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Posts Tagged ‘The Rocket Summer’

  1. Warped Tour Twenty Ten, Pomona, CA

    September 3, 2010 by Steph

    12:15 AM Taxi
    12:45 Set Your Goals
    1:00 Interview with Bryce of The Rocket Summer
    2:00 Reel Big Fish
    2:15 Riverboat Gamblers
    2:20 Interview with Ace of I Can Make A Mess
    2:45 Artist Vs. Poet
    3:00 Everclear // Mayday Parade
    3:15 The Rocket Summer
    3:50 Alkaline Trio
    4:30 Interview with Art of Everclear
    5:00 Interview with Mayday Parade
    5:15 Fake Problems
    5:40 Anti-Flag
    5:45 I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody’s Business
    6:30 Dropkick Murphys
    6:45 Alesana
    7:00 Agent Orange
    7:– Lost Cause
    7:15 You Me At Six
    7:15 Never Shout Never

    For Warped Tour Twenty Ten, friend and photographer Dave Endicott made out way up to Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, CA to be greeted with an already-hot day as usual. We knew the drill—go to the blow up schedule, decide on the bands to see, and then check in at the press tent for interviews.

    After we had gotten our bearings and planned our schedule for the day, Dave and I wandered around, trying to kill some time before Set Your Goals played at 12:45. We caught a few minutes of a band called AM Taxi who, as Dave puts it, “didn’t suck,” so we snagged a few photos of them playing a song called “The Mistake.”

    Set Your Goals by David Endicott

    Set Your Goals by David Endicott

    We headed over to the Altek stage and made it a few minutes before Set Your Goals was scheduled to start. Already there was a huge crowd, definitely larger than the last two years they’ve been a part of the tour, and the fans were excited for this punk-leaning pop-punk trio. A booming voice in true boxing-ring style blasted over the PA, “And the love child of Liza Minelli, rocky Set Your Goals!” They started with “Gaia Bleeds (Make Way For Man)” and followed with “The Fallen…” Although they were ready to roar and shredding as always, somehow the “punk kid” in them shined through—the weird kid that sat in the back of class and dreamed of following in the footsteps of their heroes in Rancid. Only, these guys are “livin’ the dream” The last song they called what I thought was “This May Never Happen” (is it new?) and we jetted back to the press tent for an interview with Bryce of The Rocket Summer.

    Reel Big Fish by Stephanie Spear

    Reel Big Fish by Stephanie Spear

    Reel Big Fish must be the only band in history to start their Warped Tour set early. As far as I know, the band was scheduled to start at 2:00, but at five-till we were still looking for the right stage and heard “Everything Sucks” blaring with brass section ablaze. “Thanks for watching Reel Big Fish” says lead singer and they begin to walk off stage. The crowd looked around shocked and a few boos could be heard. The band hadn’t even made it off the stage before they turned back around. “They said we have time to do one more song.” Those pranksters! “I Want Your Girlfriend to Be My Girlfriend Too” was their “encore” and they proceeded to thank the crowd again, only to come back “Okay, they said we can do one more.” They played nothing but favorites—“Your Guts (I Hate ‘Em), “She Has A Girlfriend Now” with great girl guest vocals, “Suburban Rhythm” and a ton of other greats. Being the first time I’d seen RBF live and them having been one of the first bands I heard that was not being played on the radio (yeah, that was a long time ago), I was absolutely impressed!

    Dave and I split ways—him to capture Riverboat Gamblers, Artist Vs. Poet and Everclear and me Mayday Parade and The Rocket Summer. On my way to Mayday Parade’s set, I passed a girl playing an acoustic show in the Altec Live tent. Becca was drawing in a crowd little by little and whether it was because she was a grungy girl wearing a leopard negligee or because she was rocking the acoustic guitar with powerful vocals, I’m not sure, but I liked it.

    I made it to the Mayday Parade stage with time to spare, but the stage was running a bit behind schedule. After waiting ten minutes, I decided to cut my losses and make sure I was in time for The Rocket Summer.

    The Rocket Summer by David Endicott

    The Rocket Summer by David Endicott

    As always, Bryce of The Rocket Summer put on a great show, opening the set with my favorite track off the new album Of Men And Angeles and also the You Gotta Believe EP– “Hills and Valleys.” An absolutely heartfelt yet upbeat song, the crowd sang it back to him as if it’d become their own anthem. He followed it with “Do You Feel” and then was inspired by the scenery to “create a song” performing his one-man-song via looping. It’s impressive to say the least—building a song by creating a drum track and adding keyboard, bass, and then playing a guitar solo. To those who hadn’t seen this several times already, it most certainly inspire awe. After he played one of my favorite songs “Brat Pack,” I regrettably had to move on to make it to the other side of the fairgrounds to see Alkaline Trio.

