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More Warped Memories…

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So tomorrow the all day punk rock summer camp, also know as the Van’s Warped Tour, returns to Cleveland.  Once again I, along with a few of my friends, will make way through the endless crowds of kids to check out some amazing punk rock bands including Bad Religion, NOFX, Flogging Molly, and Gallows.

Armed with my trusty camera (the pics in this post are from the 2007 & 2008 Warped Tour FYI) I plan on doing my best to take some killer photos to share with all my readers.  I always have fun mingling with the fans and the bands and already know tomorrow will be an amazing day.  I may even sneak in a couple of photo sessions or interviews too.

I can not even tell you the number of Warped Tours I have been to but I know I have attended over half of them that rolled through Cleveland since 1996.  There were good times and bad times as well as times I do not even remember.

I’ve seen the festival blossom into what it is now and have watched grow as it moved from venue to venue in Cleveland.  I even remember the one time it was held at the Agora!  I think that was in 1997 and I do not remember any of it except for it being very cramped.

Having already recapped the 1996 Warped Tour in a previous blog, I though I would continue the fun stories although I am not sure my other Warped memories can top that dog choke chain story…

Here are a few select years I remember:

1998
I remember this Warped Tour being at the Nautica Stage / parking lot in the West Side of the flats in Cleveland.  Utilizing the parking lot the festival did not seem too cramped but I know that a whole ton of kids snuck in without paying as the fences were unguarded and short.

There were a few bands I can recall without looking them up on the internet that played including Bad Religion, NOFX, Rancid, Deftones, Kid Rock, MXPX, Unwritten Law, and the The Aquabats.

It was a good time although I was not feeling very well.  I was having stomach issues and just did not want to be bothered by anyone.  During Rancid a girl was punching people and kicking the guys in their lower abdominal area.  I yelled at her for her to stop kicking people in the junk after she got me once.  She went for round two to my crotch with her Doc Martin and I grabbed her foot and…well that’s all I have to say about that.  Everyone in the pit cheered.

My long time friend Gary was with us and I remember him flicking off the Goodtime III as it sailed past us.  The horror on the people’s faces was priceless.

Kid Rock…wow.  Kid Rock was one of the closing bands for the day and I kid you not (no pun intended) there were less than twenty people checking him out.  No one seemed to like him.  In fact, after a couple of songs my friends and I took off as did most of the crowd.  (Not even a year later Kid Rock would be opening up for Metallica)

2004
Ha, this was the year my pal Anthony and I collectively spent over $211 on beer.  Yes, $211 of our hard earned money was spent on overpriced draft beer.  I had brought a lot of cash with me planning on getting some merch from a lot of the bands I was a fan of and instead thought it would be a good idea to spend it on rounds of beer.

I think the Casualties played as well as NOFX, Bad Religion, Lars Frederickson & The Bastards, Anti-Flag…Yellowcard…umm…that’s all I got.  I was pretty hammered at this Warped Tour.  Ok, pretty was an understatement.

About 10 beers into the day my friends and I found an area to the left of the main stage that we pretty much staked ground at when there were bands we did not care to see.

“Eiffel Tower” was born that day too.  No, I am not talking about the Paris landmark, I am speaking of a cheers that takes 3 or more folk to engage in.  Anthony and I would hold our beers up high in the air to a random beer drinking attendee and scream “Eiffel Tower!!!!” expecting them to hold their beer up too.  At first people looked puzzled at the gesture but soon the beer drinking folk loved it and honestly I think we started something awesome that day…in fact I know we did.

In case you need more proof how much of an a-hole I can be, Yellowcard had just finished up their set and the younger crowd was leaving the main stage area because I think Bad Religion was playing and they needed to get to some other pop-punk stage.  Drunk and annoyed we started yelling at the kinds “get you of here you jerks” as well as called them “phonies”.  The looks of their faces was priceless.

I was that guy, that drunk guy, that annoyed everyone.  Hey, I was having fun so I guess that is all that mattered.  Thankfully we sobered up before the show’s end and then killed even more time afterwards ensuring no dangerous/stupid decisions were made.

2006
This was the first year that I got a VIP pass to the Warped Tour thanks to my lady and to the Transplants‘ guitar tech Jay Bastard.  This year I actually went to Cleveland and then the very next day to Cincinnati.

