Concert Review: Enter Shikari Destabilize North America Tour

Once again, I attended this show because I handed promotions out after the show for the Alternative Press Street Team, but I also did not really want to see any of the bands at this show.  Therefore, I think I went in pretty unbiased.  The one band that I did want to see was Sleeping With Sirens.

The first band that played was LightGoBlue who are from the United Kingdom.  I took a listen of them before the show and was very disappointed with what I heard, but the music that the duo performed was very good.  I talked to the guitarist/vocalist/keys of the band and he said that they had just finished recording new music before traveling across the Atlantic.  By the way, he was very sweet and they were giving out free stickers.  Their performance was very good, but they were trying to the get the crowd to be more interactive and not doing a very good job.  They attempted to get a circle pit going, but I do not find that their music is something that you can do a circle pit to.

The second band to perform was Sleeping With Sirens who are from Michigan.  As I mentioned, this was the one band that I wanted to see, and I was not disappointed.  Their show was not bad and they did a very good job talking with the crowd.  The vocalist played well for the crowd and the band had better success in creating a circle pit on the floor.

The next band to play was Haste The Day who come from Indiana.  I had listened to Haste The Day before the show for a short time, but do not considered myself to be a fan.  The band put on one of the most energetic performances that I have seen in a long time.  They have a heavy sound with good vocals, even live.

Of course, the headliner who was Enter Shikari who are also from the U.K.  Enter Shikari have a very interesting sound.  They are a mix of hardcore with very good breakdowns and dance music.  None the less the crowd was very energetic along with the band.  The guitarist climbed up on their amp which was raised to the ceiling.  Overall, for not knowing any of the music, I was impressed and entertained.

The show was solid and entertaining and I am glad I got to go.  The show however did not have a full house, which was at Station 4 in St. Paul, which was rather disappointing.  I'll give it a 3.5 out of 5, if you want to see any of these bands the show will not disappoint you.

Concert Review: AP Fall Tour 2010

I attended the Alternative Press (AP) Fall Tour 2010 on Oct. 19, 2010 at the Cabooze in Minneapolis.  The co-headliners this year are August Burns Red and Bring Me The Horizon, with supporting bands Emarosa, This Is Hell and Polar Bear Club.

I attended the AP Tour because I am a part of the Alternative Press Street Team in Minneapolis, so disclosure, I did attend the show for free.  However, I worked handing out posters and free magazines and also helped with others subscribing.

The first band to perform was This Is Hell.  This Is Hell is front Long Island, NY and plays hardcore punk.  I had never heard of this band before hearing about the AP Tour and didn't take the time to listen to them before going to the show, however, they are one of the better bands I have seen live.  Each player put their all into the show.  I remember in particular the bass player, who I am unable to find the name of, had the highest energy of all them.  He was spinning around in circles almost every time I had my eyes on the stage.

The second band to perform was Polar Bear Club.  This band also is from New York and are classified as post-hardcore/indie, according to Wikipedia.  This is also a band that I did not know of or had listened to before going to the show.  Polar Bear Club was also the nightly signing band.  I met them briefly and they were pretty quiet and very nice guys.  Seeing as I am writing this about a week after the show, I do not quite remember everything from their set, but I do not have any bad memories.  The band had high energy and put on a solid performance.

The next band to play was Emarosa.  The band is from Lexington, Kentucky.  I had heard of this band before, but never could get into their music despite their popularity.  I can say though that they also put on a very good show.  The singer Jonny Craig, who is the former frontman of Dance Gavin Dance, has one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard, but I cannot move beyond the southern twang of his voice or the mullet he was sporting.  Overall, however, the show was very good and the crowd interacted with Craig very well.

The second to last band was co-headliner August Burns Red.  Co-headliner meaning both bands play the same set time and switch closing throughout the tour.  August Burns Red comes from Lancaster, PA and are undeniably one of my favorite bands.  I had been looking forward to seeing them since the tour was announce in, ironically, August.  I had heard many things about the guys in ABR including doubts about Jake Luhrs vocals live to Matt Greiner being the best drummer live, but also being too good for the band.  Their sound as a whole live is very good.  They sound like they are playing their CD through the PA system.  Luhrs vocals were spot on.  I had seen videos on Youtube of his vocals and I also had my doubts, but his vocals seemed to have made some improvement.  Luhrs was very good about performing to the entire club and getting the crowd involved with his performance.  Their interaction of a band on stage was a bit strange however.  Brent Rambler, one of the guitarist seemed to be disconnected from what I could see, but then again I honestly do not know how he was feeling.  Matt Greiner also performed a solid drum solo, which is a part of their set, before going into their final song.  Overall I was very pleased with their performance and hope to see them again and improve a bit with interaction with one another.

The final set was Bring Me The Horizon who is from Sheffield, Yorkshire, Great Britain.  I used to listen to BMTH horizon, but lost interest sometime last spring.  They were undoubtedly the band that most everyone in the club wanted to see.  The band's stage presence was very impressive.  Oli Sykes, the vocalist, was very solid on how his vocals were.  His growls sounded near perfect each time he opened his mouth.  He also did a very good job interacting with the crowd.  At one point in the set, Sykes demanded that the circle pit go around the awkward bar on the side of the floor and they did as he asked.  I was quite entertained (a video can be see here http://www.youtube.com/APMinneapolis).  Their sound live was also very good.  It sounded near perfect even the songs I did not know.  They also were very loud, so my personal suggestion is wear ear plugs (I was) but also stand away from the speakers (I was standing at the AP table, however, and could not move).  I was also very impressed with their guitarist (I apologize, I do not know which one but I believe Lee Malia), and it takes a lot to impress me with guitar.  He played some parts that were very interested and sounded carefully played.

Overall, the AP Fall Tour 2010 was a very good show.  I was only there to see August Burns Red, because I would have gone despite getting to work at the show, but I left very impressed with the other four bands.  I will not start listening to the others, but I would suggest that fans check out the bands on the tour if they like them.  I will start this blog out with a 4.5 out 5 for the entire show, near perfect.  I hope every checks out the AP Fall Tour if it has not come through their city yet.