Pop Punks Not Dead: Concert Review

Band: Set Your Goals, The Wonder Years, Man Overboard, This Time Next Year
Date: November 16, 2011
Location: The Regency Ballroom, San Francisco, CA

Preconceived Thoughts of the Band: 
I have been waiting for the Pop Punks Not Dead tour for months now!! This is because I've been dying over The Wonder Years. When I first heard them a couple months back, I was like WTF how have I gone without them?! They are my exact kind of musical interest. Besides The Wonder Years, I have only really really slightly listened to Man Overboard and Set Your Goals. Just to note, New Found Glory was headlining this tour, but I didn't stay to see them unfortunately :( Even though pop punk isn't dead...I have to pass all my classes ;)





What Actually Happened (BITCH SPOILER ALERT!!!) 

I actually ended up going to this show alone, which is a first for me. Before I got in to the venue, I may have had a little to drink to loosen me up a bit..Anyhow. When I got there This Time Next Year had just started to play. There was already a good circle pit going and a bunch of people in the crowd. I had never listened to them before, but apparently they are a relatively local band to the bay area, so they had a good amount of fans for the first band. They were pretty good, I enjoyed their set and their music. Next was Man Overboard. I ended up moving closer to the stage, probably about 3 rows in. I have only recently started listening to Man Overboard, and I really didn't recognize any of their songs. I really liked them though! They are definitely my type of music, so it was fun. As another note, there were a ton...ton...of attractive guys at this show. I usually dont swoon this hard, but Pop Punks Not Dead tour definitely attracted some hot guys. I was literally surrounded by them during the Man Overboard set..no complaints there. After Man Overboard finished I was eavesdropping on some of the guys around me and they were saying how Man Overboard on their albums usually didn't sound as hard as they did live. Take that as you will, I feel I would like them either way.

THE WONDER YEARS. Wow, just really, what can I say? I had been dying for this part of the show for months. When the lights dimmed, I swear there was so much energy in the room. It was exactly how I had imagined. People moving, screaming the lyrics, just really good energy. The show was so much fun. The Wonder Years seriously killed it. They put on just an amazing set. Their stage energy is spot on and the fans and the crowd just ate it up. I had so much fun. It was worth the drive and worth going by myself as well. I just seriously felt like this was the place I wanted to be. It was so much fun, I love it when other people are feeling and connecting to the music as much as I do. It was an absolutely amazing show.

After The Wonder Years, Set Your Goals played. I had moved way over to the side by the wall of the room and was watching from there. I really dont listen to Set Your Goals, but I recognized one song. Just by watching the crowd, it looked really fun. There were a lot of people in there really in to it. Once again, like other shows, it made me wish I knew their music so I could be in the crowd having fun. Set Your Goals was originally from the Bay Area, and they definitely had a lot of fans. Their stage presence was really really strong. They looked like they were having a blast on stage and it definitely pumped up the crowd.

Verdict - Absolutely amazing sets, awesome crowd. Pop Punks Not Dead Tour brought it hard this year.

Bitch Rate: 0/5...No complaints here. 

Hey Monday, Cartel, and The Ready Set: Nostalgia Concert Review

Band: Hey Monday, Cartel, and The Ready Set
Date: November 17, 2010
Location: Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA

Preconceived Thoughts of the Band: 
At the time of this show, The Ready Set was still on the edge for me. I had seen them live once or twice before this show, and I wasn't really feeling them yet. It wasn't until this show that I finally enjoyed their set (even though I still laugh at Jordan's dance moves). Cartel, being an older band in comparison to the others, I hadn't really listened to that much. I knew about 4-5 songs out of their set. As for Hey Monday, I will also still warming up to their sound/liking Cassidee Pope.





What Actually Happened (BITCH SPOILER ALERT!!!) 

All Time Low, Yellowcard, and Hey Monday: Concert Nostalgia

Band:  All Time Low, Yellowcard, and Hey Monday--The Dirty Work Tour
Date: April 16, 2011 and May 3, 2011 
Location: The Warfield, San Francisco, CA and Best Buy Theater, New York, New York. 

Preconceived Thoughts of the Band: 
All Time low has been one of my favorites for the past 6 years or so. I really loved their first album as well as their second one, however their third and fourth one definitely took me awhile to warm up to. As for Yellowcard, I have never been that big of a fan, I really just know their singles, but I do like them. Hey Monday has a female lead singer, and since that isn't my fave, it took me awhile to warm up to them. I've seen them live a few times before this, so I finally do like them well enough and know their songs. 


