Jack’s Mannequin @ NYC 6/19

June 19, 2009

EXCLUSIVE! Download the full show right now!

On a warm Friday afternoon, Andrew McMahon headed into Midtown’s City Winery to play a handful of Jack’s Mannequin songs acoustic in front of a private audience. I was seated for lunch at the lovely restaurant around 12PM, ordered a glass of wine, and waited until McMahon came on stage near 12:30. Mixing up a set of old favorites, new songs, and even a cover of New York’s MGMT, McMahon sounded great. The full set:

Andrew McMahon

Andrew McMahon

The Resolution
The Mixed Tape
Hammers and Strings (A Lullaby)
La La Lie
Kids (MGMT cover)
Swim

Even without the rest of the band, the songs sounded big; a few hitches aside (an improvised “La La Lie” solo fell apart), the performance was near perfect and showcased exactly why McMahon is one of the strongest pop songwriters alive. I spoke briefly with McMahon after the set; we discussed his first tour, which I caught in Philadelphia before he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Sparked by the news that Jack’s Mannequin recently played the Something Corporate b-side “Watch the Sky” for the first time, I let Andrew know that my iPod was filled with his b-sides, acquired illegally. Without hesitation he smiled, put his arm around me, and said “as long as you’re listening, man”. He then signed my iPod, signing off that he was okay with that fact–not too surprising, since he angered his own record label by releasing a holiday EP for free on his website a few years back.

Jack’s Mannequin will open for The Fray in New Jersey at the PNC Bank Arts Center later tonight. The show is not yet sold out, and lawn tickets can be acquired from LiveNation’s website for about $25. Black and white photograph of Andrew McMahon is courtesy of the lovely Sara Brodster, who provides many pictures to inTuneMusic.

Jack's Mannequin

Jack's Mannequin

17 Comments | City Winery, Jack's Mannequin, New York, New York City | Permalink
Posted by Anthony Charles Ambrose

Jack’s Mannequin @ NYC 4/22

May 8, 2009

Jack’s Mannequin isn’t new to The Fillmore New York (previously known as Irving Plaza until Spring 2007). Nearly three years ago to the day (April 3, 2006), the venue hosted Andrew McMahon’s first New York performance since being diagnosed with, and recovering from, acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The venue holds just over a thousand standing, and it is usually a great place to catch a show.

A rainy Wednesday made no exception, and Jack’s Mannequin put on an excellent show. Much like the Everything in Transit tours often began with “Holiday From Real” (absent from tonight’s set),  The Glass Passenger tour began tonight with its own first track, “Crashin’”. “The Mixed Tape”, possibly the band’s biggest single, followed, and immediately frontman Andrew McMahon had the entire crowd under his spell.

Jack's Mannequin, not timid to show off their hard-rock side.

Jack's Mannequin, not timid about showing off their hard-rock side.

“MFEO” found a new place in the middle of the setlist, and the band’s performance was as strong as ever. McMahon’s performance of  “Caves” was expectedly beautiful, exploding with the band joining in during the song’s climax. “Bruised” was the last song before a three song encore that showcased “Me and the Moon” from Something Corporate’s North. The band split the setlist fairly even, with just half of the sixteen song setlist coming from the newest record:

Andrew McMahon captures a crowd like few other pop frontmen.

Andrew McMahon captures a crowd like few other pop frontmen.

Crashin’
The Mixed Tape
Drop Out – The So Unknown
Into the Airwaves
Swim
I’m Ready
Spinning
Bloodshot
Hammers and String (A Lullaby)
MFEO
The Resolution
Caves
Bruised
Dark Blue
Me and The Moon (Something Corporate cover)
La La Lie

The set was shorter than the band’s previous stop in New York City with Fun and generally less impressive. Still, it’s really just nitpicking–Jack’s Mannequin sounded great, and few frontmen can capture a crowd the way McMahon manages to. Essentials such as “Bruised” and “Dark Blue” are fine examples of pop-rock songwriting at its finest, and the haunting ballad “Hammers and Strings (A Lullaby)” is beautiful. The band’s final song, “La La Lie”, was dedicated to friendships, a topic not unfamiliar to McMahon’s songwriting.

