Motion City Soundtrack’s Commit This To Memory 10 Year Anniversary Tour Review

via @Promowestlive on Instagram

On Monday, January 19^th the Minneapolis based pop-punk band made Columbus, OH one of their first stops on their Commit This to Memory 10 Year Anniversary Tour. Coming along for the tour stop at Newport Music Hall were bands Hit the Lights and Team Spirit. This pop-punk driven lineup really wrapped up three different periods of fans into one show.

When Motion City Soundtrack graced the stage it was no surprise what would be the first song. From the opening riff of “Attractive Today” the band set fourth to play the entire forty-minute sophomore success, Commit This to Memory. It was a rush of nostalgia and yet at the same time it was something completely new for myself and many other younger fans in the crowd. I was no stranger to the album but this was the first time I was able to hear a lot of these songs performed live due to only being 12 years old during this album’s original tour cycle.

It was extremely special to be so quickly thrust into “Everything Is Alright.” This is the song that got me interested in the band in the first place. The signature voice and quick-wit lyrics of lead singer Justin Pierre were just as they sounded on record almost 10 years ago. The energy was already buzzing in the Newport and there was still so much more of the album left.

Going from two of the bands’ largest songs I expected participation to drop off for more of the album’s “fillers” but this was not the case. The heavily devoted fans sang along to every word of fast-paced “When You’re Around,” “Resolution” and “Feel Like Rain.” In a recent interview, Pierre addressed that most fans consider the full-length to be a “winter album” and he agreed. His multiple mentions of the New Year in lyrics made sense as to why the band was conducting the tour now as opposed to the summer when it was originally released in 2005.

Pierre promised to provide commentary between songs but he usually didn’t spread much insight. “L.G. FUAD” proved to be the glorified sing-a-long it was intended to be. The lyrics of the song are out-there and collectively don’t make sense which was explained by Pierre to have been written intoxicated. Nonetheless, this song is the band’s most classic piece of music. It really embodies that apathetic, pop punk style of the mid-2000’s.

via @Hannuhrose7 on Instagram

The band played the remainder of the album and ended on “Hold Me Down.” Pierre shouted “How will I break the news to you” over and over before the lyrics turned to a buzz and static of guitars, signifying that the album had concluded, but shockingly the evening had not.

The band returned to play an extended encore featuring a Commit This to Memory b-side, as well as “The Future Freaks Me Out,” “My Favorite Accident” and “This Is For Real.” Motion City Soundtrack also played some other rarities such as a new song titled “Anything At All.”

As more and more of these anniversary tours are commencing, I find it both pleasing and shocking. They are pleasing, of course, because it is this rush of nostalgia. It is the artist returning to the reason we fell in love with them in the first place and giving us satisfaction from the performance in that. At the same time it’s shocking that albums like these are now turning ten years old. These anniversary tours pose the question whether these artists have peaked long ago or if they still have work left in them that will require a new anniversary tour down the line. Will there be a 15^th, a 20^th or a 25^th year anniversary tour for Commit This Memory? Clearly only time will tell. It’s certain that Newport Music Hall was taken back to 2005 with this tour and fans loved every minute of it despite what the band’s future beholds.

The Neighbourhood Performs Live in Black and White

Le Tour Noir, The Neighbourhood’s current North American tour made its stop in Columbus on Tuesday night. Openers for the tour were female-lead band Kitten and Born Casual. The tour sold out Newport Music Hall the day of show and the historic venue was jam packed with an attendance of mostly teenagers. It was an impressive turnout for a band that has rose to radio fame with a single song. Their collection of fans known as the “hoodlums” proved the NBHD to be more than just a one-song wonder.

The stage was draped in half white and half black to obviously tie in with the tour’s name and imagery as the band took the stage on time. A violent strobe visual accompanied the instrumental introduction of their new song “Silver”. Lead singer Jesse Rutherford immediately hyped the crowd as the ladies shrilled at the wave of his hand. The California based band was ready to perform their songs, all of which are strung with sexy and cool lyrics inspired by the laid back Golden State from where they hail

Keeping it current they played a few songs from their present album, I Love You. Rutherford never ceased to move about the stage as he encouraged the crowd to sing along to “Everybody’s Watching Me” while lights and smoke transformed the lead singer into a black silhouette against the white backdrop. From there the band played “Let It Go” and mixed in air horn cues that would you would expect from a DJ at a rap show.

Rutherford was incredibly good at connecting with the crowd whether it was during or in between songs. He mentioned the last visit to Columbus the band had in the fall and how there was “some big football or basketball game” going on that day. Although he should have known it was obviously a football game, this comment stuck out and made the show more personal. The band then jumped into another new song, which displayed huge radio potential. The song’s quick pace and usage of jazz horns during the chorus made it different than their more laid back material.

