Show Review

I was so pumped to go to this show you wouldn't believe it. It was the most anticipated show I've had coming in months, and was well worth it. The two bands I came to see did not fail to impress me on every level; musically and socially.

The openers, Stepshort, are a local band from here. They played a style of fast, hard snotty punk rock kind of, but with more technical and pop punk influence. They were okay, but I think I can speak for the crowd when I say they weren't really getting into it. That's ok, they're trying their hardest. The scene here is pretty weak, anyways, so it's not hard to break out really...but oh well. Their set was basically boring for everyone as we were all really excited for Yellowcard. I was really excited to see Park too, as I've loved them forever.

Park came out, and while they were setting up the crowd got a little larger. Since the show was at like 2:30 it was kinda bad timing, especially for a slow scene. But lots of people were there and the crowd was weak but everyone was tapping their toes and bobbing heads during Park's highly amazing set. They filled the air with complex melodies and rhythms that I think only I recognized, (that's how it seemed) and did a great job. The sound levels were perfect; it was just an all around great set. The bass was really loud but it sounded excellent with the blend of the two really talented guitarists and amazing singer in Park. They only played one new tune, as I can recall, but it was just plain amazing. It ends with a long instrumental solo interlude and what a way to end their set. They bounced around on stage, and were full of energy and obviously into their music, but when Yellowcard came on, I think in comparison Park was tired.

Yellowcard was simply amazing. They started with track 1 from their CD, and it was just great. Their second guitarist, Ben, was really drained out and you could barely hear him though. The band was really cool all around. The two ringleaders of the melodically beautiful mayhem were definitely and obviously Sean (violin/vocals) and Ryan (guitar/vocals). They were INCREDIBLY charismatic with the crowd, especially Sean. He looked seriously like the nicest guy on the planet, something about him was just really cool. The rest of the band reflected this kind of an attitude, a really nice overall generosity for the crowd and their music. They played "For Pete's Sake" after their first song and led into a couple new tunes. "Underdog" and "Powder" are just more solid tunes from this sick band. The band's onstage charisma combined with their excess of extreme energy (Sean did two backflips ON STAGE) there's no way every kid in the crowd couldn't like them. I can't wait to hear the new EP they mentioned might be coming out later this year. With a new label signing and probably more money it can only get better from their killer full-length.

review by Andrew Martin