Give it A Name
So, last night I went to Emo Stock. My Chemical Romance and Panic! on the same bill meant that I was to be surrounded by self-obsessed little shits for the duration of said gig. However, as a sign of sheer disgust that Atreyu were not headlining, I left before MCR, as did David, but because the Ataris were not headlining.
Right, we had a blast. Here it is as we saw it, band by band:
Paramore - Caught the last few moments. The girl can't sing
UnderOath - Plagued by microphone problems, but played noisecore to a tee. They were tight, even with throwing themselves about like absolute fools. FOOLS! Played all the best tracks from "They're Only Chasing Safety", one notable absence being "Reinventing Your Exit", the song that introduced them to me.
Drive By - Never has the word "unremarkable" been so suitable. No charisma, too slow to be a punk band and too bland to be a notable pop-punk band.
Panic! At the Disco - Rather good, but the show seemed too "by numbers" for my liking. The emo girls were pissing their pants when Branden entered the stage, and as a result I was mildly pissed off. They played songs mostly from the strings-half of their album, which was fine, but "Time to Dance" was left out unfortunately.
Men, Women and Children - Excellent live band. Disco for the age we live in. Dressed like 70's throwbacks and equipped with excellently rehearsed dance moves, David and I were equally impressed. "That is the best thing I have seen in a long time", David remarked at one point, to the astonishment of a 14 year old MCR fan, clearly thinking that David had never gotten his hands on a life-sized cardboard cut out of Gerard Way. Wank...utter wank.
Thrice - Inspiring stuff. They even played "Deadbolt" and "Silhouette", two absolute classics, as well as the strongest songs from "Vheissu", including my favourite "Atlantic". Dustin has a fantastic vocal range, and the band was tight as ever. An amazing experience, even if it seemed that the emos did not know what was going on, despite Gerard Way sighting Thrice as one of the finest bands ever. I also caught Mark from Atreyu side-stage singing along, so well done to him for showing respect.
Billy Talent - They were excellent from what David told me, but I really wasn't paying attention as they were setting up for Atreyu on the main stage at the time. I stood marvelling at Dan's fantastic guitars. One thing I did notice was that Billy Talent's frontman is much better live. He has the voice of an evil hell-demon burning in the hottest flames of Hades.
Atreyu - Not surprisingly, my band of the night. They were on absolutely stunning form, the crowd chanting for them before they graced the stage. They opened with "Bleeding Mascara", and the pit opened up straight away. They followed with "The Crimson", and moved onto a scathing rendidtion of "You Eclipsed by Me", followed by new single "Exs and Ohs". "Her Portrait in Black" came next, forcing thousands of heads to thrash like there was no tomorrow. They then followed on with "Right Side of the Bed", "Creature", "Ain't Love Grand" and finished in typical Atreyu style with the epic "Lip Gloss and Black", which nearly blew the roof off the place. I wasn't expecting such support for them, but the whole room was converted by the end of the first song. A religious experience for me. Brilliant.
The Ataris - Many people stupidly left to wank in the outer-arena before MCR, thereby missing a rousing set from the Ataris. Mixing epic new tracks with classics such as "Fast Times at Dropout High", Kris Roe was on fantastic vocal form, particularly in the new tracks, hitting notes that he has never even attempted on record before. "So Long Astoria" was particularly memorable, with Kris diving into the crowd to sing. He bled so much passion into the songs that he put 90% of other musicians to shame with his honesty and commintment, a true hero.
MCR - Well, first they opened with...FUCK OFF! As if I stayed for that watered-down wannabe horror-pop. They are an embarassment to bands they claim have influenced them. I would name some of said bands, but MCR are not worthy to be mentioned in the same breath as real great bands. Fuck MCR.
All in all, a fantastic gig, probably the best i've been to. We actually saw an emo crying, and one came up to us offering free hugs. When we declined, she said "Please hug me or i'll cry"...I nearly pissed myself. 14 year olds continued to strike up conversations with us despite our obvious "anti-twat" approach, containing such lines as:
Kid - "Do you like MCR?"
