Opening act should have been headliner
I rarely leave a concert talking bad of four out of five bands I had seen, but last night was definitely my exception.
Friday night, The Rave/Eagles Ballroom hosted The Alternative Press tour, featuring three opening acts and two co-headliners. I was much less than impressed with the outcome of the bands chosen, save one.
My friend Marie and I showed up to The Rave late only to be bombarded with the loudest mash-up of noises by Forever The Sickest Kids. I attempted to keep an open mind but after about a minute I couldn’t find the kindness in my heart.
You know a band is emo when all the band-mates have longer hair than a majority of the girls at the venue. Such was the case with Sonny. I applaud him on his attempt at falsetto but the only people who should be singing that high are Anthony Green from Circa Survive or Tom Chaplin of Keane.
It was like Coheed & Cambria had a love child, except with straighter hair. The only word I can use to describe the 30 minute set, which ended in Sonny playing some random mix on his laptop and pounding his fist in the air, was painful.
I specifically paid $20 for my ticket for the third opening band, who should have been the headliner. The Matches; Shawn, Justin, Jon and Matt, should not have had to be associated with the crap-tastic music we heard that night.
Coordinated in red clothes (save Matt, who wore blue), and started with the first single on their second album, Decomposer. “Salty Eyes” was fantastic and they couldn’t have done anything to ruin the song.
Next came “Little Maggots” which I had never seen live before. Even the feedback worked with the song.
The guys make their music so interesting. During “Papercut Skin,” they were so over the top that it was fantastic and entertaining to watch, especially when guitar tech Ben Young, AKA Triangle Man, came out on stage and rocked that triangle. It was much better than the other bands that just stood there.
“This one’s a new song,” said Jon to which Shawn replied, “Unless you believe in time travel,” before starting “Wake the Sun,” the first single off their newest album A Band In Hope.
“Sick Little Suicide” came next and any words for this song would be doing it injustice. It was exactly as the album and it was amazing.
“Yankee In A Chip Shop” and “Their City” showcased two of the best songs of A Band In Hope and were both equally fantastic.
They closed their set with “Sunburn Vs. The Rhinovirus.” I don’t care how long they’ve been on this tour, they’ve never sounded better.
Here’s where my nice words end. The co-headliners for this tour were The Rocket Summer and All Time Low. I think I heard words during this time but I have no clue.
The lights went down when The Rocket Summer came on stage and everyone in there started screaming to which Marie replied, “Calm down, it’s just a shitty band!” It was an attack of the fangirls and no one was safe.
I was lost at “How’s it going
There was so much crap on that stage which included a keyboard with lights on it. What purpose did that serve? To see how much crap they could shove on the stage?
The building was not big enough to get away from the terrible-to-terribler sound.
I met up with Nicky Schneider, student at UWM, and watched her do a facepalm while shaking her head and exclaiming “Oh my god!” during All Time Low, the second headliner of the night.
The set started with a parental advisory and that was pretty much the only thing that had any form of enunciation. They were the only words I understood for the entire 45-minute set. I think I’ve heard more music and melody in the click of a retractable pen.
I guess you really have to be a hardcore fan of these bands before actually committing to going to a concert of them but The Matches were the only band that were worth listening to of the entire night. Either way, 4/5 of this concert bit the big one.
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