Songs like “Swim” seem to capture the band’s essence; McMahon demands:

“You gotta swim in the dark…don’t let yourself sink, just find the horizon, I promise you it’s not as far as you think.”

Indeed, Jack’s Mannequin is about celebrating life: its struggles, its rewards, and the people that make it worth living.

Please note all photos are credit to Americanxclouds and used with permission. Thank you.

1 Comment | Jack's Mannequin, New York, New York City, The Filmore New York | Permalink
Posted by Anthony Charles Ambrose

Jack’s Mannequin / Fun / Treaty of Paris @ NYC 11/22

December 22, 2008

On a cold Saturday evening–and for the second night in a row–California piano-rockers Jack’s Mannequin sold out the Blender Theater, a fairly small venue located in Midtown New York City. Though the band has routinely sold out much larger venues, Jack’s Mannequin frontman Andrew McMahon opted to book a smaller club tour in support of their latest album, desiring a more “intimate show”. Due to the small venue sizes, support acts Treaty of Paris and Fun were asked to perform stripped down acoustic sets on the tour, bringing with them only acoustic instruments so that the space could be reserved for Jack’s Mannequin’s set that includes a full-size piano.

Treaty of Paris, stripped down and acoustic.

Treaty of Paris, stripped down and acoustic.

Signed to McMahon’s ATR’s Records, Chicago-based Treaty of Paris opened the evening. Completely unfamiliar with their material, my first exposure was their acoustic offering this evening. Vocalist Mike Chorvat carries the pop-rock act with impressive vocal offerings over surprisingly interesting guitars. Occasionally sounding similar to Chicago peers Fall Out Boy or The Academy Is…, the band has their own sound and enough charisma to stand on their own. Acoustic performances–devoid of distortion and overdramatics–are often a strong indication of an artist’s true ability; in this case, it appears Treaty of Paris is not to be thrown away amongst the growing number of untalented pop-rock acts overcrowding the airwaves. At the very least, it’s nice to hear a vocalist who understands pitch and tone.

Fun vocalist Nate Ruess.

Fun vocalist Nate Ruess.

Fun, a newly founded indie-pop band featuring The Format’s Nate Ruess, Anathallo’s Andrew Dost, and Steel Train’s Jack Antonoff, played next. Atonoff was absent due to his tour with Steel Train, so the band had a few touring members join them. One notable additon, Maggie Malyn, provided violin, guitar, and backing vocals throughout the set. Fun’s songs–none of which are out on record yet–sounded tremendous. Taking queues from where Dog Problems left off (and mixing in elements of Dost’s Anathallo), the songs are inviting, yet complex and intricately wrapped. Ruess was excellent, his vocals incredible and his stage presence captivating.

The band kept the crowd involved with singalong choruses to brand new songs and even a few covers. During the Interventions + Lullabies cut “The First Single (Cause a Scene)”, drums were replaced by using the floor as percussion; “She Doesn’t Get it” was treated very nicely acoustic. The key-changing and tempo-shifting “Come On Eileen” cover (Dexys Midnight Runners) was a fun treat that may be even better than the 1982 original. The clear musical ability of Fun should not be understated–the band knows how to write a song and knows equally well how to perform their material live.

Jack’s Mannequin kicked off their set with “Crashin’”, the first song from The Glass Passenger. “Spinning” followed before “The Mixed Tape”, the latter of which is the band’s biggest single and was the first song to get the entire crowd involved. The Bruce Springsteen-inspired “American Love” was next and sounded excellent–this should be the second single. To the best of my recollection the setlist:

Crashin
Spinning
The Mixed Tape
American Love
Swim
Holiday From Real
Annie Use Your Telescope
What Gets You Off
I’m Ready
Bloodshot
Hammers and Strings (A Lullaby)
Dark Blue
Suicide Blonde
Caves
Bruised
Hey Hey Hey We’re All Gonna Die
Cavanaugh Park (Something Corporate cover)
I’m On Fire (Bruce Springsteen cover)
The Resolution
La La Lie

“Swim” was proceeded by a brief speech explaining the need to write a song that has to carry you through rough times. “Annie Use Your Telescope” is musically one of the more interesting songs on The Glass Passenger, but its lyrics aren’t up to the rest of the album. Live, the song shines for being somewhat unique to the rest of the set.

