07.02.07
I Resurface. So do Thrice and Brand New.
Well, to all of you who may still be reading this (or are just joining on), I promised I’d return in May, I think. It’s now the ass end of June. But I have good news! As you may or may not expect, it involves Thrice.
That’s right, Brand New is heading out on tour starting October 18 with Thrice and mewithoutYou! This is going to be a huge tour. It also marks the first time that Brand New and Thrice have toured together since several years ago when they came through with Dashboard on the Honda Civic tour, which was sort of my first proper introduction to Brand New. The Dallas stop is set to occur Nov. 14, so mark your calendars for a sick show. The House of Blues has my full recommendation as a venue, despite its obvious lack of underground cred (read: it is fully commercialized). The sound quality is great (at least in the small Gypsy Tea Room-esque performance area it was), the decor is suiting and detailed, and it pulls in acts like this one. Keep your eyes on this website for show info and purchasing information.
02.28.07
(Review) 2-25-07: meWithoutYou, Sparta, Aloha
I’ll start off by saying that this show was very, very underwhelming. I had fairly high expectations; I’ve been a casual Sparta listener since the early years of high school, and I got some good listens in on Wiretap Scars. It was a pretty good album. Their show wasn’t.
A band named Aloha opened up with a not-so-original dance beat-laden indie rock sound, cranking out songs that were hard to differentiate (and, as is always the case at Gypsy, the vocals were indiscernible). I was initially very much into this very chill band; by the end of the set I was eagerly waving them off. I just wanted to see Sparta and get on with it.
Sparta, to my surprise, was not the headlining band! Sparta came on next, opening up for meWithoutYou. I didn’t see that one coming; Sparta’s actually got a following. I admit that I know nothing about meWithoutYou (aside from having one of their CDs on my computer that I haven’t ever listened to), but still! Sparta just seemed to me to be the bigger act overall. The crowd seemed to think otherwise. They were wholly unimpressed, at least the ones near the back. The people up at the front were into it (as people in the front usually are), and all seemed to be going great until Jim Ward, the lead singer, thought it wise to berate a crowd surfer, telling the kid that he didn’t want anybody crowdsurfing (people were getting kicked, he said) and to stay off of his stage, or he’d “fucking throw you out himself”. This instantly turned me off / made me want to crowd surf to spite him, and now I regret not doing it. They didn’t play “Cut Your Ribbon”! After Sparta was off, Laura and I peaced out. We were tired, and we were not up for sitting through a full, headlining set for a band that we were completely unfamiliar with.
If you want to read a little bit more about the show, there’s also an article in today’s Daily Campus (I think…). If you’re on campus, pick it up! Otherwise, I’ll find and post the link here. Enjoy!
