his lyrics, and sees that 500 screaming fans know every single word. Add in some mic swinging, and those competing vocals, and this is a show that is not to be missed. 

I said before in this blog that having a hand on Adam Lazzara during "Cute Without the 'E'" was the best concert moment of my life. Now, I think the best concert moment of my life is holding eye contact with him during "One-Eighty by Summer." It's like he was talking to me when he said "my best side was your worst invention." I know I'll never forget it for the rest of my life.

And I'm already planning to hit at least one stop on their next tour.