Avenged Sevenfold, Senses Fail, Transplants, No Use For A Name, My Chemical Romance, Dropkick Murphys, and others were on this bill.

In Cleveland I was tame but Cincinnati was a different story.  I was reunited with Anthony and even though the two of us planned on only spending little money on beer we still got hammered.  “Eiffel Tower” was introduced to Cincinnati that day.

Later during the festival Anthony and I were beyond wasted looking for our girlfriends who were actually on a tour bus with Tim Armstrong (Rancid) and Jay Bastard enjoying the AC.  Anthony and I were hanging on a fence trying to watch the Dropkick Murphys having no idea where to find the girls while sweating our asses off.  Eventually the girls found us drunk morons and walked us back to the car.

I swore to never again get hammered at the Warped Tour.  That sun was lethal and drinking did not help it one bit.  In fact I think it made us drunker…haha.

2007
This was one of those years I will never forget in my life.  Not because of the festival but because of mother nature’s fury.

This was actually the first festival I would not only attend but also review for the blogging site Blogcritics.org.  I was pretty psyched to have the opportunity to review the festival yet a little nervous becuase it was the first time I had ever really reviewed a festival.  I was so clueless what to do or where to go but I soon figured it out.  See below for a link of my review.

I drank one beer this time.  My friends…did not.  “Eiffel Tower” returned to Cleveland.  I kept a good eye on my friends this time to make sure they stayed out of trouble.  I should have kept my eye on the sky.

Around the 3 o’clock hour the blue skies turned dark and a freak thunderstorm rolled in to the Cleveland area.  I remember calling my lady asking her if she was getting hit by the storm.  She was at a dog park by our house and she stated it was still blue skies and had no idea what i was talking about.

This devil of a storm for some reason decided to slowly pass downtown Cleveland causing just horrible conditions, especially for folk like myself who were stuck outside with only tents to protect.  The storm pounded the area with heavy rains and winds so strong I swore we were in a tornado.  Everyone made the best of it because honestly, what the hell were we to do?  Luckily I was under the main tent surrounded by a ton of other folk.  Some kids were not so lucky hiding under bridges and wherever else they could find cover.

After the storm I walked around the grounds and it looked like armageddon.  Almost all of the merch tents were either packed up or blown over and destroyed.  The power was out in most of the city and there were hints of the Warped Tour not going on.  Even though the rumors were brewing, not many fans left and stuck it out waiting for an official announcement.

Kevin Lyman, the founder of the Warped Tour, made way to a stage where Coheed & Cambria were to play stating that the storm was one of the worst he has ever seen.  He also added that the show would go on and that they had two generators to power the two main stages.  He also offered all the storm survivors an added bonus and told everyone that their ticket stubs were good for admission to any Warped Tour for the duration of the summer.  I did not take advantage of that offer but some of my friends did.

As the sun set Bad Religion took the stage with a single hanging light bulb hovering over the stage.    It was a bittersweet ending to one heck of a day.

Click here for the review I did for the 2007 Warped Tour on Blogcritics.org

2008
Pretty tame year actually.  Since earlier in the year I put drinking on a hiatus I just flooded myself with water and enjoyed such acts as Against Me!, Story Of The Year, Gallows, Gym Class Heroes, MC Chris, 3OH!3, Beat Union, The Briggs, Pennywise, and Bouncing Souls.

Click here for the review I did for the 2008 Warped Tour on Blogcritics.org

2009
The day starts tomorrow at 11am.  I am sure I will have some stories to share.

Until then, have a good one.

Cleveland, Empty Wallet, Funny, Good Eats, Good Times, Live Shows, Music, Review, Rock, Vinyl

May The Fourth Be With You – Weekend Follies In Fours

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There is nothing better than having a four day weekend. Well maybe there are some other things out there that can be better, but one of them is definitely not having to work for four straight days and getting paid for one of them as it is a holiday. Add buying stuff, hanging with friends, and good eats and I would have to argue that nothing could be better.

Anyways…

Thursday the lady and I went for an amazing lunch at Yellow Tail in Fairlawn.  For $10 a person we got to engulf as much sushi, salads, desserts, and other buffet quality foods.  It was awesome and I am going back there very soon.  I was obsessed with the seaweed salad as well as the sushi tempura.