Us - "No, and we don't like pre-pubescense either"
Hahaha! We ended the night sitting on the floor eating Crunchie nugget thingys and the went to Micky D's.
Spectacular evening, shame about the headline band
x x
Right, we had a blast. Here it is as we saw it, band by band:
Paramore - Caught the last few moments. The girl can't sing
UnderOath - Plagued by microphone problems, but played noisecore to a tee. They were tight, even with throwing themselves about like absolute fools. FOOLS! Played all the best tracks from "They're Only Chasing Safety", one notable absence being "Reinventing Your Exit", the song that introduced them to me.
Drive By - Never has the word "unremarkable" been so suitable. No charisma, too slow to be a punk band and too bland to be a notable pop-punk band.
Panic! At the Disco - Rather good, but the show seemed too "by numbers" for my liking. The emo girls were pissing their pants when Branden entered the stage, and as a result I was mildly pissed off. They played songs mostly from the strings-half of their album, which was fine, but "Time to Dance" was left out unfortunately.
Men, Women and Children - Excellent live band. Disco for the age we live in. Dressed like 70's throwbacks and equipped with excellently rehearsed dance moves, David and I were equally impressed. "That is the best thing I have seen in a long time", David remarked at one point, to the astonishment of a 14 year old MCR fan, clearly thinking that David had never gotten his hands on a life-sized cardboard cut out of Gerard Way. Wank...utter wank.
Thrice - Inspiring stuff. They even played "Deadbolt" and "Silhouette", two absolute classics, as well as the strongest songs from "Vheissu", including my favourite "Atlantic". Dustin has a fantastic vocal range, and the band was tight as ever. An amazing experience, even if it seemed that the emos did not know what was going on, despite Gerard Way sighting Thrice as one of the finest bands ever. I also caught Mark from Atreyu side-stage singing along, so well done to him for showing respect.
Billy Talent - They were excellent from what David told me, but I really wasn't paying attention as they were setting up for Atreyu on the main stage at the time. I stood marvelling at Dan's fantastic guitars. One thing I did notice was that Billy Talent's frontman is much better live. He has the voice of an evil hell-demon burning in the hottest flames of Hades.
Atreyu - Not surprisingly, my band of the night. They were on absolutely stunning form, the crowd chanting for them before they graced the stage. They opened with "Bleeding Mascara", and the pit opened up straight away. They followed with "The Crimson", and moved onto a scathing rendidtion of "You Eclipsed by Me", followed by new single "Exs and Ohs". "Her Portrait in Black" came next, forcing thousands of heads to thrash like there was no tomorrow. They then followed on with "Right Side of the Bed", "Creature", "Ain't Love Grand" and finished in typical Atreyu style with the epic "Lip Gloss and Black", which nearly blew the roof off the place. I wasn't expecting such support for them, but the whole room was converted by the end of the first song. A religious experience for me. Brilliant.
The Ataris - Many people stupidly left to wank in the outer-arena before MCR, thereby missing a rousing set from the Ataris. Mixing epic new tracks with classics such as "Fast Times at Dropout High", Kris Roe was on fantastic vocal form, particularly in the new tracks, hitting notes that he has never even attempted on record before. "So Long Astoria" was particularly memorable, with Kris diving into the crowd to sing. He bled so much passion into the songs that he put 90% of other musicians to shame with his honesty and commintment, a true hero.
MCR - Well, first they opened with...FUCK OFF! As if I stayed for that watered-down wannabe horror-pop. They are an embarassment to bands they claim have influenced them. I would name some of said bands, but MCR are not worthy to be mentioned in the same breath as real great bands. Fuck MCR.
All in all, a fantastic gig, probably the best i've been to. We actually saw an emo crying, and one came up to us offering free hugs. When we declined, she said "Please hug me or i'll cry"...I nearly pissed myself. 14 year olds continued to strike up conversations with us despite our obvious "anti-twat" approach, containing such lines as:
Kid - "Do you like MCR?"
Us - "No, and we don't like pre-pubescense either"
Hahaha! We ended the night sitting on the floor eating Crunchie nugget thingys and the went to Micky D's.
Spectacular evening, shame about the headline band
x x