What Actually Happened (BITCH SPOILER ALERT) - 
I will be reviewing both the SF show as well as the NY show since I went to both, I will specify when I am talking about each show as I write. For the SF show, we got there a little bit later, but early enough not to miss Hey Monday. It was my first time going to The Warfield. It is a pretty venue, but the pit was packed!! There was barely any room for all the people that had tickets for it. It was pretty uncomfortable. Hey Monday was the first band that we saw and they were pretty good. She was really interacting with the crowd and play alot of songs, even a mix of a few of their songs in one. I was pretty happy with their set overall. Yellowcard came on next. They actually had alot of fans there just for them. I had never really listened to them besides the singles that they have put out, but I really loved them. They put on a really good show. No complaints there. Then was All Time Low. I really cant say that I have ever been disappointed with an All Time Low show. They always have alot of energy, are constantly interacting with crowd and play a good spectrum from their first album to their newest album. 

SF Show:

The NY show was at the Best Buy Theater, which is hands down the nicest venue I have ever been to. It was gorgeous inside! I was amazed. Our attendance of the show was really last minute. We knew that they were going to be playing while we were in NY, but we were on a pretty tight budget. We ended up getting our tickets on stubhub the night before for a really decent price. Anyways, if you read my review of The Bamboozle Festival, you know my feelings on the NJ crowds. Well, NY crowds weren't much better. We made it again right when Hey Monday was about to start. Even while we were waiting for them to play, I was getting pissed off at everyone around us. I just dont know what it was. Then, once they started playing, the crowd was just really rude and annoying. I honestly feel that even Cassadee (singer of Hey Monday) was annoyed. Her set felt alot more rushed than at the SF show, and it seemed shorter too. It could have been for a totally different reason, but she even didn't interact with the crowd half as much as she did before. Probably the thing that pissed me off the most was that the crowd was so rough and annoying that we could barely be in the pit. They did something I literally had never seen at any other show I have been to before. 3 or 4 guys would get on their hands and knees on the ground, then someone would run and jump on them to crowd surf. This was the stupidest thing ever to me. I usually dont have a huge problem with crowd surfers, but this was so dangerous and ridiculously. My friend got hit really hard in the head with someones foot when they were doing that. It was so bad that we basically just moved off to the side. Usually I'm down to get pushed around and jump, but it was way too much. Maybe I'm just getting too old though...
Anyways, once again, Yellowcard really had a great set and show. They played all the same songs as in SF, but I enjoyed it all the same. 


All Time Low was really good once again. They interacted just as much with the crowd, and played the same set, but they just put on a good show. One thing that I did appreciate about this crowd was that during Alex's usual solo of "Remembering Sunday" more than half of the pit sat down and just listened. I thought that was really cute. 

NY Show:

Verdict - SF show rocked, besides a way too crowded pit, and the NYshow...well...the bands were great but I still hated the crowd.


Bitch Rate - 2.5 /5 

Hey Monday:
I Don’t Wanna Dance
Homecomming
Fall Into Me
Acoustic Medley (Included Arizona and Hangover)
How You Love Me Now
Wish You Were Here

Yellowcard:
Lights And Sounds
Way Away
Believe
Fighting
Light Up The Sky
Hang You Up
For You and Your Denial
Only One
Ocean Ave

All Time Low:
Time Bomb
Stella
The Beach
Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don’t)
Coffeeshop Soundtrack
Let It Roll
Remembering Sunday
Six Feet Under The Stars
The Party Song
Papermoon
Break Your Little Heart
Sick Little Games
Poppin’ Champagne
Lost In Stereo
Therapy
Weightless
Dear Maria, Count Me In

Mayday Parade, We Are the In Crowd, You Me At Six, There For Tomorrow: Concert Review

Band:  Mayday Parade, We Are the In Crowd, You Me At Six, There For Tomorrow
Date: November 2, 2011
Location: The Regency Theater, San Francisco, CA 

Preconceived Thoughts of the Band: Starting with the headlining band, I have been a fan of Mayday Parade for years now and have seen them live multiple times, including at The Bamboozle Festival in New Jersey. As for all the other opening bands, I had never seen them live before. However, I had listened to We Are The In Crowd and You Me At Six before, and I remember not really liking them. Then again, at least specifically for We Are The In Crowd, I usually am not a big fan of chick singers. 


What Actually Happened (BITCH SPOILER ALERT) - 
We got to the venue about 45 minutes after the doors opened. We missed the first opening band, The