one hundred and sixteen

January 31st at Chain.

I showed up just in time for Hello Hollywood, a sweet-as-candy pop rock band from Arizona. The music was alright, but the vocals didn't impress me at all. Plenty of people (mostly pre-teen girls) seemed very excited to see them though. I didn't realize until I got there the the majority of the lineup was literally the closest thing to boy band pop rock you can find. Not that I'm complaining necessarily; I enjoy pop rock, I really do. I'm just not a fan of the crowd at most of those shows anymore, mainly because they make me feel old. :(

Anyway, moving right along. We Are the Arsenal was up next, and really didn't fit well with the roster at all in my opinion. Them and Run Doris Run were both much harder/darker rock than the rest of the bands playing, but for me that was sort of a relief factor so maybe it was a good thing. So WATA was swell, everyone looked and sounded great. It makes me a laugh a little to notice how much more comfortable Alan is on stage than anywhere else, but it also makes me very happy for him to have finally found a band again. Also, Peter is the sweetest and way too cute for life. :)

Run Doris Run was up next, and I was actually very much looking forward to FINALLY seeing them play. I met them once four years ago outside of another show at Chain, when they were still going by Blank Label, and I've always wanted to see them live since then and I just never had a chance to, or it was never under good circumstances. It's been so long and they've changed so much that I actually didn't recognize them while they were setting up, but I was quite pleased with their set. They've grown out of the pop rock sound a little bit and gone somewhat edgier and more in a hard rock direction, but it was still pretty light and a lot of fun to listen to. I'm glad I finally got to see them.

This Century, another Arizona pop rock group, was up after that. Their music was interesting, a bit more funky than the opener, but still very pop-sounding as well. Not bad. The lyrics sounded a little cheesy at times, but nobody's perfect. Other than that, their set really didn't stand out that much. After the show I was sitting outside waiting to see the WATA guys and I guess the This Century singer was not too far behind me because I got sucked into one of those groupie circles of girls waiting for pictures and autographs. :puke: I'll admit, I totally used to be one of them, but at least when Ashley and I waited around those, we were polite and not just standing around waiting to be able to say we had met some band member. And we KNEW who we were talking to too, but I'll get back to that later.

The headliner was yet another Arizona band, but this one I could actually see myself getting very hooked on. The Summer Set ended the show with a very sweet set, including two covers - Katy Perry's "Hot n Cold" and Usher's "Love in This Club." Very amusing. Good sound, good vocals, they seem to be pretty talented so I'll definitely be looking into their music a bit more in the future.

As for feeling old at shows, good lord, it's annoying. I realize with the music I listen to, I'm totally asking for it, but I can't help that. Pop rock is too much fun, but the fans are so obnoxious hahah. I was talking to Alan after the show and two girls came up and asked him to sign some stuff, and then proceeded to ask if he was in We Are the Arsenal.. AFTER asking him to sign something. Not only that, but they had to ask him which of the people behind us were also in the band so they could get autographs from them as well. Good lord, people are ridiculous.

Band Links:
www.myspace.com/hellohollywoodband
www.myspace.com/wearethearsenal
www.myspace.com/rundorisrun
www.myspace.com/thiscentury
www.myspace.com/thesummerset