After we stuffed ourselves silly we stopped at Square Records in Akron for a quick look around at what was good.  I left there with some sweet finds including a Judgement Night soundtrack single and some Thom Yorke remixes from his album Eraser.

It was a nice little date for the two of us.  She had plans to go to go over to a friends for movie night and I just kicked it in the bedroom for the rest of the night.  It was a perfect way for me to start the weekend.

Last Friday was a day I really need to recap with a little more detail seeing how on much fun it was.  For starters I decided to head out to the good shops on Waterloo Rd. in East Cleveland where I dropped some $$$ on some vinyl at Music Saves (new Dinosaur Jr & Against Me! if you were wondering) and then killed some time at Shoparooni and Blue Arrow before heading to Lakewood to meet up with my pal Matt.

Once Matt and I met up we decided to grab a bite to eat but not before making a stop at My Mind’s Eye where I snagged up a couple more records (Coner Oberst & another Against Me!).  With my wallet feeling a little lighter we headed across the street to Angelo’s where for the first time I actually tried something other than the pizza.

Feeling full thanks to devouring my shrimp fettuccine alfredo and a slice of tiramisu, Matt and I ventured out to the Gordon Square Arts District area and made way in to the Happy Dog, a quaint little bar where Chris Allen & The Guilty Hearts with very special guest Don Dixon were to play a show that night.  Earlier in the week Matt had asked me if I wanted to join him as he was very excited to see Don Dixon live finally.  Figuring he would never make it down my way unless someone else drove him I happy oblidged to join him.

After dropping over $80 on records and a sweet Music Saves pint glass earlier in the day I feel as if I was given a break by the door-lady at the Happy Dog as she kindly waved us in saying it was not 9pm yet so no cover charge was needed.  Scoping out the bar we found a booth that was pretty close to the stage and parked it there for the night.

A very young and green opening act (their band’s name escapes me) took the stage and cranked out some original tunes as well as a Tom Petty cover and even a bold Wilco cover of “Jesus Etc.”, I was impressed with the kids.  I almost felt bad for them seeing how nervous they were but they really did a good job and everyone in attendance made sure they they let the kids know they were doing a good job.

Chris Allen was joined on stage by Don Dixon for the whole set.  Where as I am not familiar with any of their music I just relaxed and enjoyed the music.  Good times.

When Chris Allen and his band left Don Dixon to be alone for a while I became intrigued.  I was aware, thanks to Matt, that Don Dixon produced the Smithereens and R.E.M. back in the day so it was pretty clear the man was a veteran musician.  I was not sure what he was going to sound like as he started playing his acoustical guitar but was soon answered that question when he started to sing.  He had, to me, a very Elvis Costello resemblance and I really enjoyed the few songs he played.

Chris Allen and band joined Don Dixon back on the stage for play the second half of their set.  The mostly middle aged crowd there was going nuts.  The locals who use the Happy Dog as a Friday night drinking hole were not too excited, especially the ones who learned they needed to pay to get in the doors.

It was about at this time that another person was added to our table.  The very cool Emily who runs The Cleveland Caper met up with us to enjoy some of the tunes.

Honestly I think we had more fun making jokes at one another and surrounding people.  Regardless it was a good time.  Emily’s boss even met up with us for a couple of drinks after the band finished playing their songs.  We all sat snugly in the booth and continued to poke fun at one another as well as just engage in good conversation.

At one time Matt was telling us about how he and the Cleveland Bachelor went to see Kevin Costner play at the House Of Blues.  Somewhere in the conversation Matt hollered “Waterworld” where Don Dixon heard us and walked over to join our small party.

It was awesome just to sit there and talk to this guy who has a lot of music history running through his blood.  Trying not to talk to much I just let Matt and Don Dixon chat for a moment because I knew Matt was really excited to have him sit with us and talk shop even if it were only for a few minutes.

Having drained my iPhone battery earlier in the night from posting tons of Twitter lies about Matt, I had just enough juice to take a photo of Matt and Don Dixon.  After a warm shake for the guys and a more gentleman kiss on the hand for the ladies Don Dixon bid us a good evening and went back to collecting his gear.

Back to a table of four we kept conversing for a bit and before I knew it the time was after 2am and I really needed to get a start on that almost hour drive home.

Friday night was an awesome night even if I hardly slept.  I needed a night like that and I thank Matt and Emily for being a part of it (and Emily’s friend/boss too).

