I just caught the end of the Get Up Kids. Home Grown did most of the songs from their 2nd album, "Act Your Age". Their guitarist Jon E. Trash is a wild guy and he did a trick with his guitar where he swung it over his head by the strap. Pretty cool. Near the end the lead singer let some girls up on the stage to have a dance contest against him.
Anyway, MxPx rocked. This was my first time seeing them. Yuri switched places with Tom and played guitar on "KKK Took my Baby Away." I think this is everything they played.
1. Andrea
2. Cold and All Alone
3. Sorry So Sorry
4. Chick Magnet
(not in order)
Sometimes You Have to Ask Yourself
Time Brings Change
Teenage Politics
Middlename
Party, My House, Be There
The Final Slowdance
I'm OK, You're OK
Want Ad
Fist vs. Tact
GSF
Doing Time
The Wonder Years
The KKK Took My Baby Away
Under Lock and Key
Tommorrow's Another Day
Invitation to Understanding
Get With It!
Downfall of Western Civilization
PxPx
24. The Theme Fiasco
25. Punk Rawk Show

I didn't see all of the Insyderz, but they were all right. Nate came out from behind his drumset to sing Sacrifice with Joe. I don't remember much else.
Five Iron Frenzy dressed up like the guys from Star Trek. Dennis was Mr. Spock, Reese was Capt. Kirk, and Micah was a Klingon. Between songs they had a little running gag that went something like this:
Reese: How're things going in sick bay?
Keith: Fine, except for one_small_problem. Look, a Klingon! (it's Micah) Oh my god, the Klingon killed Kenny! You bast... I mean, you bad bad Klingon! (can't say bastard at a family show)
Reese: Maybe we should let the Klingon speak.
Micah (as Klingon): [various Klingon speak]
Reese: Hey Brad, what'd he say?
Brad: Dammit, Kirk, I'm not a Klingon speech translator! Maybe he's angry because he can't find his signed Insyderz poster.
They only played about eight songs, which were: handbook for the sellout, fistful of sand, oh canada, a flowery song, blue comb '78, cool enough for you, my evil plan to save the world, and every new day (For some reason Reese "always" screws up and sings the 2nd verse as the 1st verse).
Even if the Supertones are the band you love to hate, they put on a great show. They did a new song or two, and had some worship. They did Unite as an encore.

At the end everyone came out and did Joy to the World. Overall this show was so-so.

When I arrived, All Star United was just finishing their set. I guess that meant they, like Plankeye and Fight 180, had setlists 5 songs short so the Supertones could play 2 hours, because that's what happened. Going to this concert would scare the average kid from ever getting close to a youth group. For one thing, the show was held in an auditorium with seats. That may not seem bad, except before the Supertones came on, the general public was informed they would have to sit in those seats and stay in them the whole time. What the...?! Last time I heard, Supertones were a ska band, and one skanks at ska shows. Not so here. The Supertones have officially cut their strings to the ska scene and have become another youth group band a la Audio Adrenaline, cursed to play mediocre music for teenie-bopper Christian kiddies. Every other word is going to be "Jesus". If that's not selling out, I don't know what is.
A word to the wise: never go to a Supertones concert without being prepared to worship more than you dance. They have the honor of being the preachiest band I've ever seen. They stopped playing after about 20 minutes to come out with acoustic giutars and tamborines to play one song, "Old Friend." Hmm, that sort of killed the energy. Matt did play the guitar for "So Great a Salvation," but before that he sang a few lines from some Backstreet Boys song (you are my fire, my one desire...) . It was scary how many people 1) cheered, and 2) sang along. Near the end, the drummer gave close to a 10 minute sermon! Overall the music was OK, but not good enough to make up for what I call a wasted hour. At least they played Little Man, their best song. Phew.

We came in just in time to see the end of the No Motiv set. 22 Jacks were great. One of their guitar players (Serge?) could lose a few pounds, but he seems like a real nice guy. He sang the lead vocals when they covered "Message in a Bottle" by the Police. The lead singer was all over the place. At one point he jumped off the stage and got back up just in time for the next verse.
Hey, this was my second time seeing MxPx, at the same place, almost a year later! When MxPx came on, the place went wild and didn't stop until the end. They played a new song, "Two Whole Years." I got a bootleg of this show.

