By Lindsay Renner, Advertisement Editor
It was a teenage dream, but not in the sugary sweet Katy Perry sort of way: This dream was more realistic-or at least more pessimistic-than most. On November 17 at the House of Blues in Orlando, alternative scene favorites Saves the Day, Say Anything and Motion City Soundtrack performed.
This was not Motion City Soundtrack’s first time playing a Florida venue this year: In April, the Minneapolis band played the State Theatre in Saint Petersburg in support of My Dinosaur Life, their latest album, which was released in mid January to much critical acclaim. Say Anything was also on tour in support of their new self-titled album, released earlier this fall. Although Saves the Day has not released any new material in the last few years, the band played new material to be released next year.
The tour’s opening act, A Great Big Pile of Leaves, was essentially instantly forgettable. The band, although a fine group of musicians, failed to bring anything new to the genre, and had a dull, if even existent, stage presence. They lacked the sharp observations characteristic of the music of Say Anything, and could not compete with Motion City Soundtrack’s unique musicality or Saves the Day’s distinctive vocalist. It was clear from standing in the room that this band simply existed to kill time prior to the main attraction: in fact, one could observe the Saves the Day logo behind them, as to save time between sets.
Following the less than spectacular opening act, New Jersey scene veterans took the stage. Although in existence the longest- the band formed in Princeton in 1994- they are, by far, nowhere nearly as popular presently as Say Anything or Motion City Soundtrack, but are still very well known. The band played a variety of songs spanning their career, including the single from 1999’s Through Being Cool, entitled Holly Hox, Forget Me Nots. Although only their vocalist, Chris Conley, remains from the band’s original lineup, their set was still spectacular and slightly nostalgic for those in the crowd old enough to remember the band’s heyday.
After what seemed like an eternity to wait, Los Angeles based Say Anything took the stage, opening with a single off their newest album. Frontman Max Bemis proved as effervescent as ever, hopping around the stage and proving nearly impossible to photograph decently. There is no doubt that Bemis certainly knew how to work the crowd: he frequently held out the microphone and stopped singing entirely, allowing the audience the opportunity to sing some of the band’s most well known lines. Despite the recent departure of the band’s bassist, Alex Kent, from the line-up, they did not falter: Kenny Vasoli, the former lead vocalist of seminal band The Starting Line, stood in Kent’s place and the difference between sounds was hardly noticeable. The band also played two or three songs by Two Tongues, Bemis’s side project with Chris Conley.
The show’s piece de resistance came after a much shorter wait than for Say Anything: Minneapolis favorites Motion City Soundtrack. Despite having recently regained his voice, the band’s spiky haired lead singer Justin Pierre took the forefront, and took charge immediately. The band opened with the last track off their newest release, My Dinosaur Life. As with the other bands, Motion City played a wide variety of their material, with a surprisingly large amount of songs from 2004’s Commit This to Memory.
Ultimately, this was one of the best shows to grace the Orlando area in quite some time. It was an evening full of pop punk favorites hitting the high notes, with a little help from an enthusiastic crowd.
