The Audition and Envy on the Coast with Danger Radio, Another Day Late, and Breathe Carolina at Chain Reaction
So I get a text from another show addict of mine. “There are more
people than I thought there would be.” I know these aren’t local bands
but I didn’t really think that it would be a full house. To my
surprise, the long line in front of the box office was will call only
which was plain because of a large sign “Tonight’s show is sold out”.
After a bathroom stop and a quick huddle at the back of the venue,
three of the five of us decided to make our way up to the front. (What
other way is there to experience a show?).
Breath Carolina starts setting up their equipment and one of the
boys, nicknamed “The Future” who is officially in charge of
“Lights/DJ”, came on to stage, scrawny, shirtless, and covered in
script chest-tattoos. That was the first tip off of douchiness. Then
about halfway into the first song, I noticed that their only
instruments were a keytar and a keyboard. The other two “instruments”
were laptops. And when the screamer for this, mind you otherwise power
pop techno, band started to head bang, I decided to completely tune out
for fear of catching their idiocy.
The idea sounds innovative enough – screaming on techno tracks, and I
honestly may have appreciated their creativity had I heard them on
Myspace or a disc, but their stage antics, typical of a bunch of high
school teenagers mimicking rockstars was unimpressive and quite honestly repulsive.
I think I would have been happy with just any other band that came
on next, but Another Day Late surpassed my bare minimum expectations.
Their typical emo-core appearance is only slightly telling. I don’t
think I would genreize them as “emo” but more correctly as alternative
or progressive rock.
The vocals can be likened to Coheed and Cambria and their fast guitar
melodies are more akin to Chiodos than your typical “emo” set up. I was
especially impressed with the guitars’ intertwining harmonies in
“Talking While Taking Pictures.”
The night kept improving because next up was Danger Radio. These
guys don’t take themselves too seriously and appear to have some fun on
stage which quickly spread to the crowd. Encouraging us to dance, lead
singer Andrew De Torres not only had a sense of humor but some serious
pipes! Their sound was power pop with a hint of funk beats which suited
De Torres’ high pitched vocals perfectly.
I needed a little bit of a break from the obnoxious fan-girl to my
right so during the set change, my friend Cassie and I headed to the
back to recoup. When we heard Envy on the Coast come on, I knew I
couldn’t miss the opportunity to mosh so Cass and I just start shoving
our way forward and before we knew it we had started an amateur circle
pit. Next thing I knew, I was pulling Cassie off the ground and
laughing from the fun.
Envy on the Coast, Brian Byrne on guitar and vocals
Sal Bossio on vocals, guitar, and piano
The adjustment from Danger Radio to Envy on the Coast was a huge
one. On stage comes this kid (Ryan) with unkempt dreds and a badass
attitude. As soon as the drum beats start, he hunches over and begins
pulsing to the beat. (Cassie joked that it looked like he was
perpetually about to c*m). His evil glares through the show were
hypnotizing and slightly nightmarish. The music was equally
hypnotizing. The heavy beats and vocals that were strangely sweet,
contrasting with Ryan’s stage persona, made Envy worth seeing.
The Audition, the band I came to see, were right on script. They
did sound like their album, which is more than I could say for most
bands but they bore me a little. Maybe I was just distracted by the
immense amount of time I waited for them to get their asses on stage,
but I was bored and ready to leave, which I did a couple of songs into
their set. The fact that Danny Stevens, lead vocals, said that he
didn’t want anyone to leave until they had bought their new album,
didn’t add to my unimpressed mentality. Otherwise, yes, they sounded
just fine.
The Auditon, Joe Lussa on Bass