Staples like “Holiday from Real”, “Dark Blue”, and “I’m Ready” received more album-like performances than previous tours–intros, differently voiced lines, and other subtleties are mostly gone in favor of the style of the original studio recordings. After seeing the band nearly twenty times over the last three years, it’s a nice change of pace to hear the songs rendered differently live, even if different actually means the same.

During “Suicide Blonde” bassist Dr. J (Jon Sullivan) used that auto-tune effect for the “I brought  my girl to keep me with it” hook, a subtlety I didn’t pick up on until hearing the song live. “Bruised”, possibly the best song from the band’s 2005 debut, is extremely bouncy and a great song live that shouldn’t ever leave their set.

McMahon prefaced the tour’s namesake, “Hammers and Strings (a Lullaby)”, with a story about the song being his goodbye to the piano he wrote North and toured Warped Tour with. Interestingly, he said the song wasn’t meant to be released and was only recorded because producer Jim Wirt overheard him playing it. “Caves”, a track written in varying perspectives involving his battle with leukemia, started with McMahon playing by himself. As the song climaxed the band joined in, erasing any doubt that the song would be the most powerful moment of the evening.

During what could be considered an encore, Jack’s Mannequin performed Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire”. I saw the band’’s first performance of the song which was fun but not impressive; this time the band nailed the cover, with guitarist Bobby Anderson performing the outro vocals near perfectly. Another cover, “Cavanaugh Park” from Something Corporate’s Leaving Through the Window, was equally impressive. Unlike the Springsteen cover, the crowd knew this one and was excited for a glimpse into McMahon’s past.

"La La Lie"

"La La Lie"

For just the second time ever, the band also performed the unreleased “Hey Hey Hey We’re All Gonna Die”, an outtake from The Glass Passenger. Like the released bsides, the song doesn’t really fit into the album but is still a strong track on its own. “La La Lie”, restored to its album version–not the “West Coast Winter” take from a year ago–closed the evening. The Simon and Garfunkel-inspired song about best friends was a new way to close a headlining show, as previously “MFEO”–absent this tour–was consistently the last song; members from each of the opening bands joined on stage with arms on each others’ shoulders celebrating the tour’s final stop.

By the end of the evening the show had to be immediately considered for the best show of 2008. The band’s performance was stellar, and McMahon captivates a crowd like few others. Throughout the show he tossed paper airplanes into the crowd (presumably setlists?); standing a foot taller than most of the crowd, I managed to grab one but passed it onto a very young girl whose face immediately lit up as if it was Christmas morning. And that’s the beauty of Jack’s Mannequin: it’s smart pop-rock that crosses age or gender boundaries with incredible musicmanship, lyrics, and live performances. Recent news has hinted that the band’s next tour will find them opening for The All-American Rejects, a disappointing piece of information because the band is just too good as a headlining act.

3 Comments | Blender Theater at Gramercy, Fun, Jack's Mannequin, New York, New York City, Treaty of Paris | Permalink
Posted by Anthony Charles Ambrose

Paramore / Jack’s Mannequin / Phantom Planet / Paper Route @ Asbury Park 8/16

August 18, 2008

On a sunny Saturday afternoon in New Jersey’s newly renovated shore community, Asbury Park, the line for Paramore’s The Final Riot! Tour extended for blocks down the boardwalk. Young teenage girls (many with their parents) waited patiently until 6PM for the Convention Center doors to open; a sign on the building reads “Greetings from Asbury Park”, a  nod to Bruce Springsteen, perhaps welcoming those parents who grew up on listening to the legend.

Unfortunately, the Convention Center isn’t a great place to see a show: the floor space is enormous, holding at least 3500, and the sound is poor. Fortunately, however, headliners Paramore and direct-support Jack’s Mannequin are two bands that sound great regardless of the venue. Each band normally puts on a tremendous show; expectations for these two acts were extremely high entering the aging Convention Center.