    On my way, I did catch a song of Mayday Parade—black cat. Which inspired me fore a few of my interview questions for Mayday Parade.

    Alkaline Trio by David Endicott

    Alkaline Trio by David Endicott

    Then Alkaline trio, which I would probably consider one of my favorite bands, performed well, but their set was a bit disappointing. From the majority of their set that I watched, they didn’t play any of my favorites. I’m sure that long-time fans loved that they rocked some oldies like “My Friend Peter” and “Armageddon,” but I didn’t hear any of the essentials like “Radio” or anything at all from Crimson. Opening with “Armageddon,” they followed it with “Dine, Dine My Darling” for “every time I dine” said Dan Andriano. “Calling All Skeletons” was giving guitarist some awful feedback that would have made some rock stars livid, but he worked with it and kept the song going. “The American Scream” from their newest album This Addiction was the last song I heard of their set, which they dedicated to “our friends at Epitaph Records.” It’s good to hear that some bands are happy with their label.

    Then we snagged Ace of I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody’s Business from his merch tent and asked him a couple of questions…

    With some time to kill, Dave and I wandered over to Fake Problems, catching a few photos of another band on the way. While I was a little worried about Fake Problems after hearing a short preview the night before, I was pleasantly surprised. I suppose I shouldn’t expect any less from a Side One Dummy band. They were busting out some great Americana rock, but it lacked the normal clichés. They played a new song “5-6-7-8” from their upcoming album Real Ghosts Caught on Tape (Sept 21 release) which had some familiar riffs, but I couldn’t place them.

    Dave and I parted ways again so he could capture Anti-Flag whose set he said was “insane” and they were “fucking awesome.”

    I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Business by Steph

    I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Business by Steph

    Ace Enders, having played in The Early November and as Ace Enders and a Million Different People, is back playing under the nom de plume I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody’s Business, a band name that seemed to be omnipresent among music lovers back in 2004. After playing two older songs, he performed a new song called “Old Man………………………”, which started slow and wandering and then had a great pick up into an upbeat track. The next song, “The Best Happiness That Money Can Buy” went out to “people who have a little feeling that never lets you stop.” He seemed so genuinely grateful for us just listening and “helping him achieve his dreams” and it was incredibly moving. It was hard at that moment not to be in love. His closing track was a big surprise—a partially-acoustic version of The Early November’s “Ever So Sweet.” And it was.

    Immediately after, on the adjacent stage, an announcer said to the crowd something to the effect of “she’s had a long day so show her some love” and out came a skinny blonde who looked like she didn’t give a shit. Whether it was part of the act or she really was having a rough day I have no idea, but no one was being allowed in the press pit for her set (perhaps to avoid any dark circles or red eyes being caught on camera?). This band, I discovered, was The Pretty Reckless. Taylor Momsen’s band. Unless you read celebrity blogs or watch teenage dramas, this name probably doesn’t mean much to you, but she’s an actress on The CW’s Gossip Girl. She opened with a track called “Light Me Up” but she didn’t sound any too pleased about being herself. During a break in the song she told the crowd, “If you’ve got anything to smoke, light it up, I don’t care what it is” and she continued to sing the chorus, “Light me up when I’m down.” Despite her I’m-over-this attitude (or maybe because of it) the crowd seemed pretty enthralled with this girl rock à-la Joan Jett.

    Dropkick Murphys by Steph

    Dropkick Murphys by Steph

    While I can’t say I’m an avid listener of the Dropkick Murphys, what I can say is that I know that they rock and kick ass. Before they came on stage, they played a beautiful female Irish ballad and then pounced on stage with attitude. They tore up the set and while it was a clusterfuck in the photo pit trying to shoot their raw awesomeness and although I couldn’t tell you any names of the tracks they played, the performance was fantastic and so full of raw energy they could have gone for round two.

    Dave headed off to cover Agent Orange (“They were showing their age. Great band, but they seemed tired.”) Lost Cause, and You Me at Six (“Girls must be all over them for their Australian accents”).

    I meandered to the “pop side of the venue” for my last two bands of the day.

