A line-up so nice, we had to see it twice! Forever the Sickest Kids, The Rocket Summer, Sing it Loud, My Favorite Highway, and Artist Vs. Poet played in Hollywood last night, December 3rd, at the Avalon and the night was AWESOME. I’m going to attempt to give you the scoop without ruining out HUGE feature on Saturday (December 5th in Anaheim at the House of Blues Disney) where we get to do a video interviewing Bryce Avary of The Rocket Summer! (Forever the Sickest Kids/The Rocket Summer Duel Headline Double Feature Part II)

Did Artist Vs. Poet go on first? We walked into the venue while My Favorite Highway was setting up and sound-checking. I’d heard their name around the “Myspace scene” and was interested to see if they could bring it. They opened with a cover of “Gonna be a Good Night” by the Black Eyed Peas and transitioned to some of their own lyrics. The Taylor-Hansen-esque vocalist David Cook dominated the frontman formula with guitar, keys, the mic, and occasionally singing from atop his piano stool (not simultaneously, of course). Their guitar riffs and big bass pop-rock breakdowns fall into the category of Boys Like Girls and Sing it Loud while one of their heavily piano-based songs seemed to be influenced by a band on the very same tour, The Rocket Summer. Alex DeLeon of The Cab came on stage to sing a song with them and they closed with a sweet The-Fray-like song, “Bigger Than Love.” The only question I have left… which highway is their favorite?

Sing it Loud opened with “Best Beating Heart” and the first thing that caught my attention was the bassist’s unbuttoned shirt revealing his skinny white hipster bod. Bet all the teen ladies were lovin’ that! Each band member seemed to be donning a different style – rocker, emo, surfer, hipster… the keyboardist was even wearing a hip-hop looking hat. Appealing to every crowd! I was pretty impressed with their attitude about the show, though. Lead vocalist Pat Brown explained that their trailer had broken down four times, but instead of canceling the show, they borrowed gear from the other bands and crashed with Artist Vs. Poet. The band broke into “I’ve Got a Feeling” and the crowd went NUTS! They closed out with “No One Can Touch” and “Come Around” – their power pop teen love anthems. Awh how cute!

The moment all of us (or about half of us, to be exact) had been waiting for! The stage was adorned with lamps that read “Hurt” “Hope” “Triumph” “Failure” “Faith” …and one other I can’t remember… and Bryce took the stage starting with the drum kit and looping drums, the piano, then the bass, and finally the guitar and then busted into “Break It Out.” In order to save some surprises for Saturday’s review I’ll just give you the low down: there were a group of kids in the middle of the venue jumping up and down, dancing, and singing along to every song. The first break between songs Bryce says, “It feels like a house party in here!” Frontman and mastermind of The Rocket Summer, Bryce Avary, sings his heart out on every song and in a way that lets you know he means every word from the feel-good power pop of “Brat Pack” (to which EVERYONE sang along) to the Jesus-centered ballads “Save” and “In This Hour.” He played my favorite off the new EP You Gotta Believe “Hills and Valleys” and his new single, the title track for which David Cook (or was it Will Cook?) of My Favorite Highway sung support vocals. I’m saving the acoustic track as a secret in case you plan on going to Saturday’s show, but let me tell you it’s a good one. As always, it was an amazing performance for The Rocket Summer. As always, I wish it was longer and they had played older songs.

Dancing on stage to a school bell and announcements of detention, the Forever the Sickest Kids crew jammed out one power pop dance track after another: “Believe Me, I’m Lying,” “Catastrophe,” “Hey Britney” “The Way She Moves” and a ton more off their full-length Under Dog Alma Mater. They also played a few from their very recently released EP Friday like “She Likes (Bittersweet Love)” and “Hip Hop Girl.” The new songs sounded awesome, had a great beat, and were even a little more hip-hop than their previous tracks have been. Even for the new songs that a lot of the crowd didn’t know, everyone was bouncing, head-banging, moshing, and full on grooving. There was never a still moment from the crowd. Lead vocalist Jonathan Cook proclaimed, “Hollywood has been baptized by rhythym!” The guys on stage were gettin’ their groove on as well—keyboardist Kent Garrison was gettin’ freaky at the keyboard, Jonathan took to acting out the lyrics of the songs, and Austin was head-banging. To close the show, Selena Gomez, a close friend of Jonathan Cook, joined the sextet on stage to sing backup on “Whoa Oh,” the first single off UDAM. The kids went wild and there was no way anyone in that venue was standing still.

The night was full of good beats, catchy powerpop riffs, and lots of dancing. The crowd had a ton of energy and all the bands fed off it, making the whole night awesome.