Saturday of course was the 4th of July. Woo, a day where people can go up to local fireworks stores, lie about where they are going to blow them off at since it is illegal to discharge fireworks in Ohio, and return home only to narrowly blow off a finger while carelessly lighting off M-80’s after a full day of drinking…

The day does not mean much to me as far as a drinking aspect goes so it was more like a day off from the work.  I did however have to go to my work as I left a flash drive there and needed it for review purposes.  After picking up my much needed storage device the lady and I headed up to the grocery store to buy junk food and grill food.  Jalapeno Cheetos are the bomb by the way.

The day (as well as the next day, Sunday) was all about hanging out with friends and family (and the pups) and was something that I needed.  I had some good eats, good sleeps, and just overall good times.  When I had down time I took a few moments to spin a couple of the records I had purchased.  I also joined the lady in some long ass naps.  I never nap so it was even that much more special.

So now that I have some alone time once again I thought it would be best to reflet upon about the weekend as well as relax a little bit more once again with the needle on the record…

Cleveland, Festival, Funny, Good Times, Live Shows, Music, Punk

I Am A Warped Tour Senior (Citizen) – True stores of the 1996 Vans Warped Tour

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Summer of 94
Yes, this is me 13 years ago...

The Van’s Warped Tour has turned 15 this year.

How awesome is that?

The longest running festival ever is on it’s 15th run this year and does not seem to be slowing down at all.  Punk rock summer camp is still in session for fans of all ages.  I know when I go this year I will be laughing at the fact that there will be tons of kids there who were not even born when the Warped Tour first took place.

In other words…I’m getting old.

Recently I read a pretty interesting article in this month AP Magazine.  It basically told the tale of the history of the Van’s Warped Tour from the beginning until present day.  I suggest you go out and grab a copy of the magazine (who I should add has been around for 24 years!) if you want to know the true history of the Warped Tour and read the wonderful article.

I will tell you one thing…it was almost called the Calvin Klein Warped Tour. (read the article!!!)

I am not really going to go into detail with the history of the Warped Tour here, but I will go into detail of the history of myself at the Warped Tour; July 24th, 1996 to be exact.

Now I don’t remember everything because let’s face it, growing old does a number on you sometimes but I remember enough to talk about it.  This was my first Warped Tour festival I had attended and is the one that I will remember for a lifetime.  It became the start of a summer ritual my friends and I have been engaging in almost every single summer since.

It all started one day when I read about a punk rock festival that was coming back to town.  I missed the first Warped Tour in 1995 for whatever reason and still kick myself for doing so but what happened, happened.   Regardless I was excited to see it’s return and this time planned accordingly.

The festival was held at the old Cloverleaf grounds, a one time drive-in turned flea market parking lot, let me rephrase that, a gravel filled parking death lot, located under the I-480 Valley View bridge.  Of all the places a festival could have been put at they chose the white stoned parking lot and it was the perfect venue in every way.

Tickets were only $20 for the festival and the parking was free.  We arrived before anyone else and parked directly in front of the entrance gate.  Too young to buy beers and pre-game we just hung out until the gates were open and the festivities began.  Featuring acts such as NOFX, CIV, Pennywise, Unwritten Law, The Dancehall Crashers, Rocket From The Crypt, and others it was to be one of those days that I would never forget.  (Speaking of forget, it is possible that Sublime, No Use For A Name, The Deftones, Face To Face, and Fishbone may have played too but I can not recall – anyone else remember?)

Spite the lack of remembering the entire lineup, I have a lot of memories that day that will last for a life time.  I don’t even know where to start… I can tell you this though, many of those memories did not even include the bands.

Band memories:

CIV.  I miss that band so much.  I was a huge CIV fan (still am) and absolutely thrilled to see them take the stage.

I was still new to Unwritten Law having seen them previously opening for Bad Religion so i was excited to see them again live.  I was a huge fan of Blue Room and really got into their set.  So did some other fans who, apparently, started fist fighting in the middle of the pit.  Lead signer Scott Russo and yours truly broke up that fight.  I’m more about peace and rock over knocked out teeth.

I should also mention the famous boot prints found on people back’s.  I will not confirm if they were from my boots, but my friends did mention that I became very excited about NOFX taking stage and might have run over 4 or 7 kids while charging into the mosh pit.