Nashville’s Paper Route, an extremely dry act with spacey guitars, swooning vocals, and handful of keyboards, opened the evening at 7PM. It’s bland, it’s boring, and it’s been done over the last decade by many other acts who do it much, much better. The band’s sole shining point, though, is drummer JT Daly who kept the band at least somewhat palatable with exciting drum rhythms throughout most of the set.

Phantom Planet took the stage next. The band, around for nearly fifteen years, put on a solid show that was at least entertaining for the half hour or so they were on stage. Twenty-eight year old vocalist/guitarist Alex Greenwald leads Phantom Planet with a certain charisma that carries the band despite their lack of any genuinely interesting songs, somehow connecting with an audience half his age. After four or five songs the band closed with their Al Jolson inspired “California”, the soundtrack to an MTV generation raised on Fox’s The OC. The band played the song well, giving the crowd a chance to sing their hearts out the entire time.

Andrew McMahon

Jack's Mannequin frontman Andrew McMahon during "La La Lie", a song he dedicated to "best friends".

Direct-support Jack’s Mannequin came on next, opening with “I’m Ready”. Although the band played a blazingly quick set (just about forty minutes), they managed to pack a punch during their brief time on stage. Still, it’s unfortunate that the band didn’t get more time, as they clearly shine as headliners–when band leader Andrew McMahon has time to interact with the crowd. “Kill The Messenger” received slightly new treatment, dropping an old live-only verse for a few lines from The Police’s “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic”; the stellar “Dark Blue” was noticeably without its live-only intro. Standard closer “MFEO” received the same U2 treatment as always (lines from “With or Without You”), but the song was shortened up a bit, removing the usual band introductions and solos during the song’s end. “The Resolution”, a song from the upcoming The Glass Passenger, was strong and fit into the older catalog surprisingly well. The band’s set:

I’m Ready
Bruised
La La Lie
Dark Blue
Kill the Messenger
The Resolution
The Mixed Tape
MFEO

It’s fair to say Paramore exploded onto the stage and didn’t stop all night. A few choice acoustic and piano-driven moments aside, the band hit hard for over an hour. Billed as The Final Riot! Tour, it’s not surprising (and extremely satisfying) that the band’s setlist was extremely Riot!-heavy. Pop-rock/arena-rock hasn’t sounded this tight or this good in a long time; whereas most pop-rock bands are bland, gimmicky, and unfulfilling, Paramore does everything right. The stage setup was complete with a glowing “RIOT” sign hung in the rafters and a ramp platform for the band members to run up and down on.

Opening with solo spotlights on guitarist Josh Farro (up on the ramp), and then the rest of the band until vocalist Hayley Williams, Paramore began with Riot! closer “Born for This”, a track that set the tone for the next hour. Partially inspired by Refused’s “Liberation Frequency” (”we want the airwaves back”), the band may play pop-rock but is clearly influenced by great hardcore acts. Drummer Zac Farro’s beats aren’t basic and empty; he’s actively doing over-the-top fills and double-bass drumlines. “Here We Go Again”, regularly infused with part of At the Drive-In’s “One Armed Scissor”, received the same treatment tonight–the results were great, as always. The band also briefly touched on Leonard Cohen’s incredible “Hallelujah” before jumping into their song of the same name (no relation).

Vocalist Hayley Williams

Paramore vocalist Hayley Williams, singing in front of drummer Zac Farro. (Photo by Jen Pero)

Things slowed down through parts of the set when Hayley sits down with a keyboard on songs like “We Are Broken”, dedicated to Love146, a charity aimed to abolish child sex trafficking. Josh Farro and touring guitarist Taylor York picked up acoustic guitars for “My Heart”, a nice rendition of All We Know is Falling’s closing track. It’s actually incredible to see how much the band progressed from that 2005 effort to 2007’s Riot!; songs like “Pressure” and “Emergency”, standouts from their 2005 debut, feel empty and hollow compared to most of the band’s latest work, though that isn’t to say the older material isn’t still solid.

