Freitag, 21. Sep 2007, 1:22
Thu 20 Sep – Sum 41, Amber Pacific, Monty Are I, Dive
OK, so i drove from manhattan out to jersey to see sum 41 tonight…and it was well worth it. first of all, starland ballroom is a fantabulous venue! we got drinks in the 21+ bar in the back, which is a step up from the floor, when we first arrived. even though it's ALLLLLL the way in the back, the view is still great, because the room is so intimate. we got there a bit late, so we did miss the first opening act, dive.
so we enjoyed monty are i, even though the lead singer was this sorta pete wentz look-alike/wannabe. they had some problems with the sound and lights, though, which really detracted. but you have to appreciate the enthusiasm of the guy with the trombone…ummm…someday he's gonna hurt someone with that thing.
next was amber pacific. i had never heard of or seen them before, but they put on a pretty good show. very "emocore" in the classic sense of the word (if there is one). they were much tighter musically than monty are i. the lead singer clearly was a jock in high school, drawing attention to his ripped biceps with a too-tight black t-shirt. but it was amusing when he took the cell phone from someone in the front row and began singing directly into it. i'm sure the recipient enjoyed that.
so, of course, then came sum 41. ahhhhh….fan-fucking-tastic. the energy was awesome, they played SO WELL, i was in freaking punk-rock HEAVEN. except for the fact that i kept ending up behind tall people (i'm 5'4"). the setlist was what i expected from looking at other reviews from this tour, which was good. of course, pretty heavy on underclass hero, but they played all the hits. some great stuff from half hour of power, and of course the encore with fat lip, which everyone started chanting soon after the band left the stage before the encore. the coolest thing was that after the first song, deryk picked two guys from the crowd who got to sit up on stage and watch the whole show from there! imagine how AWESOME that must have been.
ok, i may edit this later but now it's time to sign off and fall asleep, blissfully dreaming of the hell song.
setlist (no guarantee of accuracy & comment if i've missed any):
underclass hero
the hell song
motivation
we're all to blame
machine gun
king of the contradiction
in too deep
over my head (better off dead)
march of the dogs
pieces
still waiting
walking disaster
makes no difference
my direction
fat lip
pain for pleasure