Lets just start by saying that when it comes to concerts, I prefer the tooth and nail of heavy metal to the ligh-hearted romp-a-room of pop punk. Everytime I go to these things I feel like I just stepped into the Mickey Mouse Club. And today was no exception.
A friend of mine invited me and my wife Liz to see the New Found Glory concert tonight. Honestly, I first refused thinking Liz probably wouldn't want to go either. But I should've known that Liz would want to do anything her friends do. Her friends could invite her to a Satanic ritual where you disembowel various small mammals, if there's music and dancing, she's there. So I agree to go also. I figured this could be of some use to me in the end.
We arrived in the middle of the opening act. Um, Movie- something. I tried to make a point of remembering the name, but only the Movie part stuck. This is a typical five piece melodic punk set and there was really nothing striking about them. I just want to come out and say that there is really no reason for a punk band to have more than four members. There's simply something wrong if you got three guys playing punk riffs on their various guitar-like instruments, and cannot sing along with it.
The second act was MxPx. This is one of the bands who founded the whole melodic punk pop sound today along with bands like NoFX. It's kind of a shame they are opening for the likes of Good Charlotte and NFG. But what's new, sells. There's not a whole lot I can say, they did a good show. And in traditional punk fashion, played it more like a small venue than a large arena. Played a couple of new radio hits and something from the upcoming record. I recognized the song form the Pepsi commercial they recently appeared in. Then they ended it with their classic "Punk Rock Show" with much appreciation.
Up next was Good Charlotte. The five of them appeared in their trendy hip punk rock costumes in front of a large banner with logo, and some set walls alongside the drums with four large graffiti-like symbols painted on them. This is honestly the band I loathe of them all. The formula is simple. Take five guys who sound just like MxPx, smooth it up to an ultra polish, wrap it up in a super trendy package, then put it on MTV and sell it to the droves of teenage girls who would rather not listen to Britney Spears. They started things off by telling these "fuckers" to get wild in tha house or whatever, and played their hit "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." It pretty much didn't get any better than that. They did note that security was breaking up the "circle pits." This is first time I heard this expression. It's usually referred to as a "mosh pit," or just "pit." But both New Charlotte and NFG referred to it as a "circle pit." Anyway, they encouraged the pit to continue, but tried to keep things safe by telling the patrons to take care of each other. They did pause for a serious note for some reason. I guess to segway to the next song, I think it's called "Hold On." They wanted to tell those kids out there that suicide is bad, yo.
I was delighted in the break before NFG came out, when over the PA, I was treated to some actual good punk rock in the form of the Misfits, the Ramones, and the Sex Pistols. And then as if it couldn't get any better, *gasp* I hear Slayer screaming "Angel of Death." This was pretty much the most enjoyment I got out of the evening.
Then on to New Found Glory. The curtains dropped to reveal a stage decorrated with flashing lights and large banner sign of lights blinking "NFG." The guitarists put down his guitar briefly, as he did throughout the show, to pump up the crowd in the manner a hip hop performer would. As a matter of a fact, New Charlotte did that a lot too. What is up with that? One time he actually started wandering around the crowd, and even to the back of the arena where we were sitting to lurk the stairs. During one break in the music, he actually had the crowd doing the wave. The fucking wave, for Christ sake!!!! I also want to note that the bassists, who is as harry and out of shape as I am, thought it a good idea to go topless throughout the show.
In the end, though it's not my cup of tea, it was a good performance by all, and all around. Though it all sounded like it was the same band, just with different people in it five different times, these kids were really enjoying themselves. These bands don't pretend to be anything they are not (much). It was all light hearted, and it was a good show. I have more to say, but I'm out of room. I'll try to get in another session tomorrow.
-Rob Shock
Happy Fucking Easter
A little bit about music
It all comes crashing down