CURRENT -
FESTIVAL COVERAGE -
2009 (70 reviews) -
2008 (28 reviews) -
2007 (27 reviews) -
2006 (14 reviews)
El Corazon . Seattle, WA
Reviewed by Ryan Pangilinan on 10/17
Tagged 2009 alternative rock canadian bands eisley emo female vocalists indie pop indie rock los angeles bands moneen punk rock rock say anything sire records texas bands
he first time I saw Say Anything on AbsolutePunk's 2004 tour with Audio Karate, I thought they were a terrible, terrible live band. They were incredibly boring and dull, and vocalist Max Bemis couldn't hit the right note to save his life. Then I read this interview with him in Alternative Press a few years later and the band’s lack of skill made a little bit more sense: Number 1, it was their first major tour; Number 2, homedude was on the drugs.
Despite my general dislike for Say Anything live, I thought their record,
...Is A Real Boy was pretty great. Over time, Bemis and drummer Coby Linder and their revolving backing band (at least up until 2006 or so), have gotten much better live -- at least that's the impression I got on their current headlining tour with Eisley and Moneen.
I've seen Moneen more times than I care to admit to (at least 10), and though they always struck me as The Get Up Kids-lite, they've gotten much better in the last few years, and it was cool to see the crowd engaging with them, even if they were the opening band.
Most times I've seen Eisley, they've played to perfection, with equal parts showmanship and grace. However, the last time I saw them at Chop Suey, it was pretty disastrous. I can chalk it up to the fact that it was one of their last shows on that particular tour, but it was terrible. That being said, I didn’t have very big expectations about their performance this time around, but the funny thing is that they pretty much killed it. It was good to see Eisley seem comfortable and commanding, which is usually the sign of a great live band. They played a lot of material from their last full-length,
Combinations, but also let people in on some new songs from their upcoming record.
Say Anything encapsulated all of things I liked about the previous bands at this show. Bemis' backing troupe played well, while he engaged the crowd with fan favorites like "Woe" and "Yellow Cat Slash Red Cat." Like Eisley, Say Anything also played new songs like "Crush'd" that are slated to appear on their new self-titled record.
This show was definitely a bit of a surprise as I expected to see performances, Moneen notwithstanding, that would be okay. But thanks to the bands' blistering sets, it was well worth getting stomped and crushed on by an army of teenagers.
what do you think?
