Concerts

MLB All-Star Concert: Twenty One Pilots

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Well I for one was very excited that the MLB All-Star festivities took place in Cleveland this year. I can also tell you that is was not because I love baseball…it was because of the two free concerts! I managed to snag a pair of tickets to catch Twenty One Pilots this past Friday, so my sister and I headed up, sweated a little bit, and had a blast!

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Warped Tour 25th Anniversary – Cleveland

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The concerts continued this past weekend with the Warped Tour 25th Anniversary kicking off at Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I will say, back when I heard there were going to be a select few shows this year and Cleveland was one of those locations, I was definitely going no matter what. Truth be told, the lineup was pretty weak in terms of the amount of bands, but what it lacked in numbers it made up with killer performances and access to the museum.

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Michael Carbonaro Live!

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As an early birthday present, I decided to take my dad to see Michael Carbonaro of The Carbonaro Effect, a show that he absolutely loves. I watch it from time to time, and it’s a little goofy, and a little too PG-13 for my taste, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect.

To my surprise it was very funny! For about an hour and a half, we watched Carbonaro perform a wide array of tricks with plenty of audience interaction. He is very sarcastic and the audience loved it. I could tell by all the reactions that they also genuinely love the show, which was nice to see. Interspersed throughout the program, they showed some clips from the show and some “behind-the-scenes” clips which was nice for some variety.

After all the tricks were complete, he got ready to do more a performance art piece from his childhood, and apparently he had done it on Jimmy Kimmel before, too! He comes out with a bath towel around his waist and a can of shaving cream. Once some opera-type music begins he starts lathering it all over himself, and then molds it all over him to create different characters, like a devil fro example. It was odd but entertaining. Overall it was a fun and funny show, and I’m really glad I got to experience it with my dad. If Michael Carbonaro is coming to a city near you I recommend to go if you can!

2018 Rewind: Top Albums, Concerts, Books

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Since we’re only one day into 2019 I figured it wouldn’t be too bad to take a look back at my favorite albums, concerts and books of 2018.

ALBUMS:

  1. Underoath, Erase Me – This was quite the comeback! The first album from the band with original drummer Aaron Gillespie in a decade and it was a banger (a head banger that is!). All 10 tracks are a hit with standouts being “It Has to Start Somewhere” and “I Gave Up.” I was also a big fan of all the added clean vocals from lead singer/screamer Spencer Chamberlain.
  2. MGMT, Little Dark Age – I have loved this band since the beginning, but I will say that the duos last two outings were less than. Give them four years and they come out with a wickedly awesome record! It was rocking some serious disco/70s vibes and I was digging it. Standouts for me on this record included “One Thing Left to Try” and “When You Die.”
  3. The 1975, A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships – While that album title might not be as long as their 2017 release, it still has just as many jams. I keep finding that they are reinventing themselves with every release, and the band has become a little less elusive since appealing to the masses. They have not sold out despite their ever-growing teeny-bopper fan base (makes me sad) by being themselves and creating some great work. Tracks you should check out would be “Give Yourself a Try” and “Love It If We Made It.”
  4. Avatar, Avatar Country – This Swedish heavy metal band really took concept album to the next level with this release. Singing all about hailing to the king with some serious shredding, this album managed to make me a real fan. My sister introduced (forced) me to them and I’ve seen them in concert countless times. This is a very enjoyable record. Go jam to “Avatar Country” and “The King Wants You.”
  5. Fall Out Boy, Mania – Aside from Folie a Duex, this is probably my least favorite record from them. With that said I liked most of the songs, just not the particular vibe. They still put on a great show and they’ve got an extremely large catalog of work, so I can’t fault them for experimenting. My favorites from this include “Young & Menace” and “Wilson (Expensive Mistakes).”

CONCERTS:

2018 was an ambitious year for me – I managed to attend 28 concerts/festivals! That’s a lot of live music! Below are my three standout shows from the year.

