October 26, 2002
Fighting Riley, Charmless, Art of Arrows, My New Life, Dexter Danger
Mitchell Park Community Center, Palo Alto 7pm $5
oxoxxxoxo
As we arrived to the show, I said hi to some friends then Mel-O-dy, Katy, and I went in search of Sushi. Yumm. So we arrived a bit late to see Fighting Riley play. We caught a little less then half of their set, I haven`t seen them in a little over a year, they improved greatly. Their sound was hard to place, each song sounded different, which was a good thing, shows good diversity. They played well and had tons of energy, they aren`t a band that I would normally go see but they we`re pretty damn good. The kids seemed to enjoy them as well! Rock!
Next up was Charmless this was truly an amazing band. They had this indie sound to them that was quite different from the other bands on the bill. Just watching them it was clear that they are an experienced live band, they got the crowed pumped. During their first song, I was outside and someone came out and said "this band is really awesome" so we proceeded inside, and it is a good thing we did, or we would have missed a really great band. Their set seemed rather long, but I enjoyed every minute of it, as did the crowd. Everyone seemed to go nuts over the band and I saw bunch of kids buying CD`s. I had to take part in the madness, I forked out my 3 dollars and bought it. (Review coming soon.) This band reminded me of a punkier No Motiv. (although, other people beg to differ) When I saw them, the first thing that came to mind was "No Motiv." Maybe I`m just a crackwhore. They rocked my socks off though, and I`m really glad I got to see them and pick up some stickers to stick on my vehicle and the cd... You should check them out, it`ll make you smile.
Third to play was Art of Arrows. I didn`t watch their whole set, I wasn`t really feelin` them too much. Their sound was a cross between pop-punk and screamo, I just really didn`t like them too much. The crowd took a liking though, which is always good. There was this one guy who was head banging and just rocking it out during their set, which was awesome. They just weren`t my style, I suppose. Their live show was pretty average, they had sufficient energy but didn`t really interact with the crowd too much. One really neat thing was they came all the way from Texas! So that was spiffy.
My New Life was up next and let me just say: ROCK! Their whole set was full of energy and just plain rock and roll. Some kids even started a little moshpit, that was quickly broken up, but had they been able to continue I was sure it would have been The Gaslighter all over again. (For those who don`t know, The Gaslighter is the best MNL show to date.) One thing I didn`t enjoy viewing was this younger couple straddling eachother on the couch makeing out. Save that for closed doors! haha. The new song they debuted last weekend now has a name, "Forever in Vain" it too, rocked. It seems as though they haven`t played "Goodnight" in a while, so it was very nice to hear that tune again. They played very very well, it sort of made up for last weeks Albany show which I wasn`t too fond of. Tonight they displayed a great amount of energy, it was truly amazing. The crowd definatly showed their love, as Tim said "two more left" someone yelled "three" so as usual, people didn`t want the show to end, but who could blame them? The band was playing awesome. They also played All Dressed Up, which is an old one, but a great one. I know my friend Katy enjoyed it! They closed with "Broken Heart in Hand" which as always, made me happy. Ok, so since I always have nice things to say about MNL I am going to say something bad. They didn`t play long enough. The end.
Dexter Danger closed the show. I am sorry to say I only watched a couple songs. But they played really well, not a lot of people stuck around for them, which disappointed me. But as always they gave their all and did an awesome job at that. Not much more I can say other then I wish I would have seen the whole thing.
I haven`t been to Mitchell Park in a long long while. They changed it around a bit, it used to be a two room deal, one with the bands playing, the other being a lobby for kids to chill in. Now everything is in the lobby, which is rather small. It seemed a bit too loud, being as though everything was in the small room. I go to shows a lot and because of that I have terrible hearing, I can watch a show without earplugs and it doesn`t bother me, but this show just seemed a bit too loud. On the other hand though, kids who didn`t want to be out in the cold had no choice but to see the bands, which is awesome. I find that at some shows people don`t give bands they don`t know a chance, so this was a good way to correct that. Overall, a very eventful evening and without a doubt worth my 5 bucks.
xJenx