The band played more present and older material such as “W.D.Y.W.F.M”, “Baby Came Home” and “Wires”. This trio had the devoted fans singing along. Descending from the high energy came a new, slower cut from their upcoming release called “Lurk”. Before bringing the concert into the final stretch was album opener “How” in which Rutherford tossed his now-empty water bottle into the crowd. This gained the reaction you would imagine from the teenage girls.

The concert closed on a high with The Neighbourhood’s largest hit “Sweater Weather” which had everyone, even in the upper level stadium seating, standing and participating as a whole. The crowd swayed with Rutherford to the simple and swinging bridge before they began their last song of the evening, “Afraid”. This song had almost the same amount of enjoyment drawn from the crowd before the band left the stage with no hope of an encore.

Overall, The Neighbourhood is proving to be much more than just a hit single. Their following of fans represented themselves in impressive numbers at the concert. The band’s cool imagery and overall obsession with all things black and white give them a unique style that is attractive and stands out. Rutherford’s signature smooth, charismatic singing effortlessly ties the band’s electronic and rock sounds into one. Their current album is hauntingly catchy and the live previews from the upcoming release are reassuring that The NBHD won’t be losing their touch anytime soon.

Arctic Monkeys Bring ‘AM’ To Life At LC Pavilion

Coming down off their sold out Madison Square Garden performance over the weekend The Arctic Monkeys took on LC Pavilion for a much more intimate evening with a sold out crowd. The Arctic Monkeys have a cross-generational friendly sound that reaches all ages of fans. The span of their fan base has continued to expand since their August release of the critically acclaimed AM.

Opener for the show was Chicago based garage punk band The Orwells. The band is relatively new but is already making a name for itself from their buzz worthy performances. Lead singer Mario Cuomo completely infatuated me and everyone else through his erotic stage presence. Between falling on his ass as result of tripping over the microphone cord and spit-misting beer all over the first couple rows of the pit I became enthralled. When he continued on to empty the cash from his wallet to use as confetti and shrieked “almost” audible lyrics to every song is when I became a fan. The shocking opening performance could be defined as just a novelty act of punk but it was punk, nonetheless. Whether concertgoers liked them or not, I still heard people talking about them after the show ended and that says something about an opener. The Orwells will return to the LC Pavilion for CD 102.5 Day: Side A on March 29th.

Arctic Monkeys took the stage around 9:15 to a typical fog filled stage with an overbearingly long introduction track. The band opened with “Do I Wanna Know” which brought the hype of the show to a rocketing start from the moment the iconic opening riff began. From there they went into the psychotically good “Brianstorm” from 2007’s Favourite Worst Nightmare and “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair” off 2011’s Suck It and See. The evening was going to be dedicated to their latest and most critically acclaimed, AM, but they sprinkled in over half a set list of hits and cuts from their other four full length releases.

Keeping it fairly simple, the stage displayed only minimal fog and lighting but it was all that was necessary. The night was about Arctic Monkeys communicating with fans through their music and that needed no barriers or distractions. During “Old Yellow Bricks” I became completely obsessed and satisfied with the band’s stage performance and my expectations continued to be exceeded with every song that proceeded.

Blazing through hits off their new record, the band went into “Knee Socks” and “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” which rang well with the crowd and grabbed full participation from the LC. Lead singer Alex Turner ditched his guitar during “Arabella” to croon the crowd. With his hair slicked and styled into his iconic pompadour doo, Turner took off his blazer and stole every female’s heart with each of his glares into the crowd.

Following the stream of AM material were some of the band’s biggest songs. From their first album was “Dancing Shoes” and “I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor” which had the entire pit dancing and celebrating the song’s nostalgia. The band also did favor by playing “Pretty Visitors” and “Fluorescent Adolescent”. The set closed with “505” before the band left stage in an unrealistic notion that they were finished for the evening.

Going routinely through the dimming of the stage lights and the Arctic Monkey chants from the venue, the band unsurprisingly returned to the stage for a three-song encore set. They began with Turner on acoustic guitar for Humbug’s “Cornerstone” before they cranked it back up with two more AM cuts. They continued to the chanty “One for the Road” before finishing the evening with “R U Mine?”

Arctic Monkeys proved again to fans why they fell in love with the band in the first place. Between their live talent and incredibly crafted songs there aren’t many places to go wrong with the indie rock band. Acknowledging their quickly growing success it was a treat to see them in the more intimate LC Pavilion as compared to some of their arena status performances. Big or small, they’ll do it all and they can do no wrong.