Setlist: Under lock and key, Sometimes you have to ask yourself, Downfall of western civilization, Today is in my way, Do your feet hurt, Party my house be there, Two whole years, Andrea/Fist vs tact, GSF, Theme fiasco, Cold and all alone, Doing time, Want ad(by request), Chick magnet, Final slowdance, blank(Cootees cover), Teenage politics, Move to bremerton, Middlename, I'm ok you're ok, Tomorrow's another day *Encore*: Delores, KKK took my baby away, Punk rawk show

Noel and I came early, like 6:30, to the Arch Street teen center. Through the night I talked to guys in the bands, ran into some friends,drank Sobe, met Rob Dobi (ha that rhymes), and had a kickass time. The stage there is pretty small,and at most 30 people showed up. I saw all of Deadbeat Dads. They're a 3 piece punk band, and they rock hard, with little emphasis on melody. They were a decent opening band, too bad not many people were there.
The Schematics are a swing band. I left while they were playing, because swing should have stayed back in the prewar era. If you like swing, you would have liked them. If not, you'd have found them annoying.
Norma's Lemon Stand are awesome. Think ska-punk in the line of Less Than Jake. The covered "Unity" by Op Ivy.
What's Your Problem Brian has a singer named Andrea who is a hottie. I guarentee that two minutes into their set you'll find yourself thinking "what is No Doubt doing here?" Even though they have a major No Doubt influence, they're cool because they have a female sax player and a trumpet player who jumps into the air a lot. Oh yeah, they do a song called "I'm Not Gwen."
Slackjaw are a 4 piece punk rock band. They kick ass and are really tight, despite being together for a year and a half. Their bass player has an Op Ivy tattoo. While they were playing there were 2 or 3 huge guys dancing around and singing into the mic and doing all kinds of crazy shit. One guy even took over a mic for a while.
Finally, Big D. I missed maybe their first 3 songs, but man this is one of the best bands I've ever seen live. You can not stay still listening to these guys. They were just as into the music as the crowd. They jumped around, let the crowd sing into the mic, and serenaded some girl in the balcony with lines from Romeo and Juliet. After getting some 7 inches and patches, I went home.

This show had been postponed from August 26. I went with my friend Edgar and a girl he knows named Zelda. We arrived around 6:30 at the Darien Depot. The Depot is a medium-sized teen center with a pool table, foosball, and a couple couches in the back. A good number of kids showed up this time, compared with the Big D show in July. Oh, and it was hot as hell in front of the indoor stage, partially because of the sweaty guys with no shirts on. I recognized a couple of the kids who showed up, and I met a few of the band members.
I missed the first two bands cuz I was hanging out in the back, but they sounded OK. The main routine I did through the evening was sit in one of the booths, see a band, get rehydrated, and start the cycle over.
Slackjaw kicked major hieney with a bunch of toe-tapping punk rock tunes. One of their songs went "no more alcohol," prompting some mock protests from the sXe crowd. Their cover of "Radio" by Rancid was a major crowd-pleaser.
2nd time seeing What's Your Problem Brian: forget the No Doubt allusions, WYPB can hold their own. They have a great stage presence, and they play ska really well. I'm gonna get their CD soon.
Finally, Catch 22 came on. This was their first show with their new trumpet player. They did some songs off their as of now unreleased CD. Energetic ska punk that makes you feel like getting off your ass! 4 stars, thumbs up, this show was great.

This show was held at the Noroton Pres. Church auditorium. Most people preferred to go outside to talk, any many of them stayed there, even when the bands were playing. From beginning to end, I don't recall the crowd in front of the stage moving around at all, except briefly during Slick Shoes.
I missed most of the first band Troop 53, a couple high school kids from Darien, because frankly, I've moved beyond supporting them for the heck of it. They're not good quite yet.
Foolproof was the second local opening band, and they weren't anything too great.
Jersey was on next, the first of the bands on tour with Slick Shoes. They're from Ontario, and they sounded...typical. Same thing with Cooter, except they were a little more energetic.
Slick Shoes sounded exactly like their records. The singer had had a little accident while playing on the playground, so he didn't move around much. The highlights were when a guest vocalist belted out the verses to "By what right", and when the guitarist played a little of "Master of puppets" during a lull in the show. Overall, this was the most mediocre show I've been too so far.

Me, Noel, and Edgar got dropped off in Greenwich around 6:30, 'cause we figured we were close to the teen center. We then spent the next hour wandering around asking directions and walking in circles. Finally we got there, and amazingly, the show had yet to start! After having trouble with the crappy pay phone that took 35 cents, we hung out and saw the local opening trio, which was a girl singer, and two guys with guitars, one acoustic, one electric. I dunno if they had a name, but they played a Collective Soul song. Yay for them. Somebody had to open. (Maybe it'll be me someday. Moving on...)
Bargain Music was the first band. They're from Long Beach, CA. They have a big singer who plays a mouth organ and does DJ effects, and a black guy (the MC) who raps well. Their music is slow and Sublime-like. Noel and Edgar liked them, I thought they were all right. Pro: they added to the diversity of the show. Con: Their music, while well performed, wasn't as rocking as I'd hoped.
OS101 was next. The singer, Skip, came out wearing an apron and a chef hat. They're from NJ, where the state food is pizza, so Skip's term for their style is pizzacore (it was also the name of the first song). He went on to say that NJ kids do pizza related dances in the pit: spreading the cheese and pickin' up the pepparoni (and don't forget to eat the last one!). They raffled off the 4th of 101 skateboard decks they plan to give away at each show. I think the kid who got it was named Eddie. The mosh pit was really wild. Noel sang into the mic and I helped Skip get back on the stage when he dove off into the crowd. They took a photo of the crowd and insisted that all the middle fingers be up. They have been around for 15 years, and they fuckin' rule!
Then: Catch 22. This was a stop on their CD release tour. They are extremely energetic. They played lotsa new stuff, ending with "Dear sergio." There was sort of no room in the pit to dance around which kinda sucked, but if you like your pit hectic, this was for you. I think the best place to be may have been right in front of the stage, shouting the lyrics to the singer. The band guys couldn't hear themselves, because the sound monitors sucked, but it didn't really matter 'cause most of the people knew the words anyway. Noel said this was the best show he's ever been to, and I agree with him 99.9%, due to Bargain Music.

