Saw the Tossers/Horrorpops/Sick of it All/Dropkick Murphys tonight at a venue called Ram's Head Live.
I thought the venue was rather shitty. It's in the middle of a place called Powerplant Live in Baltimore. Powerplant Live is one of those trendy places for young people...though it's very clear that I'm not the sort of person they're intending to attract. They have a variety of themed bars and clubs. It's apparently THE spot in Baltimore to pick-up drunk girls, at least according to a recent Baltimore Sun article. All in all, I could only describe the atmosphere of the plaza as "sleazy," in the full George Bush fundraiser meaning of the word.
The venue itself is horribly designed for concerts. The space in front of the main stage is very shallow. It's also rather narrow - until it opens up near the stage. Most of that space seems to spill out into bars, rather than space where you can actually see the stage. The balcony is similarly poorly laid out. I staked out a spot upstairs, because I'm still recovering from drinking injuries incurred last weekend and would be a fool to get anywhere near the dancing.
It's the sort of venue I will never go to again, unless one of my favorite bands of all time play there and have no shows in Philly, DC, Va. Beach, or NYC (ha!).
The Tossers (how are they on the same label as Atreyu?) opened and played a pretty good set. I was rather suprised that no one was dancing, though. I really wish they would've stayed on for the last aborted song.
The Horrorpops were really fucking good. I'd never seen them before, but I'm a believer now. I guess all I really have to say about them is that they are rock 'n' roll. The dancers were cute, too, in a couple of different senses of that statement.
Of course, the highlight of the night for me was seeing Sick of it All. I've always found NYHC compelling on some level, but in particular Sick of it All. Suprisingly, to me, they got a lot of "you suck" type comments. They did get the floor to erupt, though, and the walls of death had the whole floor moving for at least a couple of minutes. It is kind of weird to watch those guys, though, and think they've been at it for 20 years and still have so much energy.
The 10 year vets came up last. I haven't seen them or bought any of their albums in 5 years and tonight I remembered why - their new tunes suck. The new, crappy tunes broke up any pleasure I might've gotten out of hearing songs from Do or Die. Listening to them now and looking at the majority of their audience makes it hard to imagine that they were once making splits with the likes of the Business, Oxymoron, and the Anti-Heroes and that their shows were fun.
I thought the venue was rather shitty. It's in the middle of a place called Powerplant Live in Baltimore. Powerplant Live is one of those trendy places for young people...though it's very clear that I'm not the sort of person they're intending to attract. They have a variety of themed bars and clubs. It's apparently THE spot in Baltimore to pick-up drunk girls, at least according to a recent Baltimore Sun article. All in all, I could only describe the atmosphere of the plaza as "sleazy," in the full George Bush fundraiser meaning of the word.
The venue itself is horribly designed for concerts. The space in front of the main stage is very shallow. It's also rather narrow - until it opens up near the stage. Most of that space seems to spill out into bars, rather than space where you can actually see the stage. The balcony is similarly poorly laid out. I staked out a spot upstairs, because I'm still recovering from drinking injuries incurred last weekend and would be a fool to get anywhere near the dancing.
It's the sort of venue I will never go to again, unless one of my favorite bands of all time play there and have no shows in Philly, DC, Va. Beach, or NYC (ha!).
The Tossers (how are they on the same label as Atreyu?) opened and played a pretty good set. I was rather suprised that no one was dancing, though. I really wish they would've stayed on for the last aborted song.
The Horrorpops were really fucking good. I'd never seen them before, but I'm a believer now. I guess all I really have to say about them is that they are rock 'n' roll. The dancers were cute, too, in a couple of different senses of that statement.
Of course, the highlight of the night for me was seeing Sick of it All. I've always found NYHC compelling on some level, but in particular Sick of it All. Suprisingly, to me, they got a lot of "you suck" type comments. They did get the floor to erupt, though, and the walls of death had the whole floor moving for at least a couple of minutes. It is kind of weird to watch those guys, though, and think they've been at it for 20 years and still have so much energy.
The 10 year vets came up last. I haven't seen them or bought any of their albums in 5 years and tonight I remembered why - their new tunes suck. The new, crappy tunes broke up any pleasure I might've gotten out of hearing songs from Do or Die. Listening to them now and looking at the majority of their audience makes it hard to imagine that they were once making splits with the likes of the Business, Oxymoron, and the Anti-Heroes and that their shows were fun.
Hey, I saw Horrorpops this year for the first time too. I liked them a lot more than I expected, actually. The show was really fun, and the dancers were great...