Speaking of NOFX, one of my friend’s girlfriends at the time somehow got backstage and did not bother to invite any of us.  We later in the day discovered she made out with one of the members of NOFX.  Awesome.  I think at that moment I was double pissed.  Once for the blatant cheating and the other for the non-invite back stage.

Right before Pennywise took the stage for the final set of the day the clear skies turned into hell.  Huge dark clouds took over the sky and as Pennywise tried to close out the set lightning was striking dangerously close and the rain was pouring causing for their amps to blow out.  It was at that time that the two friends that were by me hi tailed it to my car and got the hell out of there.  We may have left someone behind.

Other memories:

I was on the nightly news that evening because apparently all of the cussing could be heard echoing in the surrounding cities thanks to the venue being located at the bottom of a valley.  I remember I was walking with my pal Jonah and was eating a hamburger.  I noticed one of the local news channels filming us so being the goof that I am I proceeded to stop, look at the camera, and stuff the 3/4 worth of hamburger left in my hand into my mouth where I proceeded to eat it.

Mom was so proud that night.

Later one of the newscasters was talking about all of the controlled rowdiness in the grounds and I walked up behind him and threw the devil horns over his head.  Everyone surrounding the camera burst out laughing.  Even the cameraman was laughing at that newscaster who had no idea what was going on.  I am pretty sure that was edited out of the evening news.

Then there was the choke chain I wore around my neck.  You see, being punk means wearing dog chains and other miscellaneous metal accessories all over your body.  I chose to wear a choke chain around my neck along with other various items including the super long chain connected to my wallet I used to trip over all the time.

For some reason I opted out of using a safety pin or mini pad lock to secure my dog choke chain and chose a chain link connector, something that I was so proud of discovering at a local hardware store earlier that year.  Well thanks to the intense heat my neck started to swell and I realized it was time to take off the chain from my neck so I could breath.  There was one problem…genus me decided to secure the chain link connector with pliers at home and I could not unscrew the chain link connector for the life of me.

I panicked and tried to do everything I could to get that thing undone from my neck.  I ran around like an idiot searching for pliers to get the link unscrewed as I was slowly choking.  All of the folk at the band merch booths could not help, the pro-skaters laughed at me, and the security was not any help at all.  Finally I found a booth where some folk were making jewelry and luckily borrowed some pliers and took that damn chain off my neck.  Who am I kidding, I basically lept over their table and snatched the pliers from one of their working hands in order to save my life.

Luckily there were no news crews around to film me during that episode…although that would have been hilarious.

Let me not forget about the the mosh pit, it was more like a death pit thanks to all the gravel.  I do want to note that the pit was very friendly and who ever slipped and fell or was forcefully knocked over was helped up immediately.  There was not as much blood as I though might occur but there were plenty of scrapes and bruises.

The drive home too was a memory.  Thanks to all the heavy rains my car decided to stall in the middle of Route 43.  I literrally beat the crap out of my car when it did not start and am pretty sure scared my friends.  To make matters even worse I screamed at my friends to get out of the car and help me push the car into a nearby parking lot.  One of them told me “no way, it’s raining”.  Thanks Pete.

Memories…

The Warped Tour then was just in its baby steps when I attended.  I think there were three stages, maybe four, on that stony drive-in with just a handful of merch booths.  Within the next couple of years the success of the festival provided the means to expand and turn it into a larger festival with more stages and attractions.  Moving from place to place it just got bigger and bigger to what it is now.

I have to admit I was getting a little disappointed in the line-ups of recent years primarily because I have no idea who these bands are anymore.  I am all for the new generation of music and their fans but it has gotten to the point where I just do not care.

Luckily for me (and others I would assume) Kevin Lyman decided to go back to the Warped Tour roots this year and has asked some of the veteran punk rock bands to once again spend their summer playing on stages to thousands of fans all over the US, Canada, and even a couple of spots overseas.

This time around there will only be one main stage and longer sets.  That right there got me excited seeing how I never enjoyed seeing my favorite acts only get 30 minutes to crank out as many songs as they could.  I can honestly not wait until next week when the Warped Tour rolls through Cleveland once again.