…Can’t wait to do it again tomorrow

My photographer Catharine and I showed up at Club Nokia about 6:30 pm on November 23rd to a shiney, modern, second-floor venue, relatively empty for what was supposed to be a sold out show. The crowd ranged from old dudes in kakis to young guys with baggie pants and studded belts, to girls in platform boots and fur coats. There was a pretty obvious separation between the hipster rockers who came to see JET and the grungy metal bro-types who came to see Papa Roach. If nothing else, this show promised to be interesting…

The first band on stage was one called After Midnight Project. A scary-movie-type synth open led up to the guys taking the stage with their screams and jumping into a sort of thrash metal backed by a drum machine. Their style reminds me of a cross between H.I.M, Hinder, and Hawthorne Heights. Their set was full of throwing rock hands, shredding guitar solos, and the occasional dance or Big Band breakdown. The lyrics were full of obvious rhymes and cliché lines but the musicianship was pretty impressive. Frontman Jason seemed to be imitating an exaggerated version of a rock star, but his antics riled the crowd and being backed by average musician-looking dudes gave the band legitimacy. The band got a good response from the crowd, a good number buying CDs from a merch guy wandering the pit.

The next opener quickly became a new favorite of mine. Billy Boy on Poison, as eccentric as their name, rocked the stage with their funky Americana rock n’ roll and their nonchalant yet spastic front-man decked in suspenders and a New York Times t-shirt. Their opening song shouts, “We are the Revolution,” a nod to the sixties rock that inspires their sound. They jammed out a new song “I’m Ready” with violently sexual lyrics, “I can’t see your face but I can smell your c*nt” and their soon-to-be next single “Happy Valentine’s Day” with blasphemous and critical lyrics (better listened to than quoted). Frontman Davis told the crowd about his pot-smoking habits and his accident involving hair-cutting shears and his ball sack. Between their badass rock and Davis’s quirky performance, they got my attention and my two big thumbs up.

Jet, the band I had most been looking forward to, did not disappoint. Donning all black throughout the band—blazers, leather, jackets and collared shirts, these guys conjured up some authentic rock n’ roll. Jet played their new single not far into the show. An ironically named song, “She’s a Genius” begrudges the popular girl who “only listens to the radio to see who’s alive.” All the guys in the band were rocking hard – the set was laced with tambourine, cowbell, and touring member Louis Macklin was even juggling keyboard and a second set of drums. For one of my favorite songs of the night, frontman Nic Cester dawned an acoustic guitar for “Walk” which starts as a piano pop song and progresses into their usually bass-y funk rock. They followed it with the classic-rock-esque Aerosmith-style “Get What You Need” during which Nic got down into the crowd and shook some hands of excited fans.

While until this point, the vibe in the venue stayed relatively mellow, as soon as Jet started in on “Are You Gonna Be My Girl,” everyone in the place was clapping, screaming, dancing, and singing along. This may be the only song most of the crowd knew, but Jet was an enjoyable band to watch whether either way. What Jet does well is play on the classic rock style and give it a modern spin. They seem to be stuck in the one-single rut but the songs they played off their new album Shaka Rock like “Seventeen” and “She’s a Genius” are definitely worthy of making another radio splash for Jet.

After a long set change, Black leather and tight pants filled the stage below the elevated drum set and the stage lights flashed like a haunted mansion strobe light. Lead vocalist for Papa Roach Jacoby Shaddix was decked out in a red and black harlequin pattern vest, metal chains around his neck, and eyes buried in days worth of eyeliner. These guys were prepared to rock the stage with a vengeance. In the midst of one of the first songs, Jacoby clenched the mic between his teeth and laughed like a crazy man, adding to the “metal” of his stage persona. Guitarrist Jerry Horton threw his long hair in the air while he went crazy on his axe. During “Broken Home” the crowd jumped and screamed to the lyrics of “I know my mama loves me.” Pissed off and sweaty, Jacoby began an intro of what sounded like The Ramone’s “Blitzkrieg Bop” and turned into their song “To Be Loved” which included some Linkin-Park-type rock-rap. Papa Roach may be the kind of band that appeals to the blue-collared dudes and the broken-home kids but everyone in this Los Angeles crowed pulsed the floor from their jumping in time with the heavy bass pulse for “Getting Away with Murder.” Rock “horns” thrashed with head banding per the band’s request. Jacoby screamed “You like that shit, huh?” and conducted the crowd to scream louder. On a more somber note, he dedicated “Scars” to his sister who’s “been through a lot of shit just like I have,” saying that the song is about being on the bottom and pulling yourself up and as the song played, everyone in the venue screamed the lines “GO FIX YOURSELF!”

The band consists of really great musicians and some awesome performers. They know how to command the crowd and the excitement oozed out of the fans. To be honest, I didn’t expect much out of these “bro”-type rockers and although I wouldn’t go as far as to say I left a fan, I think I was at least persuaded to understand their appeal.

The night was pretty awesome. Everything went smoothly, none of the bands were terrible, and we left unscathed. Woot!

Can’t get enough of the photos? Even more available on our Myspace album Papa Roach and Jet at Club Nokia