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
Sing It Loud
The Rocket Summer
Forever the Sickest Kids
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.
According to 
(3.5/5)
The night opened with a sweet british lad named Greg Holden. A decent minstrel, he seemed really grateful to share the stage with Ingrid as he explained that he left England for New York in the hopes of making it big and Ingrid Michaelson happened to catch him play there and snag him for her tour. Lucky break, eh? His set was good and his songs were sweet. His vocals remind me like Joshua Radin with an English accent, which, if you know Joshua Radin’s music, is a HUGE compliment. He also had a healthy dose of “young man” as he made some drinking jokes and hints about gather some beautiful ladies on his arms after the set. My favorite of his set was a beautiful cover of “walking on sunshine” which I wasn’t quick enough to capture, but you can watch it on AOL video 
He also managed to get Ingrid’s entire band on stage for a sing along of a drinking song whose chorus sung, “If makes no difference what city I’m in/the drinks cost the same and they do the same thing/ I know it won’t stop till I start up again/ and I’ve got no intention of giving up.” I’m pretty sure that I’m going to buy his album “A Word Edgewise,” maybe you should too.
Now, about Ingrid Michaelson… I could sit here and rave about Ingrid’s flawless vocals or her original music. Her beautiful use of the ukulele or the mandolin. I could go on about the set, the songs on her new album, Ingrid’s solo ukulele version of Radiohead’s “Creep,” all of my favorites on Boys and Girls and her Be OK EP, her “reimaging” of “The Way I Am” (aka, “Ice Ice Baby” and the “Fresh Prince” theme song) or my favorite song of the night, “You & I.”
I could tell you that her sense of humor is almost as awesome as her vocals, even though her manager doesn’t want her to talk about “balls and poop” anymore. But really, you can see here I’m not an objective observer. I am a fan. I think Ingrid Michaelson is probably one of the most talented female musicians touring today, right up there with Regina Spektor. So take my word for it. She is fantastic. And I’ve embedded a few of my so-so videos from the night to prove it, including a duet she performed with Greg Laswell that has yet to be released (are they together? I saw a ring on that left ring finger, Ingrid!).
For no reason other than to make it an all-day event (and maybe to snag some limited edition merch), my friend Jimmy and I were the first to arrive at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater on September 17th. After a long day of sitting in lawn chairs under umbrellas and chugging gallon-bottles of water, the line condenses, security gets tighter, and finally the gates swing open.
Next on the docket: Taking Back Sunday. These guys are one of those bands that I’ve always known, always heard around, I even know a couple of songs, but I never really got into. They put on a good stage performance, with lots of mic swinging. Adam Lazzara must practice with the swinging a lot because he was quite a trickster and there were multiple times I thought he’d hit guitarist Matthew Fazzi in the face, but didn’t. They played the song of theirs that everyone loves—“Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut From the Team)”—and half the crowd sang it at the top of their lungs. After a rockin’ and sweaty set, Taking Back Sunday relinquished the stage to Weezer in a big round of applause.
It seemed as though the entire crowd (at least those sitting) were on the edge of their seat because the moment Weezer took over the stage, everyone was on their feet. Cheering at a stage full of men in white track suits seemed a little odd, but the moment they started playing, the scene fell into place. Their set choices could not have been better. They played an excellent mix of old and new, including all of my favorites.
About the music, Blink has never sounded so good and the set was amazing. Have you ever been to a show where every song you thought, “OMG this is my favorite!” Okay, so I may have dorked out a bit but the best of Blink—“Rock Show,” “Damnit,” “Violence,” and so on—would be hard-pressed not to do the same. Near the end of the show, Travis did a drum solo while his kit ascended, swung from the ceiling, and rotated until Travis was at a 90-degree angle with the floor. And, as always, his performance was still flawless. Blink’s music seemed to only benefit from their years apart, as they all refined their skills and cleaned up their sound in +44 and Angels and Airwaves. The show was fantastic.
As we were all fleeing the stadium in hopes of escaping the parking lot in a reasonable amount of time (which I didn’t) we were stopped to make way for the tour vans to leave. Out of one leaned Mark as it drove by and he waved at everyone and shouted “thank you.” Talented and nice. The perfect pair. An amazing trio.
