The Danger O's / The Scenic - 2.29.08

Union Ramp Park
6PM

I got to this show pretty late, but ran into Nick outside, so it was good to catch up. We also had a nice awkward conversation with a handful of my students. Abe showed up shortly thereafter, and we headed inside. Even more students in there. Upwards of 20. Outrageous.

Anyway, I watched a few songs from The Scenic, who were good at what they do, but not really my thing. If it was about 7-8 years ago, I'd probably like them a lot more. They had a poppy, indie emo-ish pop punk thing going on, but really slick sounding (think Copeland or Mae). A little toooo clean for my tastes. But, they did have some outrageous gear, so they sounded really good, and nice and tight. They're not bad at all, just not really something I'm interested in listening to when I could just put on Clarity.

After they played, I grabbed my copy of Nineteen Ninety-Four, the free LP that the Danger O's were giving out to celebrate the release. Of course, taking it out to my car led to making my way through the gauntlet of students, but overall it was funny and pretty entertaining. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions to answer on Monday.

When I came back in, my brother, Todd and I grabbed a spot just to the left of the stage area, and the Danger O's got started. I was glad to catch a full set, since I'd either seen partial sets, or missed them completely multiple times. So, it was good to be able to watch some of my old friends in a new band, and have a blast doing it. Since obviously most of the songs were from the new release, I didn't know too many of the songs. Also, the PA was pretty shitty, which made hearing or understanding vocals pretty tough. The only one I outright recognized was the closer, "Dance, Dance Revolution Part 2." But, they were real energetic, watching Nick drum is always a blast, and kids seemed into them. They sounded tight, which with that style of music is important. Nick is a great drummer, and the rhythm section sounded good, which gives a nice base for the leads and open style of playing that Abe does in this band. So, being tight is pretty necessary, and they managed to nail that. Overall, it was good to see them play well and have people really enjoy it. You can check out songs from the new record, or order the LP here.