Never in my life have I left a concert early. Unfortunately there's a first time for everything and WWPJ was unable deliver, though the opening bands did little to convince me to stay.
The first act of the night was a local band. The second act of the night was also a local band. Honestly, that alone should have been red flag number one. It's not that I'm knocking local bands, in fact, more power to them. I fully support any and all artists who are pursuing a dream or passion, however, having two local bands open for a fairly well-known group is a risky move that, in this case, didn't work out.
While no seedy venue should be expected to be consistently punctual, delaying the start of a show by half an hour is a sure fire way of unnecessarily irritating a crowd. Any local artist should be quick to establish themselves as a group that won't cause potential fans to wait in anticipation. The delay caused me to dislike the band before having even hear them. Let's be honest, asides from the friends and family members in attendance, no one was there to see 'The Last Dinosaur.' The group was merely the appetizer to satiate the fans who were eagerly awaiting the main act of the night. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the band was... decent! With such low initial standards, it's no surprise that the group managed to exceed my expectations. The group was obviously excited to be playing for the audience, and even more excited to be opening for WWPJ. There was an almost infectious enthusiasm surrounding the group that quickly resulted in an equally enthusiastic crowd. The singer was in constant motion and the lead guitarist appeared to be seizing throughout the performance, constantly flipping his head back and forth and whipping his guitar left and right (hitting my head the process). By the close of their performance, The Last Dinosaur had half of the audience on stage with them, belting out songs that were catchy enough to sing to despite having never heard them before. The music itself is very much a rock/indie collection that suited the audience. Their stage presence was the group's greatest asset. They were quick to develop a comfortable camaraderie with the crowd, which resulted in the flocking of the merchandise table at the close of the set. While the music isn't something I can see myself listening to on repeat every day, there is a definite time and place in which the songs would be an ideal soundtrack. All in all The Last Dinosaur was able to prove themselves as the rockers that they are trying to be. I'd give their performance a solid B. (Here's a link to their music if interested: http://www.purevolume.com/thelastdino )
Then came 'A New Dakota'... Horrible. I for one am not a fan. It was actually almost painful for me to watch. All of the energy supplied by the previous band was completely drained out of the audience when the second group began. What really irked me was the fact that the music was unable to back up the punk-grundge persona that the group was attempting to give off. The lone female of the group encapsulated every stereotype given to female punk artists. Short choppy hair? Check. Pink guitar with matching Hello Kitty guitar strap? Check. While I generally try not to concentrate on the appearance of musicians, it was literally all I could concentrate on throughout the performance. It wasn't because I objected to how they looked, I firmly believe that people should dress how they want, it was because they consciously chose to give off a specific persona that was completely off-base from their music style. If you're going to dress like and edgy punk band, be an edgy punk band. Don't create a façade to conform to societal stereotypes if it is completely irrelevant and distracting to the music. I honestly don't even feel comfortable commenting on the music because I spent more time playing Temple Run on my phone than I did listening. While I concur that my interest in my phone was disrespectful to the performers, I honestly could not find a way to enjoy the music. Two songs was enough to cause me to completely zone out and focus on the clock. I'd probably be less comfortable writing this if it wasn't for the fact that my opinion of the group seemed to be shared by much of the audience. The performance was underwhelming and at one point during the set a high-schooler was overheard saying, "They're nothing special. We sound better than them!" Agreed. Unlike their predecessors, A New Dakota did little to interact with the crowd and by the end of the performance, it became clear that the growing crowd was due solely because of the anticipation for We Were Promised Jetpacks. Trust me, A New Dakota wasn't bringing anyone in. C- Have at it: http://anewdakota.bandcamp.com/
By the time We Were Promised Jetpacks came on stage, it had been three hours since the advertised start of the show, and forty minutes since A New Dakota had (thankfully) left the stage. While attending long concerts isn't necessarily unheard of, set changes are rarely as arduous as they were for WWPJ. Let me reiterate: FORTY. MINUTES. Honestly, even forty minutes between sets isn't too bad. What was horrible was the fact that it was a tiny venue, and the band was just standing in the room the whole time! It probably took roughly ten minutes for the equipment to be set up, and a painful half-hour of waiting around listening to soundcheck after soundcheck. A full ten minutes was spent checking the drums, which consisted of the drummer literally hitting the drum again. And again. AND AGAIN. The crowd got agitated pretty quickly and I overheard many crude comments from the people standing behind me. The real irritation stemmed from the fact that it was completely unnecessary. The band could have been onstage within 15 minutes of A New Dakota's performance, they just chose not to. Quite a few people opted for the exit. That being said, one WWPJ finally got their asses onstage, the music was as good as the records. WWPJ performs really well live, (vocally that is, the energy was lacking) and were quick to pump up the audience. Alas, the wait killed me and once I heard my favorite song (again, 'Quiet Little Voices') I chose to head out and escape the sweaty people and stuffy air. It's a real bummer because how many opportunities will there be to see a Scottish band perform stateside? Not as many as would be preferable I'm sure. All in all the music was good but the constant holdups ruined the night. B. http://www.myspace.com/wewerepromisedjetpacks/music
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