I’m not sure how strange it is for someone in a band to write a review of a show that they played, but I think I have a pretty unique perspective, and I’d like to tell you about it, so here goes.

***DISCLAIMER*** I do not claim to be a professional writer, or music critic.  I also do not think that I am too cool to like music that has the ability to appeal to the mainstream.  If I did, I would probably have a job as a professional writer and music critic.

August 1st, 2009 - 101.1 WJRR’s Native Noise Presents megaphone’s CD release party @ House of Blues with guests Vega Under Fire, The Shoreline, Shut Up & Dance, and Crisis in Hollywood.

Before I get into any details about what happened on stage, I’d like to give you an important statistic.  This show set a new record for attendence at an Orlando Rocks show at the House of Blues.  They had 1,936 people come through the door.  That’s less than 200 away from a sell out, and more people than that venue has ever seen for a local band show.  Big thanks to all the bands on the bill for working their asses off to promote this show and make it such a huge success.  Another huge thanks to every single person who came out to see this show.  I have a new found faith in the state of the local music scene in Orlando, and for that I am more grateful than I can express with words.  On with the show!

Before the doors even opened at 7:00, there was a line wrapping around the building of people waiting to get in.  All of the bands on the bill were completely stoked, and couldn’t wait to get on that stage.  Big thanks to Supa Dave from the Native Noise show on WJRR for coming out and hosting the show. Supa got on stage at 8:00 to get things started.  First up was Vega Under Fire.  I had never seen these guys live before, but had checked them out on myspace.  I knew the tunes were cool, but it’s always a pleasure to see a band get on stage and be as tight live as they sound on studio recordings.  These guys put on a killer show, and from the first down beat, they had the crowd eating out of their hands.  Next up was The Shoreline.  These guys were fresh off of an appearance at the Van’s Warped Tour in Orlando, and it’s clear how they got that slot.  They are a pretty straight forward, four piece band that rocks.  They had great stage presence, killer tunes (some of which are still stuck in my head), and the crowd ate it up!

The Shoreline’s set cleared the way for us to finally do what we had been preparing for the better part of a year and a half.  To say that  the anticipation was intense is the ultimate understatement.  I’ve played a lot of shows in my life, and I don’t think any of them made me feel the way I did when I was standing backstage waiting to play (if you know me and some of the shows that I’ve played, you know that’s a pretty bold statement!).  Supa Dave said some really nice things about us when he introduced us and I’d like to say thanks to him!  From the first note, everything felt right.  We were on a mission to tear the fucking roof off of that place, and we did (with a little help from our friends!).  About halfway through our fourth song (Bad to Good) we broke it down, and Matt came in with a verse of The Beatles’ Hey Jude.  When we got to the “NA NA NA NANANANAAAAA”s, all the other bands (along with Supa) joined us on stage.  It was sick, and the moment was something I may never forget!  Another highlight for me was during our last song (Uncelebrated).  Matt handed his guitar off to David (big thanks to our stage manager David!  Yes, he knows Paul Smith) and went back to rock the shit out of the drums.  That wasn’t even the biggest surprise! As the song starts, here comes my bro Scott rocking on a Les Paul!!!  Hell yea he did.  The pride I felt at that moment was only trumped by how proud I am of the new record, and of being in this band!  Our set was awesome!  Yes I said it.  We killed it!  Am I sorry for saying that?  Nope.

Next up was Shut Up & Dance.  This is one of my new favorite bands.  If you don’t have their EP, go to iTunes and buy it.  I have to admit, by the time they took the stage I was waist deep in selling and signing CDs, T-shirts, ticket stubs, and what ever else was given to me, so I can’t say that I payed as close attention to their set as I would have liked.  What I can say is that they sounded great, and they had an awesome moment when Greg, Shauna, and Chad sat on the front of the stage and played an acoustic version of “I Got The Call” (please forgive me if I’m not correct about the song title, I think I’m right though).  The highlight of their set is clearly “Let This Be A Lesson”.  I had to leave the merch table to go backstage and watch them play that song.  It is a hit, there are no two ways about it.  That’s all I have to say about that.

Finally, after an acoustic & drunken rendition of “Wanted Dead or Alive” by Supa, Crisis in Hollywood took the stage.  Those guys are bad ass.  Great songs with huge hooks.  They made the most of their late slot and rocked the joint like we knew they would.  If you’re into killer pop/punk with hooks that you’ll be singing for days, you must check these guys out.

This really was one of the best shows that megaphone has ever been involved with.  I’d like to say thank you to each and every person that came out to the show.  We met so many new people, saw sooooo many old friends, and got to share the stage with four of the best bands that our home town has to offer.  We will be looking forward to playing more shows with all of those guys, and seeing a bunch of new friends at those shows!  Thank you Orlando for giving us a night we’ll never forget!

Paul

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