This show started around 8. West Beverly played first. They are yet another pop punk band who sound like NOFX, Blink 182, and MxPx rolled into one. I mean, the scene has been oversaturated with pop punk bands. The singer jumped around way to much. I don't think he even had his guitar turned on.
Pilfers were great. They played some old stuff, like "Yakuza" and "Next generation." Vinnie the trombone player is awesome. My gripes are they should have played longer and the floor was so packed there wasn't really much room to move around. I definitely want to see these guys again.

I went with my friend Noel. I brought my camera. This was the Clam Chowder CD release party, but I didn't bother paying the extra 4 bucks for the sampler. The church hall is medium sized, and even though there is a stage, all the bands played on the floor, in front of the stage. When a band played, the lights went low, and the main light came from one of those little colored light show contraptions, which was too bright if you looked directly at the lights. Very annoying. For the most part, the acoustics here are lousy. The crowd was made up of junior-high girls and guys who are really trying to be "punk":plaid pants, short spiky hair, Converse All Stars...yawn. They most just stood around, zero energy. I guess most of them were there to "support" Troop 53.
Professor Plum were an OK ska band. The singer also played baritone sax. Nothing special.
Troop 53 are Darien's pet pop punk band, like Blink 182, New Found Glory,etc combined. The 4 guys in the band are still in high school. They weren't great at all. In fact, they were extremely easy to make fun of.
For What It's Worth, Troop 53's side project, was the drummer, guitar player, and another guy who's friends with the band. He didn't sing, he just screamed in a truly unmelodic fashion. This was rather laughable as well. Give the guy credit for trying. Oh, and they didn't play with a bass player, because he didn't show up.
What's Your Problem Brian were OK, but there were a couple problems they had with the mics, which for the most part got fixed. The guitar and bass were easy to hear (I was standing right in front of them) but the singer and the horns didn't come out at all. Afterward the sound guy said they'd been giving him a hard time, so he pretty much left them to their own devices. Andrea the singer was sort of acting like a bitch this time around. Colin also felt the urge to jump off the stage right into the area where they were playing and run into the crowd. Jerk. This was my 3rd time seeing them, and I think they played all the same songs from last time, in almost the same order. I got a bunch of pictures of them tho. The "flavor of the year," as Colin called them, is getting stale.
I didn't bother with Welcome Home Travis, but I from the hallway I got the impression that they weren't that great. Overall, this show gets 2 stars. Weak, but not a total waste of time.

This show started around 8. Incidently, Colin was holding one of his little shows on this day as well, which I heard really sucked. When Greyscale first came on, I thought there were going to be a Korn ripoff, judging from the 7 string Schecter, 5 string Stingray bass, and Fred Durst-resembling singer. As it turns out, they add melody and such to their sound, which makes them stand out. They were pretty damn good.
The Pilfers were great as usual, even getting to play a few new songs. Unfortunately, the crowd was way too vicious. Everyone in front of the stage ended up getting trampled because of the fat jerks in the mosh pit who thought it was cool to rush the stage. The crowd surfing was out of control.

The show started about 9:15 with Mike Viola, who played acoustic guitar. He was very aware his purpose was to warm up the crowd. He played for about half an hour without being too annoying. After about an hour of muzak from the sound system, TMBG came on. They played from 10:30 until about 12:10. There were 5 guys in the band: a drummer, bass, guitar, John F. on guitar and vocals, and John L. on keyboard, accordian, and vocals. They started off with a few familiar tunes like "James K. Polk" and "Ana Ng" before announcing this was Flood Tuesday and playing the entire Flood record, from start to end! The sound system emitted a very apparent buzz that John F. pointed out, and joked, "Right now, the sound guy is probably muttering under his breath,'Well, it was good enough for the Stones.'" They discouraged crowd surfing and said the security, who they called "S.T.A.F.F." were some of the toughest guys in New Haven. At the end of their first encore confetti showered from the rafters. John F's voice was higher than I had expected. John L. frequently jumped from accordian to keyboards and back. They have the talent of giving the crowd all they could ever want from a rock show. Afterwards I got a set list and an autograph. This was the best live band I have seen, period.