Friday, October 15, 2010

Motion City Soundtrack Interview and Show Review

Last night I was able to attend the Co-Headlining show of Motion City Soundtrack in San Diego at the historical local venue, SOMA. Before the show began, Matt Ernest (KCR Radio DJ) and I were able to gain access to an interview with the band beforehand.
I was pretty stoked on this 1. Because I had never been on a tour bus before 2. It was their first show off the tour 3. It is Motion City Soundtrack, come on! We were invited on the bus and were able to spend 15 minutes with Tony Thaxton (drums) and Matt Taylor (bass/vox) talking about the upcoming tour, music, and Twitter among other things. After we completed the interview, thanked and thanked the band, we headed inside to catch the first set at 7pm. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE INTERVIEW ON YOUTUBE!
Check out the interview on YouTube


First on was Valencia, the four piece group from Philadelphia. I was pretty stoked on seeing them because I picked up their last record, We All Need A Reason To Believe, and liked what I heard, so I was hoping for it to transfer live. In their 20 minute, 5 song set, the band used its time to the fullest playing some songs from their new album Dancing With A Ghost, which was released on Tuesday. It was a great way to start to concert.
Next on was the classic New Jersey powerpop/punk band, Saves The Day. They had a 40 minute set and fed off the high energy from what looked like long time Saves The Day fans. They put together a solid set, stringing together several fan favorites. Only complaint I could have was I wish they were more active on stage, but I cannot discount their awesome musicianship and ability to get the crowd stoked. This was a great way to prepare for the two headliners to come.

Saves The Day

Many people there were amped up for Say Anything, and when the first song played, I could instantly tell why. The kind of energy they bring to the table, it made it fun as someone generally new to their music to enjoy their set tremendously. I can now understand why Max Bemis (lead vox) has almost a cult like following from the fans. His lyrics, dancing, vocals, and just the way he presented himself on stage was able me to categorize him as one of my new favorite front men. The band even gave the fans a special treat playing and old song called “Color Blind” which came off their album Baseball. Additionally, Max invited out Chris Conley and Arun Bali of Saves The Day to perform “Crawl” off of Max and Chris’s side project, Two Tongues. Say Anything tour it up and set the table nicely for Motion City Soundtrack. 
Max Bemis and Chris Conley performing Two Tongues


The band everyone was waiting for, Motion City Soundtrack, came out to great ovation as they ripped through classic songs to newer songs from My Dinosaur Life. It was awesome to finally see this band live and so close because I really got to see how it all worked. From Justin Pierre’s amazing lyrics and side jokes for when they weren’t to watching Matt and Josh play guitar and bass on the side, Tony getting it done on drums. I especially loved how Jesse (keys) was so intense into everything, including how he drank his water. Picking up on the little things of how much fun the band was having really made it an enjoyable experience.
It was great to see they played a lot of the fans favorites and even came out with some previously unperformed songs with “Weekends” and “Hysteria”. Only thing that was sort of a buzzkill was the time constraints at the venue so the band had to cut its set slightly short, but overall, I do not feel they left the fans disappointed by their performance. 
Justin Pierre and Jesse Johnson of Motion City Soundtrack

This show was awesome and I think I should leave it at about that. Make sure you check out one of the other dates the bands will be on this tour:
October           14th      Soma                           San Diego, CA
                        15th      Avalon                         Los Angeles, CA
                        16th      House Of Blues           Anaheim, CA
                        17th      Regency                      San Francisco, CA
                        19th      Sodo                            Seattle, WA

                        20th      Crystal Ballroom         Portland, OR
                        22nd      Avalon                         Salt Lake City, UT
                        23rd      Summit                        Denver, CO
                        24th      Sokol Auditorium         Omaha, NE
                        26th      Pageant                       St. Louis, MO
                        27th      The Rave                     Milwaukee, WI
                        28th      First Avenue                Minneapolis, MN
                        30th      House Of Blues           Chicago, IL
                        31st      House Of Blues           Chicago, IL
November        1st        Bogarts                       Cincinnati, OH
                        3rd        Fillmore                       Detroit, MI
                        4th        Sound Academy           Toronto, ON
                        5th        Starland                       Sayreville, NJ
                        6th        Lupo’s                          Providence, RI
                        8th        House Of Blues           Boston, MA
                        9th        Nokia                           New York, NY
                        10th      Electric Factory           Philadelphia, PA
                        12th      Sonar                           Baltimore, MD
                        13th      Amo’s                          Charlotte, NC
                        14th      Variety Theater           Atlanta, GA
                        16th      Revolution                   Ft. Lauderdale, FL
                        17th      House Of Blues           Orlando, FL
                        19th      Palladium                    Dallas, TX
                        20th      Warehouse Live          Houston, TX
                        21st      Stubb’s                        Austin, TX

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