Concert Review

Last tuesday night I went to the Big Damn Holiday Jam sponsored by Area 108 fm (one of the better radio stations in Vegas... which sadly, is not saying much) at The Joint. I was pretty excited about the line up: VHS or Beta, Against Me, Angels & Airwaves. What I didn't realize is that it would be a fascinating study in behavioral sociology (is that a term? I just made it up).

Here's my review of the music, the spoken word and the show that was not onstage:

Just What a Band Aught to Be

I was really excited to see VHS or Beta. They'd been recommended to me a while back but I never took the time to check them out. They were perfect. Loved the music. They sounded great. They looked great. They even broke down their own set which is very cool. The only thing that disappointed me about their set was that it was too short (but that's the lot you get when you're the opener to the opener). I came home, downloaded "Bring on the Comets" and haven't stopped listening to it since. Highly, highly recommended. They're pretty much my new favorite band.

Age Appropriate

If you've never heard Against Me, you'll probably understand exactly what kind of band they are when I tell you that my vocal chords hurt after listening to them... and not because I was screaming, but because the lead singer screamed every lyric of their entire set and there was some serious moshing going on. They were really entertaining to watch and the music was pretty good. And man, their drummer killed me! He so did not look the part. I was fully expecting him to break out in some charlie brown dancing right on stage.

Imagine with me now... Against Me onstage. A bunch of punk teens and early 20-somethings all dressed in black, moshing, fist pumping, screaming right along with the lead singer.

Enter Fred & Barney.

At first glance you ask yourself what Fred is doing at a show like this. He's most likely in his early 40s, in town for a convention and taking advantage of the weeks liberation from the wife and kids. He must have come straight from the convention center because he's still wearing a suit, though he's attempting to fit in by taking off his tie and unbuttoning the top few buttons of his white shirt.

Barney is in his late 30s and is a Vegas veteran. This isn't his first time here on business and he's exactly what you'd expect to see at the hottest night club or walking down the strip accompanied by his hired help. He's sporting designer jeans, a button up shirt (cut on the biased, no doubt) and white, croc leather elf shoes and a $300 haircut (that looks exactly like a $20 haircut). In his head he's the hottest thing on the block and he's trying hard to make sure everyone else knows it. In short... he's a tool.

Now, I have no problem with guys of this demographic being at a show like this. I do however have a problem with them being. in. the. mosh. pit. People? Can I just tell how embarrassed I was for these two? They stuck out like a pork chop at a Bar Mitzvah. It was hilarious. The best part was Fred trying to high-five the mosh pit locals only to be met by blank stares. Classic!

So, ok, can we just talk for a moment about what is and is not age appropriate? This has been on my mind as I'm now in the very late august of my 20s and a new decade is knocking... no, banging on my door.

At a show like this I believe there is proper physical placement for each age group. The younger you are the closer you may be to the stage with absolutely no elbow room. Take a step back for every year older you get and gain some breathing room. It's a simple formula. Let's stick to it. The formula may change for each musical genre but there is indeed an age appropriate location for everyone in attendance. So, where was I? Left of center, mid-way back.

You're not paid to talk, buddy. Now shut up and sing!

The headlining band for the evening was Angels & Airwaves. I knew a few of their songs before going to the show so I was looking forward to seeing what they'd be about live. Umm... You know when you leave a show liking a band less than when you came? Yep, that'd be my experience here.

First of all, I didn't know until I got there that the lead singer is Tom DeLonge (ok, color me ignorant), formerly of Blink 182. Did I forget to tell you that I hated Blink? Did I also forget to tell you that I really hated Tom DeLonge?

Well during the opening few songs of their set I was fascinated! This didn't look like that guy from that other band. It was almost impossible to take your eyes off of him. Amazing moves. Incredible stage presence. He seemed like a different person and I was well pleased... until he started talking.

There is an appropriate amount of verbal interaction a performer should have with his/her audience but this was way too far over the line. His 10 minute long stories had me snoozing not to mention the F-this, F-that, F-in F-er. I mean, come on. That's just offensive. To top it all off the vocal levels were way off. Couldn't even hear him singing. I was so ready for that show to be over. OK, it really wasn't so bad. They had a lot of potential to be awesome. Had the vocal levels been balanced and not so much talky, talky, I would have loved seeing them live. Sadly disappointed.

So, in conclusion:

Angels & Airwaves- stick to the ipod
Against Me- Worth seeing as an opener
VHS or Beta- go buy every song they've ever recorded and see them live every chance you get.

All in all- I'm down with the live shows. They're keeping me young- which feels totally age appropriate to me right now.