Featuring bands (aka the bands I want to see most):

Bad Religion, NOFX, Bouncing Souls, Gallows, Flogging Molly, Anti-Flag, Fake Problems, Alexisonfire, 3OH!3, Authority Zero, Fishbone, The Flatliners, P.O.S, The Reverend Paytons Big Damn Band, Westbound Train, and Thrice (just to name a couple)

I will say this though.  This is my last year with the Warped Tour and I plan on retiring from the punk rock summer camp once and for all.  It was a touch decision but seriously even I am starting to think I am too old for it…

With my luck the 2010 line up with be even better than this years…  I’ll just insert foot into mouth now and not tell anyone later if I do return…

Vintage footage of the Warped Tour:

Speaking of memories…I came across this YouTube video of footage from the storm that nearly destroyed the 2007 Warped Tour. I was standing pretty close to the kid who filmed this. That was one hell of a storm…

Festival, Good Times, Live Shows, Music, Road Trip

Virgin Mobile (Free) Fest 2009

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I knew there was a reason today why I did not want to walk my dogs.

It was not too hot out, the sun was shining, and I was not tired…so why did I not want to take the little monsters on their daily walk?  There was something I was supposed to do this morning that I forgot all about.

Today was the day to request a free ticket for the 2009 Virgin Mobile (Free) Fest through TicketMaster and I completely forgot.

Damn.

Back in April I wrote a little blog about the Virgin Fest possibly being cancelled.  Having been to every single V-Fest since 2006 I was a little bummed that it might not go on this year.  For weeks I could not find any news about if the festival would be cancelled or relocated.  With the threat of Pimlico Horse Race Track going bankrupt it was not clear if the festival would go on in 2009.  Finally just last week it was announced that the festival would go on this year with one big change…it would be free.

Free?  A free festival? 

It’s true. 

Although the festival does have some changes such as going back to one day instead of two as well as being relocated to the other side of Balitimore at the Merriweather Post Pavilion the festival is indeed 100% free. 

Limited to only 30,000 tickets previous Virgin Festival goers had gotten emails offering first dibbs on grabbing a free ticket.  Today the remaining tickets were offered to the public by going to TicketMaster and requesting up to two.  The only fee that would come from TicketMaster was if the person requesting the ticket wanted the ticket shipped to their residence for $5.00.  That might be the lowest fee in the history of TicketMaster.

Still I am mindless and forgot.  I knew that this road trip to Baltimore would be without Matt as he is festivaled the hell out, possibly for life.  I am sure I could have suckered someone into going with me to the event on a Sunday for a free concert.

Featuring Blink 182, Weezer, Public Enemy, Jet, The Hold Steady, Taking Back Sunday, The National, Mates Of State, The Bravery, Girl Talk, and others, this is the event of the year many music fans will be eating up…if they got a free ticket of course.

I have always enjoyed my time at the Pimlico Race Track while attending the Virgin Festivals so I am sure this event will be just as fun even if it no longer is held in the middle of a horse track. 

With a smaller venue I am sure there will only be one large stage as compared to the two that were set up on the North and South ends of the track.  I am also thinking there will be less shade tents so I know Matt will not want to be at that festival at all.

I’ll still try to find a way in to the Virgin Mobile (Free) Fest.  Honestly there are not a lot of bands I really want to see there but Weezer and Public Enemy alone are worth the drive out.

Anyone out there get lucky and score some tickets?

Akron, Country, Folk, Good Times, Live Shows, Music, Music Video, Photography, Review, Rock

The Avett Brothers w/ Special Guest Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers – Akron Civic Theatre – 06/19/2009 – Concert Review

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Friday night in downtown Akron was one of those nights to remember for many thanks to The Avett Brothers.  It was one of those nights that anyone who came to the show will think of for years to come with help from their amazing performance.  Intimate at times as well as a full on rock show, everyone who had a ticket to that show left satisfied.

North Carolinian brothers Scott and Seth Avett once used to fill the quaint Kent Stage in Kent, OH but thanks to their success as a folk rock band they needed a bigger place to play.  With help from the Kent Stage crew the boys left that smaller stage for the classy Akron Civic Theatre, a stage I think suited them perfectly.

Having no idea that there was even an opening act, I was thrilled when the curator of the Kent Stage announced that Samantha Crain & The Midnight Shivers were taking the stage.  Having just recently been introduced to the country rock act I found myself even more excited to be at the show.