    I have heard Alesana’s name before, mostly from the two Punk Goes… tracks they’ve done—“What Goes Around” on Punk Goes Pop Vol. 2 and “Apology” on Punk Goes Acoustic 2. I suppose from those associations, I had a bit of a misconception about the band, but nonetheless, their screamo dominated the Glamour Kills stage. Clad in almost entirely, if not exclusively black, these dudes were guitar-licking, screaming, and throwing themselves into the crowd as if their lives depended on it.

    In the photo pit of the AP stage before the next set, a fellow photographer whispered to me that some of the girls in the already-sardine-packed crowd were crying at the site of NeverShoutNever’s Christopher Ingle. While this boy’s music is the most adorable thing since teddy bears and his wide-eyed doe-y face and bush of hair makes

    NeverShoutNever by Steph

    NeverShoutNever by Steph

    him seem like the southern-bread apple pie boy that he is, the tattoos on his hands and the cigarette he lit while coming on stage made him look like the boy your mama warned you about. Appealing to all the girls who love a bad boy with a sweet side (what girl doesn’t?), this potty-mouthed hooligan opened with “Love Is Our Weapon” as he tucked his lit cigarette into his guitar neck. The harmonica around his neck only added to his lovability and before he played one of my favorites, he explained that it was about having a crush on a rock n’ roll girl with tattoos. “Trouble” is, by my account, a dangerous song, condoning the addition to a crush that is probably bad for all involved. He then performed the optimistic “BigCityDreams” and then caught the crowd off-guard when before breaking into “What Is Love” he asked the crowd to raise their hands if their parents were divorced. By his account, he seems to have come from a pretty typically shitty family situation and he shouted, “I hope our kids are happy as fucking fuck!” “I Love You 5” he said was about when he “loved a girl five times. But it took me five times to realize she was not my girl.” About Christopher Ingle of NeverShoutNever (or Never Shout Never) all I can say is that a wounded bad boy with a sweet side and a guitar makes for a very excitable girl following.

    The whole day was much more of a success than I expected. Lots of running back and forth but Dave and I were able to see a great range of bands who all performed great sets. Seems as though Warped Tour still has some life in it, even if the crowd and bands have changed a bit from the original tour in 1995.


  2. The Rocket Summer’s album Of Men and Angels

    February 21, 2010 by Anna

    Quick, think of one thing you don’t like about The Rocket Summer…it’s okay, I’ve got nothing either. How could I have anything remotely negative to say about a band (I use that term loosely as there is only one very talented guy behind it by the name of Bryce Avary) whose past albums had titles like “Hello, Good Friend” and “Do You Feel?” Judging from the feel-good album titles alone, The Rocket Summer is not your average pop-rock band.  It aims not for fame and fortune but for a means to spread its message.  While other pop-rock acts sing about romantic relationships and heartbreak, The Rocket Summer takes a more daring approach, offering tracks about appreciating life and self-awareness.  The band aims to spread love and it does just that in Of Men and Angels, its latest album on Island Def Jam records to be released on February 23, 2010.

    I love it when I listen to a song and it changes my perspective of life in a matter of 3 or 4 minutes. I love it even more when there are other songs just like it compiled into one cohesive and well-crafted album like Of Men and Angels.  Bryce Avary truly outdid himself with this one, kicking off the record with “Roses” which boasts of excellent percussion and a larger than life energy that not only embellishes the encouraging lyrics of the track, but also establishes the album’s optimistic tone.

    The album continues to impress with the mellow “Hills and Valleys,” which initially sounds like a ballad and quickly transitions into an upbeat track that highlights Avary’s growth as a vocalist and benefits from the lighthearted feel that handclaps create.  But if this track’s gorgeous piano intro leaves you wanting to listen to something slow and sentimental, then “Walls” is the way to go.  The Rocket Summer broke my heart with this track, in a good way of course.  If not brilliant for the tear-jerking harmonies in the last minute of the song, then “Walls” is great for its perfect inclusion of strings and vocal urgency.

    However, the most memorable tracks on the album are those in which Avary shows his quirkier side.  The choir-like “oohs” and snaps that initiate “Nothing Matters” makes it an immediate favorite, but perhaps what solidifies its genius status is that it has one of the best lines in the whole album, “I know it’s not too sexy but I’m singing ‘bout the blessings we get.”  If that doesn’t get a smile out of you, then “Japanese Exchange Student” will.  A good artist is one that namedrops in a song and gets away with it, but an extraordinary artist can namedrop both Beyonce and Paul McCartney in a song and come away with a track that still has substantial meaning. While the song is lighthearted and silly with lyrics like “Be nice to the Japanese exchange student” and “I love the Japanese, those from Japan and overseas like me,” it inevitably holds a bigger message, like all the tracks on this record, to be accepting of others in general.  How he managed to teach a moral lesson through such unusual means is beyond me, but that is the genius of it.