Paramore’s final riot was fifteen songs, with two encores. The band first stepped off stage after “For A Pessimist, I’m Pretty Optimistic”, returning to play three more songs. “Misery Business”, the second encore and band’s biggest single, closed the show.

Born For This
That’s What You Get
Here We Go Again
Fences
Crushcrushcrush
Let the Flames Begin
When it Rains
My Heart
Decoy
Pressure
For A Pessimist, I’m Pretty Optimistic
We Are Broken
Emergency
Hallelujah
Misery Business

It was a bit awkward being around quite so many young girls and parents the whole evening, and the “pits” opened for some of Paramore’s faster songs may have been the funniest things I saw all weekend. Still, the band put on an incredible show and continues to prove why they lead the pop-rock pack, faltering only once all night: an extremely awkward (and luckily, extremely brief) cover of Flo-Rida’s “Low” tossed into “CrushCrushCrush”. From a mostly pitch-perfect Hayley to a completely tight band behind her, it’s hard not to recommend The Final Riot! Tour, especially with Jack’s Mannequin as direct-support.

6 Comments | Convention Center, Jack's Mannequin, Paper Route, Paramore, Phantom Planet | Permalink
Posted by Anthony Charles Ambrose

The Bamboozle (Day One) 5/3

May 6, 2008

Since 2006, The Bamboozle festival has grounded itself outside Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Each year, over one hundred bands play for two days over the course of the first weekend in May. Beginning around noon and ending near midnight, the festival showcases the smallest, unsigned bands to the most popular acts in the country. It’s normally a humid affair–this time, however, the weather was cold and rainy.

I arrived on Saturday around noon to check out the first day of The Bamboozle, heading to the 5 Gum side stage to check out Long Island’s The Sleeping. A post-hardcore act that I’ve caught at Bamboozle in the past, the band performed with Sebastian Bach (ex-Skid Row), playing a solid set featuring some of Bach’s material in addition to The Sleeping staples such as “If Your Heart Was Broken”. Though later in the evening after fatigue set in I’d chill out to some pop-rock acts, The Sleeping were a great way to kick off the weekend with a crowd that was certainly ready to dance. The band sounded tight; guitarist Cameron Keym’s metal-inspired licks were sharper than ever, and vocalist Douglas Robinson captured the crowd.

Story of the Year were next on my list at 2PM, so I ventured to the Asbury Park main stage. Let it be known that the sound, for both Day One and Day Two, was terrible on the Asbury Park stage–unfortunate because about half of the bands I saw during the weekend set up on that stage. As I’m not a professional audio engineer, I’m not exactly sure what the problem was but the sound was never consistent: bass was either muddy or non-existent, and microphones never maintained the same volume, often cutting out nearly entirely for seconds at a time.

Despite common sound issues that would plague nearly twenty bands on that stage, Story of the Year sounded excellent for the duration of their set. It’s been some time since i caught the band on tour, but their live show had always been their strongest point; it’s great to see they’ve only improved over time. Their set:

And the Hero Will Drown
The Antidote
Anthem of Our Dying Day
Wake Up
In the Shadows
Until the Day I Die
Is This My Fate? He Asked Them

Over half of their set came from their debut Page Avenue, but the band unfortunately included two of their lesser songs from that release in “Anthem of Our Dying Day” and “Under the Day I Die” but did include two of the strongest, opener “And the Hero Will Drown” and “In the Shadows”. The new songs from The Black Swan (”The Antidote”, “Wake Up”) sounded promising, so I’ll need to check out that album soon.

New Jersey ska-stalwarts Streetlight Manifesto were up next on the opposite main stage (which suffered from none of Asbury Park stage’s sound issues). The band played extremely well, with a large selection of songs coming from Somewhere in the Between. The band pleased the crowd with “Dear Sergio”, a song that engaged many people listening who were familiar with Catch 22’s Keasbey Nights but not necassrily Streetlight Manifesto.