Samantha Crain and crew took the stage and received a warm welcome just after eight o’clock.  After a few songs in it was clear that the crowd had accepted them into their ears, thanks to her unique singing style and country rock, and were cheering loudly after each song.

During one moment after a song Samantha Crain stated she missed a note and declared “everyone hits a wrong note” and continued on how she is hard on herself for doing so even though she knows it happens.  The crowd all seemed to agree with what she said and not once did I hear any wrong notes played.  Then again I only had heard a couple of songs prior to seeing her set live.

Samantha Crain admitted it was only the second show her and the band had played with The Avett Brothers and thanked them for the opportunity to share the stage.  Admitting she came from a small town in Oklahoma she basically confessed to living the dream.  Seeing her jump around excitedly on stage as she strummed her acoustic guitar just proved how excited she was to be up on that stage.

Shortly before the Avett’s took the stage, die-hard fans started screaming out “Happy Birthday Scott!”  Clearly many of the fans knew that one of the members was celebrating their birthday in Akron that night.

With the curtains still drawn The Avett brothers along with Bob Crawford started their set off with “PGFA”.  Everyone in the house went wild upon hearing the music begin and once the curtains were opened it was clear to everyone how great this band truly is.  With an array of instruments behind the trio everyone’s attention was focused on the amazing folk-rock playing from the banjo, the stand up bass, and acoustic guitar as well as dual signing that had just begun.  To add to the stage’s appeal there was a giant backdrop of a ship that resembled Scott Avett’s art.

While standing in literally the middle of the venue I felt that I had the best place to hangout at for the night while taking in all that The Avett Brothers dished out.  Their songs, as my friend Seth said it best, gave me that feeling that many in the past had to have felt when the Beatles first started playing their music live.  I was heavily sucked into each song they played and had a smile on my face that lasted pretty much until I got home that night and finally fell asleep.

Throughout the set Joe Kwon would join the trio and add cello to some of the songs.  The brothers would share singing duties and seemed to swap out guitars during every song and at times even during some of the songs.  It was really interesting to see Seth Avett swap guitars and narrowly miss continuing the song but he is a pro at what he does and there were no interruptions.

Playing through songs such as “Please Pardon Yourself”, “Die Die Die”, and “It Goes On & On” The Avett Brothers sounded as amazing as I thought they would.  I missed many the opportunity to see this band live in the past and regretted it each time.  Finally though I found myself at one of their live shows feeling privileged to be in their presence.

In between songs fans were screaming out requests to the stage in hopes that their favorite song would be performed spur of the moment but The Avett Brothers thanked them for their requests and continued on.  Seeing them smile up on stage as they performed just proved how great of a time they were having as well.  At one time a fan screamed that she loved them and Seth Avett responded “we love you too.”  The band even played a new song from their upcoming album to be released in September.

That one new song the band played just made my night.  It was titled “I & Love & You” off of their upcoming late summer release I & Love & You.  With Scott Avett taking the drumming duties as well as signing out the I and love and you with his hand as the crowd sang along I found myself getting chills.  It was a great feeling and a great love song.

After the band played “Skin & Bones” they exited the stage.  Fans screamed and applauded the amazing performance while at the same time were still hungry for more.  Luckily the Avett’s were not quite done yet and returned to the stage moments later with a couple of extra helpers, Kent’s very own folk star Jessica Lea Mayfield and her bearded brother David.  It was the perfect end to an amazing evening.

The Avett Brother’s live show turned me into a bigger fan than I already was.  I really think the live experience just intensified their talent.  While leaving the historic Akron Civic Theatre I heard no complaints at all and everyone was just in a great mood.  I do not think I have ever attended a show quite like the one I did on that warm Friday night.  I can not wait till the next time these boys come back to a city near me.  I know I will be there in a heartbeat.

The Avett Brothers Setlist (as taken from the band’s web forum):
PGFA
Solomon
Paranoia
Please Pardon Yourself
Die Die Die
PGFR
Down With The Glistening Shine
Gift For Melody Ann
Song Of The Dying Sailor
Greensboro Woman
Salina
It Goes On & On
I & Love & You
At The Beach
Murder In The City
Swept Away
Talk Of Indolence
Matrimony
Skin & Bones

Encore (with Jessica Lea & David Mayfield)
Talk Of
Will You Return