  1. Arcade Fire’s Everything Now Continued Tour was by far my favorite show this year. Even though I wasn’t crazy about the opener, the venue was an hour and a half away on a work night, and it was humid as hell I still had a crazy awesome time! The set list was a whopping 25 songs and they played all of the good ones. I caught myself dancing, which I literally never do at shows – that’s how immersing this show was! The last time I saw them was back in 2014 in a much larger venue, so if you get the chance to see them somewhere a bit smaller – DO IT!
  2. Foo Fighter’s Concrete & Gold tour was also quite magical. My sister and I had got my dad tickets for Christmas 2017 for a show happening in the middle of July! We also splurged on some closer seats and it was well worth it. The Struts opened things up with the small library of songs they have, but they have such strong Queen vibes that they totally killed it. Then the Foo Fighters played for three hours!!! It was amazing.
  3. Warped Tour’s final cross-country tour was also a gem to be at. While I’ve experienced better line-ups and it was ungodly hot, it was still a blast. My sister also took part in one of the TEI workshops with Chris Motionless of Motionless in White (an exceptionally nice guy!). The food was on par, and the performances were all solid. I may not have cared too much about the line-up, but you could tell that the bands there were really grateful to be included on this last hoorah. Best performances were Underoath, Motionless in White, 3OH!3, and Silverstein. R.I.P. Warped Tour.

BOOKS:

Really brief reviews here – I don’t want to ruin anything!

  1. Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage – As far as first novels go, this one was trippy. Told in alternating perspectives by mother and 7 year-old daughter, it’s hard for me to ever want kids after reading this. Like ever. It gave me very strong We Need to Talk About Kevin and The Omen vibes.
  2. You by Caroline Kepnes – Yes, I was influenced by the fact that this was getting made into a TV show starring Penn Badgley, but this book was gripping. A story about a stalker, told by the stalker, who wouldn’t really consider what he was doing as stalking. Doesn’t get more unsettling than that.
  3. The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware – I am a big fan of all novels that Ruth Ware has written in her short career, so it was no surprise that I was going to like this outing. Set in present day, there is a case of mistaken identity, some serious inheritance, and a very intense plot twist. While it gets a bit wordy and repetitive, you’ll definitely be itching to know how it ends.

Underoath

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Hi all!  Sadly, this past Saturday was the last scheduled concert I got to attend for 2018, but man oh man was it a banger (head banger, that is).  I took my sister with me to go see Underoath!  Primarily a part of my middle school and high school soundtrack, the band hadn’t put out any new music since 2010.  That is a travesty.  Luckily for me, and the rest of the world in my opinion, they released a radical new album back in April.  This album pretty much abandoned most of what made Underoath, Underoath.  I love a good comeback and this was a great comeback.  A lot of other people must have agreed with me, because the show this Saturday sold out!  The openers were interesting, to say the least.  Unfortunately, we got there late so we missed all of The Plot in You and most of Crown the Empire.  I don’t actively listen to Crown the Empire, so the only good review I have is that from far away the lead singer looks like the actor who played Winston in The Ringer (Geoffrey Arend).  Sorry.  After those two bands, the main opener went on: Dance Gavin Dance.  Due to the clean vocalist having a concussion, only the screamer participated, and then the audience was made to do the singing parts.  It was tough.  You mean to tell me no one else in that band can sing good enough to pass for the clean vocals?  I digress.  Finally, Underoath came on and delivered “their longest setlist, EVER” and it did not disappoint.  They played classics like “A Boy Brushed Red…” and “Reinventing Your Exit” along with plenty of tracks from the new record, my favorite being “I Gave Up” and radio hit “ihateit.”  Obviously, it wouldn’t be a great show without ending on your biggest chart topper and cementer in the scene, so we were graced with “Writing on the Walls.”  Considering this was my third time seeing them this year (thank you Rock on the Range and Warped Tour, R.I.P.), I’m glad it was Underoath to round out my year of concerts!