Before the show we interviewed Brandon from Eye Alaska here. Check it out here: Interview with Brandon of Eye Alaska
At House of Blues in Anaheim on June 11, The first band to take the stage was A Sound Aside. These guys were very wholesome-looking white-boy foursome with the lead singer dawning a super-scene scarf. A rowdy high-school-age fan club was already ready to rock out at the sight of this otherwise unknown band and when they started playing, I could see why. They reminded me of The Fray with the southern piano rock and vocals, but their music was generally more upbeat and pop with the occasional heavy guitar. The solid harmonies on “Perfect Thing to Say” got the crowd clapping and on “Summertime” the guitars were shredding! They closed with powerpop sing-a-long “You’re the One For Me” to which the crowd knew all the words.
The next band up was a band called Stereofix and suffice it to say they were a little difficult to watch. Their sound was a rip-off of The Killers, complete with super-scene leather-clad frontman, shakey vocals, and an eerie electro drum machine. Ray, the singer and guitarist of Stereofix performed while making awkward movements replicating jazzercise routines. They had keyboard in the tracks, but no keyboardist and I couldn’t understand the lyrics at all, but we can blame that on House of Blues acoustics. I thought that maybe I could better appreciate the music better on the album and while it is a bit better without all the distractions of their performance, I’m not sure that’s a compliment.
Colorist, up next, was a great and unexpected surprise. The first thing I noticed was their girl drummer! She also sung back-up vocals so I was doubly impressed. Their sound was dance rock, heavy on the snare, a solid dash of guitar with a little pinch of folk. It was extremely hard to name comparisons, which is definitely a good thing for this foursome. To try to give you an idea, they’re like Like Matt & Kim meets Slow Club – a little dance, a little folk. Groovy electro pop-rock made an appearance on “Fire Out.” “Yes Yes” displayed echoey vocals similar to Dear and the Headlights or Death Cab for Cutie with little piano tinkling. These guys announced that they’re recording a new EP and it couldn’t come soon enough. Their newest unreleased track entitled “Wishing Wells” was so much fun. There was a hint of dance rock a-la Hot Hot Heat with lyrics like “I found the beat to your heart and I’ve been dancing to it night and day” and dummer Maya rocked her vocal solo. On the song that went something like, “I don’t wanna fall in love,” the harmonies were GORGEOUS. It reminded me of something that you might find on the Paper Heart soundtrack—sweet and delicate. The last song had a xylophone and bass beat intro and featured Maya’s light airy whispers with “Hey where are you going? We won’t go home.” I loved these guys and I think they’ll go far.
Bad Rabbits, the only band from out of state (Boston, MA) I wasn’t too crazy about, considering all the praise they got from Brandon’s Eye Alaska in a pre-show interview. They were funky, groovy, electro rock, but mostly they seemed just retro. They were rockin’ the falsetto Michael-Jackson-style and had choreographed synchronized dance moves for the stage. Their soul rock to me really just sounded like the theme from The Ghostbusters.
Then came Eye Alaska, the stars of the night. Their sound was much harder than I expected. There were shredding guitars, badass drums, even some screaming with sweet pop vocals. Comparisons were difficult to draw because one moment they’d sound like The Cab, the next Our Lady Peace, then Chiodos or Gym Class Heroes—a definite eclectic mixed bag of genres. While Brandon Wronski in person is a quiet and smart intellectual, the minute he stepped on stage he transformed into this commanding presence, a totally different animal. The band was joined on stage by a small orchestra who dawned black and white face paint, exacerbating the cinematic element of the band.
The Hip Hop beat influence was present in songs like “This Life Start To Question,” which included an almost rap interlude, while violins gave each song an element of cinema, creating a story. After having worn a knit hooded garb for the first portion of the set, he traded it for a fox pelt (watch out for PETA!), which he wore on his head and delved into a song that seemed to represent the “struggle montage” of the story. “Mutiny Off the Aleutian Coast” was my favorite song of the night. With a big arena sound and borderline noise rock, this part of the set showcased Brandon’s vocals and the song lead into heavier rock with guitarist Cameron Trowbridge rocking the eff out.
Hands were pumping in the air for “American Landslide,” but in general people seemed to not know what to do with themselves. To bounce their hands or mosh or dance? Little of everything? This was the effect of a sound dedicated to being genre-less and while it did at times seem a little overwhelming or confusing for the genre-trained ear, it was definitely enjoyable and made for a good show. For “My Soul My Surrender” even dudes singing the lyrics! They closed with their single “Walk Like a Gentleman and everyone was singing. I commend them completely for defying expectations, trying something new, and putting on an amazing live show.
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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 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.
