My review of Ghosts has been the most viewed post on this site for a while now, so I thought I’d throw it out there that The Gay Blades will be playing The Knitting Factory in Hollywood on Thursday, March 20. I will do my best to get to this show, but I’m really bad at making it to weekday shows. Day jobs suck.
Archive for the 'The Knitting Factory' Category
- Listen at: www.myspace.com/justsurrenderrock
- Available on: Amazon MP3
I have a rule – after a band reaches a certain level of market penetration I no longer consider them for this blog. As much as I love Paramore and My Chemical Romance, they just don’t need the help. So I’m taking this opportunity to write about Just Surrender, since I think my window of opportunity is closing fast.
Just Surrender is a four (or maybe five – Wikipedia isn’t sure, and I can’t get to Myspace from work) piece group out of upstate New York that writes melodic pop-punk. Their sound alternates rapid-fire verses (think Panic at the Disco at their most tongue-twisting) with more melodic sing-along choruses. The writing is fun and fluffy, not terribly introspective or original, but also not annoyingly clichéd. We’re In Like Sin is a perfect driving album, as long as you can get away with 80 mph with the sunroof open. Standout tracks are “New Declaration,” “I Said It Before,” and “We’re In Like Sin.”
Just Surrender is on tour with Lorene Drive. They’re playing The Knitting Factory on Feb. 14 and Chain Reaction Feb. 15. That’s this week, kids. Get on it. [Show review.]
- Listen at: www.myspace.com/lorenedrive
- Available on: Myspace via Snocap
If this had been released by any other band, I would have saved it for the next EP Roundup. But Lorene Drive is my favoritest local act and it’s been forever since we had new music from them. Out Alive is short, but far more mature than Romantic Wealth (which is itself quite awesome). The sound has stayed the same – Lorene Drive plays high-energy guitar rock with stellar, high-drama vocals delivered by Daniel Murillo. The themes on Out Alive have grown beyond what the band was writing on Romantic Wealth. The lyrics are more thoughtful, especially “Second Nature,” an honest-to-god social commentary piece that still rocks so hard you don’t realize how political it is the first time through. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good song about falling into (or out of) love, but it’s nice to see a band write about bigger themes.
Lorene Drive is playing The Knitting Factory Feb. 14 and Chain Reaction with A Static Lullaby Feb. 15. [Show review.]
This was my first show at The Knitting Factory. I’ve posted a venue review here.
I was terribly tempted to snag a table at this show, but you want to be front and center any time The Higher play, so I waded into the crowd on the floor. As soon as the show started, I was glad I did, because the first band up was amazing. We Shot The Moon is a local band out of San Diego that plays piano-rock ala The Fray. The band played a solid set that was cohesive and engaging. Lead singer Jonathan Jones (also the pianist) started the set off endearingly bashful, but quickly warmed up and got the crowd playing along in a sing-along contest.
Next up was The Higher, who are quickly becoming my favorite live act. This crowd wasn’t as convinced at the start of the set, but after a few songs completely lost their minds. The Higher are really in their element on stage, even the more clichéd songs come across as novel and complex. This set didn’t feature as much commentary from the band as their headlining shows since they were on a bit of a time crunch.
The Higher were followed by The Matches, who were the real stars of the night. This is a band that definitely has to be experienced live to be believed. The Matches play melodic-punk that is pretty spare on pop influences, and their shows reflect it. The crowd went berserk long before they ever took the stage and the energy level stayed high through the whole set. The band is wonderfully theatrical on stage, in the tradition of early Green Day or My Chemical Romance shows, but still engaged with the audience and accessible. At one point, the bassist handed his guitar to a girl in the front row to hold while he took off his jacket. They stuck to their more melodic numbers to keep the audience singing, but also played a couple songs off their new album (plug: A Band In Hope is out March 18). The Matches closed the set with a swaggering version of “Papercut Skin” that even got their guitar tech into the act (on triangles).
Next up, in theory, was Sherwood, but what really happened was the stage went dark and the crowd settled in for the longest turnaround ever, so after a while I wandered off upstairs to grab a seat. The whole theory behind opening bands is that they generate momentum, but if you take forever to turn the stage and do monitor checks you lose all the energy built up by the other bands and people start to realize that they can no longer feel their feet because The Matches’ fans jumped on them a few too many times. So I got some water and stole a table upstairs.
When Sherwood did take the stage they were impressive, but the set was a bit pedestrian after what The Matches had done. They took the stage in uniforms, red beanies and matching hoodies that were shed after the first number and settled in for a very mature, precise show. Nate Henry is a vocalist to give Seth of The Higher a run for his money and the instrumentation is complex and accessible.
Sherwood has incredible cohesion on stage. The set wandered between their acoustic numbers and the more strident songs. About halfway through the set, they played a cover of “Holiday” off Something To Write Home About by The Get Up Kids that mostly lost the crowd, but was a wonderful interpretation and it was great to hear a Get Up Kids song live again. The band was clearly enjoying themselves. During an acoustic number, the drummer and keyboardist wandered around the stage blowing bubbles at the crowd. They closed with a non-encore, evidently Nate finds the whole encore-routine to be a bit awkward, so they just announced that the next two songs were the encore and launched right into them. It was refreshing to have a band acknowledge the encore farce as being an act, and closed the show on an intimate note.
It’s been a long time since I had a show to write up – over a month. So I’ve decided to binge over the next couple of weeks, starting Saturday.
Round 1 @ Chain Reaction:
- January 26, 2008: Envy On The Coast and The Audition
- January 31, 2008: Weatherbox, with Jet Lag Gemini (Releasing their first album, Fire The Cannons Jan. 22. Look for a review on Wednesday, Jan. 23.)
Round 2 @ The Knitting Factory:
- February 2, 2008: Sherwood, The Matches, and The Higher (who always put on a fantastic show)
- February 6, 2008: Limbeck and John Ralston (on the Alterknit stage. I saw Ralston on tour with Dashboard Confessional a few months back, and he’s amazing live.)
Round Three @ The Glass House:
- February 8, 2008: Scary Kids, Scaring Kids (Maybe. If I bail on any of these, it will be this one. I’m not so thrilled with the supporting the line-up.)
- February 16, 2008: Aiden, Madina Lake, and My American Heart (Madina Lake killed it on the Projekt Revolution tour this summer.)
- February 17, 2008: Mayday Parade and Pierce The Veil
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