Show Review

The Screaming for Babies Tour featuring The Starting Line, Copeland, Gatsby’s American Dream, Cartel and the Suicide Pact rolled through Columbus, Ohio on Sunday February 12th and overall, the night was great. The Newport Music Hall was abuzz with 15 year olds waiting and waiting to see the love of their life, Ken Vasoli, take the stage and make each of their respective hearts flutter and swoon. But before the Starting Line boys could take the stage, these youngsters learned a few things about music by the end of the night.

The first band on that night was the “mother-fucking” Suicide Pact. Ho-hum. These guys were all good musicians, but they just weren’t doing anything worth hearing. Solid drumming and the vocals were OK, but nothing really stuck out (aside from a “cover” of “Gold digger” by Kanye West). Don’t go out of your way to see these guys.

The next band us was Cartel. Starting out their set with “Luckie St.” these guys honestly wowed me. Chroma never really sat well with me, but this show made me go right back home to listen to it again. Bassist Ryan Roberts was amazing and along with drummer Kevin Sanders, built a great foundation for the pop punk melodies to be painted. Highlighted by tracks like “Honestly,” “Say Anything (Else)” and “Matter of Time” Will Pugh proved to me that he had the pipes that any other band can only dream about. Unfortunately, the songs tended to be a little repetitive and many people, myself included, lost interest by the time “Q” and “A” were played to end the set. But still, a solid set.

Gatsby’s American Dream was next. Honestly, I don’t know what to say about these guys. They were just sort of entities playing disjointed rock music onstage, with really annoying, seizure inducing lighting behind them. To take a quote from a later act, they had my attention. I tried really hard before this show to like these guys. But something about them just put me off. But after they were done, I was intrigued and willing to try them again. The backbone of the group was the magnificent drumming of Rudy. Solid, hard beats that were perfectly in time kept everything moving. All great bands have great drummers and if Rudy is any indication, these guys are going to be huge. Lead Vocalist, Nic, was charismatic on stage. He pranced around and sang with energy that matched the band, and that is a LOT if you aren’t familiar with these guys. To be honest, I really dug them. But the crowd was either for them or against them. Take a chance people! Give these guys a listen! SEE THEM LIVE!!!

Next up was my main reason for going to this show. Copeland. Aaron Marsh is one of those front men who can do no wrong in my eyes. Amazing vocal chords and falsettos, with a great sense of melody, Marsh lead his band on the stage to play a semi out of place set. Switching between both slower and more upbeat songs, the guys kicked off their set with “You Love to Sing” before going into “Pin Your Wings.” They put about three tracks from Beneath the Medicine Tree, including my personal favorite “Coffee” sandwiched between the energetic “When Paula Sparks” and “She Changes Your Mind,” in the middle of the set, but stick mostly to the latest effort, In Motion. I have said it before I will say it again. Aaron Marsh is one of the most talented front men in music today. If you need proof, just listen to “You Have My Attention.” Vocal Perfection. Although the set was missing two classics, (“Love is a Fast Song” and “California”) these guys still stole the show. If you aren’t familiar with Copeland yet, go check them out. By their CDs. It is worth it.

Finally, The Staring Line took the stage and gave me exactly what I have come to expect from them, a relatively solid set with a few glitches here and there. “Surprise Surprise” led the set off soon after was “Up and Go” and then “Inspired by the $.” On the whole Kenny and the guys were revved and ready to go, but something was lost in the translation. It seemed like there were large spans of time between songs where people were taking care of instrument malfunctions or just standing there. I don’t expect a whole speech between each song, but talk to us. Though I really dig Based on a True Story, I was worried they would play all new stuff. But I was pleasantly surprised. It was good to hear some songs I had not heard in quite a while like, “Hello Houston” and “This Ride.” They still sounded exciting and full, even after being released 3+ years ago. The highlight for me was “Decisions, Decisions,” which, despite the nearly limitless crowd surfing during the particular song, I thought they would never play that song live again. But of course they hit the high notes from BOATS. But many of them were somehow flat. “The World” shouldn’t have even made it onto the record, let alone put on the setlist. “Making Love to the Camera” seemed a little off. And “Bedroom Talk” is just flat out, an annoying song. Even “Ready” came off uninspired and boring. The saving graces for the boys from PA were the beautiful rendition of “Photography,” the masterful “Artistic License” and the classic “Cheek to Cheek.” The later was the encore along with a new song whose name is missed. All in all, not a bad show. The young girls got their fleeting moment with Kenny and I got my share of elbows and Copeland. I guess the night can be summed up by Kenny: “Screaming is for babies. Singing is for professionals” Amen.

review by Alex Drumm