    This album isn’t much different from The Rocket Summer’s previous work, but I suppose it’s as the old saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” While it does have more spiritual and introspective influences, Of Men and Angels stays true to The Rocket Summer’s lively and optimistic style and shows that growth without abandoning musical and lyrical roots is possible.  The Rocket Summer is all about feeling good and spreading love, so it goes without saying that I love the good feeling that I get from this album and you will too.

    Rating: (4.5/5)


  3. Bryce Avary (The Rocket Summer) Video Interview

    December 19, 2009 by Steph

    Bryce Avary, The Rocket Summer, photo by Catharine AcursoThe moment you’ve all been waiting for!! Okay, maybe it’s just me… But no matter, Bryce Avary, the talent and brains of The Rocket Summer, took a few minutes before the last show of the Cheap Date Tour to chat with us. He talked to me about the beginnings of his band, his upcoming release, and what Bryce is like behind the scenes. Plus his exciting plans for 2010 are revealed!

    Watch the video right here, or watch it in iTunes on the Addicted to Shows Podcast

    P.S. Don’t forget to enter to win a signed limited edition poster of The Rocket Summer at our Rocket Summer Poster Contest page.


  4. Forever the Sickest Kids/The Rocket Summer Duel Headline Double Feature! part II in Anaheim

    December 10, 2009 by Steph

    At the show on Saturday night (Dec. 5th) at the House of Blues in Anaheim, we got great photos and an interview with Bryce Avary of The Rocket Summer! Catharine’s photos above are awesome and we’re working on getting the VIDEO interview edited for all of you to see.

    I wrote a full review on this tour for the show in LA on December 3rd (Forever the Sickest Kids/The Rocket Summer Duel Headline Double Feature Part I). Instead of writing another review about the same tour with the same line-up and same set list, I’m going to give you the highlights of the last night of the Cheap Date Tour:

    Artist Vs. Poet:
    I guess they played while we were getting the interview with Bryce Avary. Sorry, guys, I really wanted to see them 🙁

    My Favorite Highway

  5. Great ballad “The Chase”
  6. “Getaway Car” is the Rocket-Summer-like pop rock song
  7. Close with the great “Bigger Than Love” again
  8. Sing It Loud

  9. People go crazy for these dudes when they come on stage.
  10. Bassist Nate Flynn still refuses to button his shirt closed.
  11. During the opening song “Best Beating Heart” the band jump in time and the fans scream
  12. While playing “Bite Your Lip,” even the keyboardist is jumping back and forth
  13. The boys announce their new record Sugar Sweet coming soon
  14. Pat’s laptop got stolen “So expect nudes soon. He has a fantastic tiny dick”
  15. Sing It Loud plays another new slow song. “We don’t have a name for this song yet because we’re lazy” but the lyrics include “I’ll never stop loving you it’s time to let you know.”
  16. The Rocket Summer

  17. The first time The Rocket Summer came to California, they sold out Chain Reaction
  18. Lots of love for Anaheim, CA, who has been supportive over the ten year of The Rocket Summer’s touring
  19. The crowd in House of Blues was stoked and roudy, the pit packed shoulder to shoulder and everyone was dancing and singing along.
  20. They played all the favorites from Do You Feel and a couple off his new EP You Gotta Believe plus, he can’t forget about “Brat Pack”
  21. Bryce snuck to the back of the pit and the crowd made a circle for him to play an amazing cover of “Maps” by the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s. During the song, a ton of musicians from the night came on stage to sing along. Everyone’s face turned to the front stage and cameras went up like paparazzi.
  22. Gold confetti rained on the crowd.
  23. Awesome set.
  24. Forever the Sickest Kids

  25. The dudes of FTSK seemed just as stoked to be in Anaheim and they kept showing stuff like “You’re blowin’ my mind” and how we had decided that we “were gonna be the best crowd they’ve seen” and even sung “Oh Anaheim, Oh Anaheim” to the tune of “Oh Christmas Tree.”
  26. Caleb claimed that when they play in Texas they have 15 crowd surfers per song so they challenged Anaheim to the same level of awesomeness. During the next song, Caleb kept count while kid after kid was thrown up and Caleb announced that we “beat the crap out of dallas for crowd surfers.”
  27. One of the tech guys came on stage to fix something and was required to shake his booty at the crowd before he could do his job
  28. A ton of people were there on their birthday but the FTSK guys decided they were gonna celebrate unbirthdays singing “boom shaka laka.”
  29. Caleb often shouts “suck it!”