At 3:30PM on the Nokia Ticket Rush stage, Vinnie Caruana played a set entirely of The Movielife songs with Set Your Goals as his backing band. Though he stated numerous times throughout the set that “this [wasn't] The Movielife”, you’d be hard pressed to find a single person in the crowd who was concerned with that fact. Vinnie sang like the band hadn’t broken up five years ago, with dead-on delivery of songs nearly a decade old. Set Your Goals’s (a band I wanted to see as well but passed up on to see Saves the Day) guitarists, bassist, and drummer covered each song with precision. Cuts included “Hand Grenade”, “Pinky Swear”, “Hey”, and “Face or Kneecaps” before the near-obligatory closer, “Jamestown”. Vinnie constantly thanked the crowd for giving him the chance to play these songs, but it was really the crowd constantly thanking him for resurrecting the songs of an incredible punk-pop band.

Dressed as cops and coming out to Inner Circle’s “Bad Boys” on the PA, Less Than Jake took the Asbury Park stage at 4PM, opening with “All My Best Friends Are Metalheads”. My first time catching the band live, I was quite impressed with how tight the band sounded. I’m not a huge fan of the band (perhaps getting into them late into their career), but I respect their contributions to the genre and their live show convinced me to give them some more attention. Their full set:

All My Best Friends Are Metalheads
Last One Out Of Liberty City
Overrated
Gainseville Rock City
Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts
Great American Sharp Shooter
Ghosts Of You And Me
Science Of Selling Yourself Short
Look What Happened

I took an hour break between 4:30 and 5:30 to check out various tents and merchandise, picking up a great Refused Shirts For a Cure tee. SFaC is a great project; all proceeds go to the Syrentha J. Savio Endowment. The SSE provides financial assistance to underprivileged women who cannot afford expensive breast cancer medicine and therapy; there are a lot of shirt designs, I urge you to see if your favorite band is there and to pick one up for just $12.

I caught a little bit of theAUDITION and Bless the Fall, two bands I didn’t have much interest in checking out but stayed at for a little bit while talking to some friends. Chiodos played at 5:50 on the Asbury Park stage, my next destination. The band played a balanced mix between their two full-length albums; they sounded decent, and the crowd was explosive the entire time. The full setlist:

The Undertakers Thirst For Revenge Is Unquenchable (The Final Battle)
There’s No Penguins In Alaska
Baby, You Wouldn’t Last A Minute On The Creek
Teeth The Size Of Piano Keys
Bulls Make Money, Bears Make Money, Pigs Get Slaughtered
The Words ‘Best Friend’ Become Refined
Is It Progression If A Cannibal Uses A Fork

I rushed over to the opposing NowWhat mainstage before Chiodos was finished to catch New Jersey locals Saves the Day, who opened up with Stay What You Are’s “See You”. Chris Conley sounded tremendous: his voice was not only crisp and clear, but he sounded confident and in control of the crowd the entire time. When told the band had time for only one more song (the main stage times were getting increasingly backed up), he asked the crowd to pick between “Ups and Downs” and “Firefly”–”Firefly” apparently was the first thing he heard and played both that and then “At Your Funeral”, upping the count of songs from their 2001 LP to three. The full set:

See You
The End
Anywhere With You
You Vandal
Can’t Stay The Same
Head For The Hills
Shoulder To The Wheel
Firefly
At Your Funeral

It would have been nice to hear “Ups and Downs”, one of my favorite Saves the Day songs, but the band still played a great set nonetheless. The band has too much material to get picky about songs not played, especially when they picked nine great tracks anyway.

Jack’s Mannequin, another casualty of the Asbury Park stage, was next at 6:50; they didn’t start immediately after Saves the Day, so I managed to make it across the parking lot in time to get close to the stage before the band started. “Dark Blue”, with part of the extended introduction, kicked off the setlist which included a song from the upcoming The Glass Passenger (which certainly sounds promising — I was worried after a slew of less-than-stellar post-Everything in Transit tracks) and a cover from Something Corporate’s North. The set:

Dark Blue
Holiday from Real
The Mixed Tape
Suicide Blonde
Bruised
Kill the Messenger
La La Lie
Me and the Moon (Something Corporate cover)
MFEO

The band played well, but their sound was somewhat marred by the stage. Before “Kill the Messenger”, frontman Andrew McMahon commented on the weather; during the song (which features the lyrics “I’m going to send a little rain your way”) the misty rain slowly picked up. Even taking into account projection, the song had never felt so real or so powerful. Aside from the lack of staple “I’m Ready”, I don’t think I could have asked for a better setlist. “MFEO” is an incredible track that stands on its own, but it really works perfectly for closing a set, especially outdoors in the rain, in the parking lot.

