So, my friends and I were all really looking forward to this show. And with due reason, because there were so many good things about this show, that even if it sucked it would still be great. We got to the Knitting Factory a little after 6:45, and still no band had played yet. So Joe and I went over to New Fancy Food Deli around the block. Got 2 cliff bars and a Naked smoothie(dinner) and went back to the show. Once inside it was obvious that this was a sold out show, people were everywhere. Surprising, because most sold out Knitting Factory shows dont fill up until the end, but for this one it seemed like everyone was there before the first band played...
So on to the first band, HIGHER GIANT. None of us knew who they were, so we were just hanging out in the bar/merch area. Eventually I mentioned to someone "hey this kinda sounds like GREY AREA", and not too shortly after that I went into the main area and low and behold, Ernie Parada (TOKEN ENTRY, GREY AREA, KID DYNAMITE) was on handling lead guitar/vox. And then i saw that Dave Wagenschutz (LIFETIME, KID DYNAMITE, PAINT IT BLACK) was on the drums! And apparently somebody who had filled in or was in KILL YOUR IDOLS. Well, thats pretty promising. So I watched them for the last of their songs, and they were not bad at all. They definatley gave me a GREY AREA vibe, but that could be just because of Ernie's voice. They were a little more poppy than that, but still very good. Ernie was hittin all his signature high notes and not missing a chord, and the rest of the band looked like they were all having a great time. They had no demos for sale, but this is a band to check out.
Now, at the Knitting Factory they set a half hour between bands for them to set up(on the main stage). But pretty much for any punk/hardcore, this is too much time. 15 minutes is more than enough, this lead to bands kinda standing on stage trying to make it look like they were doing something all night. I find this really fucking annoying. I dont want to watch you dilly dally on stage, and wait for you to start, the venue needs to stop doing this.
On next were LAGRECIA, which is KID DYNAMITE frontman Jason Shevchuk's new band. I was very excited for them, because I love'd NONE MORE BLACK, and KID DYNAMITE and basically Jason Shevchuk cant make bad music. So the three of them took the stage and well, were fucking awesome. They are like NONE MORE BLACK, but maybe with a little more of the western feel. They played extremely tight, and they were definatley having a blast. I think this was about their 4th show, and it was obvious people were definatley there for them, I had never heard such a loud applause after the first song of a openeing band. LAGRECIA is great, and they are from Brooklyn so expect to be seeing them play a lot soon!
Dead center of the show were THE ERGS!. It took me a while to get into THE ERGS!, but I am glad I did because they put on a great show. The first time i saw them I was so surprised that the lead vocals were done by the drummer! That takes some serious skill to be able to drum and sing at the same time. Very impressing. They played a great set and kids were jumping around and havin fun for them. It was my third time seeing them and I was hoping for more MINOR THREAT covers. I think ive seen them cover THE DESCENDENTS also, but I cant remember. They play pop-punk the way it should be, and they are always on point, so dont be lame like I was and think "pop punk sucks" because this band proves it does not suck. I still cant stand the ramones though.
Next up were my most anticipated band of the night, THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM. This band sounds as if BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN started a melodic punk band. Once again, I cant remember what songs they played, sorry. I can say that there was a lot of energy during their set, from the band and the kids. Kids were dancing around and jumping and crowdsurfing for them. Generally just having a blast. It was obvious that THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM were surprised that so many kids were into them, and they were definitely happy about it, you could tell by the huge smiles on the singers face. At one point they started to talk about how it was some girl's birthday, and then went into a cover of TOM PETTY's "American Girl". Holy shit it sounded perfect, just like the original. Actually, their entire set sounded just like the LP, perhaps even better. They are definatley a great live band, if you have the chance to see them go for it, you will have a great fucking time.
Last up were THE LOVED ONES, touring supporting their new LP "Build and Burn". I dont know much by them, but they were definitely well received by the crowd. They have come a long way from when i saw them in Bellmore, to about 20 kids. And that show wasnt even a full band, just Dave Hause playing because the rest of them couldnt make it. They played very solid, besides the fact that Dave looked really drunk, there were some mic troubles later in the set but it fixed itself somehow. At one point Dave said they had a surprise, and then started talking about Ernie Parada. This of course made me think they were going to do some kind of GREY AREA or TOKEN ENTRY cover. No luck tho, the surprise was some guy from the hold steady playing guitar during "Louisiana", also during that song Dave jumped out and sang with the crowd a few times. I like that. They played for almost a hour, if not a full hour. By the end of it I got bored and tried to buy tickets to Blacklisted on April 1st, but the box office was already closed, oh well. Oh yea, during their set kids kept on ending up on stage, and then not knowing what to do. This led to them just standing there, one girl grabbing the mic and singing along(which is cool). But they all overstayed their welcome and Dave kept yelling DIVE. Seriously kids, when you end up on stage, you FUCKING DIVE. Nobody wants to see you up there, and you look like an idiot. dont end up on stage if you are too afraid to stagedive.
"I want to see 17 stagedives during this song, no more no less"- Scott Vogel.
On the subway back to penn, there was a homeless dude sleepin on the train. so everyone on the subway car was on the opposite side of him. seeing homeless people always reminds me how lucky I am, but it always makes me feel bad for them. Once back in Penn we got some pizza from Rose's and caught the 11:45 train home.
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