Went with Lindsey, Jordie, and Jaime to see Say Anything Friday night. We got there maybe an hour before hand an found a spot at the far right of the stage. The good part was that we were 2 feet from the stage and could feel the sweat flying off Coby, the guitarist. The bad part was that we were right, smack dab, next to the giant speakers blarring into our eardrums and increasing our chances of wearing hearing aids at an early age. We were in for a crazy show regardless.First up were the 3 opening bands: Days Away, Mewithoutyou, and Pieballed.
Days Away was first and they put on an incredible set. Overlaying rock riffs over Radiohead inspired autmospheric keyboards, they pulled off a very endearing live sound that was hip and heavy. The lead singer reminded me of Tom Yorke and even looked like him to an extent. Creating interest in an audience that didn't come to see you is a very challenging task and Days Away succeeded.
Next up was Mewithoutyou. Fronted by an extravagant, spazzing bearded lead singer; this band had all the makings of a memorable, inspiring, rocking performance. It was memorable, but for the wrong reasons. Because of the lead singer's stlye of talking real fast instead of actually singing and the fact that we were right next to the speakers, the songs were terrible. The whole act, he was incoherant and off key(except to those who had memorized the lyrics) and it was headache inducing. The only saying grace was that he was very animated and danced around like a madman, which was amusing.
PIebald then hit the stage. I must admit, I really didn't remember their performance at all. I think it has to the fact that I never heard of them before, the songs were so so, and their stage presence was ok. I really was just waiting impatiently for Say Anything to apear...
I have to admit, I wasn't sure how good of a live band Say Anything would be. I'm a recent fan of their album "...is a boy" and was hoping for a powerful live performance...and they delivered. The songs came loud and fast, belted out by lead singer, Max Bemis. After a few songs, him and the rest of the band were ozing sweat and still rocked though all the crowd favorites and some new ones. They came on for an encore and played through another 3 songs. By the end, both the band and we the audience, were spent. :)