Category Live | Tags: ,,, | 2 Comments


  • Forever the Sickest Kids/The Rocket Summer Duel Headline Double Feature! part I

    December 4, 2009 by Steph

    The Cheap Date Tour poster, source: pickrset.comA 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, Source: myspace.com/singitloudSing 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 Rocket Summer, Source: myspace.com/therocketsummerThe 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.

    l_366e1c86ff684e92901c2a060eec43d1Dancing 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 😉


  • The Rocket Summer with Phantom Planet, The Secert Handshake, and The Morning Light

    September 22, 2008 by Steph

    (videos available in Myspace blog)

    Last Saturday fellow writer Cassie and I headed up to Hollywood to the Henry Fonda Music Box to see one of our favorite bands—The Rocket Summer. We were a little surprised at the small crowd. Rumors were that only 500 tickets were pre-sold to this 1200-capacity venue.

    First band went up about 8:00.  The Morning Light is a pop rock group from Pittsburg.  Generally their music was pretty typical of their genre—some keyboard,  lots of cymbal, and some tenor vocals.  Except that their voices constantly sounded like they were reaching to grab the notes and while they probably did it intentionally to imply determination and musical perseverance, it sounded like they were having a hard time controlling their scratchy vocals.  Fortunately they were able to make this work on the album, but live, not so much.  The lyrics they were singing didn’t help them out.  Nothing memorable, really.

    The Secret Handshake, a pop-electronica brain child of Luis Dubuc, came on stage next with a bang.  Exploding on stage to Punk Goes Crunk’s “I Wish,” he turned The Music Box into a dance floor.  Some of the scene too-cool kids stood awkwardly but some caught on and got into the groove.  Heavy beats and electronica mixed perfectly in this cover.  As his set went on however, a few of his songs seemed a little more rock with clearer vocals and suitable for the crowd.  Others seemed unfit for the venue.  Some tracks felt like they could only be enjoyed accompanied by some glow sticks and acid.  Vocal effects and electronic tracks made some lyrics difficult to understand and, especially with some of the tracks too slow to dance to, the songs un-relatable to the crowd.

    Next to take the stage was Phantom Planet.  Best remembered for their theme song to the hit teen drama, The OC, these guys are much more talented than said single could possibly lead on.  A fan of the band since the release of The Guest in 2002, they have continued to make great music and pump out dance-worthy indie rock hits since.  Their stage presence, full of big rock ego and big rock beats, got the crowd rowdy.  They played big hits including “California” and single off their new album “Do the Panic.”  They even did a mashup of The Guest’s “All Over Again” with “Phantom of the Opera.”  I constantly wondered how this great band has managed to continue making amazing music for at least the past decade and stay relatively under the radar. Awesome set from this Los Angeles band.

    And last up, headliner of the night, The Rocket Summer.  The workings of Bryce Avary, performed by Bryce along with his touring band, the night’s set was fantastic.  Pop rock at it’s best, The Rocket Summer’s music is contagious musically and inspired lyrically to create this dance-along sing-out-loud force-you-to-smile sensation.  Switching between the guitar and the keyboards, Bryce catered to the small crowd on their first headlining tour since the release of their album Do You Feel in summer of 2007 playing all-time favorites.  “Cross Your Heart” and “Saturday were among the oldies-but-goodies and “Save” and “Break It Out” the newer favorites.  Mid-set Bryce appeared at the back of the venue at a small stage with just an acoustic guitar and a mic to play “Goodbye Waves and Driveways,” a personal favorite after which he solicited the crowd to help him crowd surf all the way back to the main stage.  Surrounded by fans who couldn’t sing the words more enthusiastically or jump higher during the choruses with eyes fixed on a man on stage who couldn’t shine brighter as an example of loving what he does—the music, the fans, and the love—this set was one that would leave any music-lover with a smile on their faces.

    Each set only getting better and leading into a great culmination of the night, anyone who missed this tour should definitely kick themselves and if it hasn’t come around to you yet, there’s still time!

    (Some photos sited from the respective bands’ myspaces)


  • The Rocket Summer CD release tour

    July 11, 2007 by Steph

    The Rocket Summer on the “Do You Feel” release tour
    July 11, 2007 at the Epicenter, San Diego, CA