Paramore played the Asbury Park stage at 8PM; almost immediately it was obvious just how poor the stage’s sound actually was, as one of the tightest pop-rock acts in the scene today suddenly sounded sloppy and uninteresting. The band kicked off with Riot!’s “Let the Flames Begin”, following it with All We Know is Falling single “Emergency”. Either during that track or during “Stop This Song (Lovesick Melody)”, a b-side from the Riot! sessions, the stage’s sound started to click back together and the band sounded incredible for the rest of their set, which was, in its entirety:

Let the Flames Begin
Emergency
Stop This Song (Lovesick Melody)
Here We Go Again
That’s What You Get
Pressure
For A Pessimist, I’m Pretty Optimistic
crushcrushcrush
Woah
Misery Business

“Here We Go Again” was sans the At The Drive-In mini-cover, instead segueing flawlessly into “That’s What You Get”. Much like an hour ago watching Jack’s Mannequin amongst teenage girls barely (if at all?) old enough to drive, I felt out of place singing along to every word, but it’s always refreshing to catch other guys mouthing the words: this is great pop music, and I’m glad that these young teens are growing up on true pop-rock, not manufactured radio garbage or Britney Spears-esq bubblegum, even if the band is dominating the radio with songs such as “Misery Business”, the set’s closer.

During the aforementioned hit single, I walked out of the crowd to get to Jimmy Eat World, an act I’m almost embarrassed to admit I had never seen live. The band’s performance was unparalleled by any other act all day, and their forty-five minute setlist was incredible:

Big Casino
Sweetness
Work
Always Be
Crush
Here It Goes
A Praise Chorus
Let It Happen
Dizzy
Bleed American
Pain
The Middle

The rain was a constant mist during their performance; it was a little chilly, but incredibly relaxing. There’s not much to be said about the band’s performance other than that their live sound is a near perfect recreation of their studio albums, from the guitar subtleties to the incredible harmonies.

Snoop Dogg closed Day One, coming on around 9:30. I was a little further back than normal (near the soundboard) for his set, but he still sounded pretty good. I had never seen him live, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but he managed to hold my attention for some time. I left midway through his set to get to a party, but his full set was:

Murder Was The Case
P.I.M.P. (Remix)
Who Am I? (What’s My Name)
That’s That Shit
Gin And Juice
Lodi Dodi
Woof!
I Wanna Fuck You
Snoop’s Upside Ya Head
Beautiful
Nuthin’ But A G Thang
Ain’t No Fun
Deeez Nuuuts
Notorious DPG
Snoop Dogg
My Medicine
Sexual Eruption
Drop It Like It’s Hot

The entire day was great, as I got to see some older bands for the first time live in addition to seeing some of my favorites once again. The weather was great: I’d prefer chilly and rainy to blistering heat and humidity any day. Moreover, cell phone service actually worked, which allowed me to meet up with friends throughout the day. There was room for improvement though: I couldn’t find any time cards (something usually handed out when you walk in), and, to beat a dead horse, the Asbury Park stage sounded terrible. Scheduling was pretty solid: Set Your Goals and Men Women & Children were the only two bands I missed due to conflicting times.

If anyone has any corrections/updates to the setlists I posted (which should be accurate, but there’s always room for error), please post them in the comments.

3 Comments | Bamboozle, Chiodos, East Rutherford, Giants Stadium, Jack's Mannequin, Jimmy Eat World, Less Than Jake, Paramore, Saves the Day, Set Your Goals, Shirts For a Cure, Snoop Dogg, Story of the Year, Streetlight Manifesto, The Movielife, The Sleeping | Permalink
Posted by Anthony Charles Ambrose

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