Show Preview: James Adomian

If this is your first impression of comic James Adomian then you’re going to be surprised that you hadn’t discovered him earlier. The truth is, you actually may have seen him before, just not as himself. James is an extremely talented impressionist and is most known for his frighteningly accurate portrayal of George W. Bush.

James has been featured in television shows Childrens Hospital, Adventure Time, Comedy Bang Bang, Last Comic Standing and Money From Strangers. He has worked with comedians Doug Benson, Conan O’Brien and much more. He can do impressions of just about anyone from Madonna to Orson Welles and back to Gordon Ramsey.

Beyond his material of impressions, James also relies heavily on pop culture and modern humanistic habits to commentate on during his act. In the clip above, he discusses television binge watching and why he hates it. James is also an openly gay comic and touches on his experiences with his sexuality in some of his works.

This will be an intimate night at A&R Music Bar and the perfect opportunity to introduce you to the talented and hilarious on-the-rise comedian. His jokes are extremely relatable and his impressions are impeccably perfect. For $12 it will make for an unbeatable Friday evening.

The Details:

-Date: Friday January 17th, 2014

-Location: A&R Music Bar – 391 Neil Ave Columbus, OH 43215

-Ticket Price: $12 / $14 day of show

-Doors: 8:00 PM

-Recommended for fans of: Doug Benson, Childrens Hospital, Comedy Bang Bang, Money From Strangers and MADtv.

Kid Cudi takes Columbus crowd to the moon and back

Fans showed dedication to Ohio based rapper by selling out The LC Outdoor Amphitheater for an unforgettable return of the beloved Man on the Moon. With an interesting mix of openers The Cud Life tour was something special and perfect for the fans.

Opening acts Logic and Tyler, the Creator were able to warm the crowd up before headlining act Kid Cudi. Logic, Maryland based rap newcomer, was the first act of the night that displayed his flow and rapping capabilities to the captive audience. He had the crowd jumping and swaying and also was able to spread his message of following a dream in between songs. He even grabbed a fan’s self-made music from the crowd and promised to take a listen to it.

Coming on next was Tyler, the Creator. With giant inflatable letters spelling out “GOLF” (One of Tyler’s many branding phrases) he and Odd Future mates Jasper and Taco took the stage. Playing classics off his sophomore album Goblin including “Yonkers” and much more off his latest Wolf, the energy was held high for the entire set. Spanning across R&B fused “Bimmer” to emo “IFHY” and finally closing with dance track “Tamale” the pit was a rage fest for the set.

Some time later the lights dimmed again and an illuminated white sheet hung from in front of the stage before dropping to reveal the massive space themed setting for Kid Cudi’s performance. With a long intro and light show to “The Resurrection of Scott Mescudi”, the rapper finally took the stage wearing a spacesuit to perform “Unfuckwittable”.

This tour in support of his latest album, Indicud, displayed several performances of hits off the album in the beginning of his set including “Immortal” and “Girls” which was rightfully dedicated to the ladies. The crowd was very involved and excited to hear these new ones.

Kid Cudi’s energy was highly impressive for it only being him on stage. He kept dancing and provoked the crowd between the songs in which he played instrumentals off the album or specifically designed for the tour.

Special guest and another fellow Ohioan, King Chip, then came out to do a couple of songs with Kid Cudi. This would be the only time during the show Kid Cudi was joined on stage by someone. The two performed their collaborations off Indicud, “Brothers” and “Just What I Am”.

Throwing it back, Cudi did tracks from Man on the Moon II including “GHOST!”, “Erase Me” and stoner anthem “Marijuana”. It was clear that these songs along with the one’s from the first Man on the Moon album were going to be highlights of the night.

The evening came to its last leg in which Kid Cudi played his largest songs and classics from his debut album Man on the Moon. “Cudi Zone”, “Up, Up and Away”, “Day n Nite” and a cover of David Guetta’s “Memories” turned into one giant megamix of dancing, partying and energy. Kid Cudi was jumping around the stage before heading into his show finale, “Pursuit of Happiness”. Before leaving the stage he kicked the song back in with Steve Aoki’s remix and jumped around as fog cannons blasted over the pit.

Overall, Kid Cudi proved that he has what it takes to be a one-man show. He needed no hype man, no dancers, no band, no DJ, but just the interaction with his fans. All focus was on the rapper and he satisfied the concertgoer’s expectations. The visuals were literally out of this world and managed to transport The LC with them. “Ohio breeds some of the best f**king people in the world,” Cudi stated during his set. Proud of his roots, this Ohio stop will be a memorable one for the tour.