REVIEW - We the Kings

As promised, I'm finally getting around to a review of the We the Kings show I attended a few weeks ago. Excited? You should be.

Now, I need to give some background first. I'd seen We the Kings once before their performance on August 6th. It was about a year and a half ago in St. Louis and, while I loved their music, I didn't have the highest expectations for their live show.

I had been going to a lot of pop-punk shows, and all of them had ended up pretty lackluster. I expected the same from We the Kings, but they completely blew me away. This time around, with my last experience of We the Kings in mind, I had very high expectations for the concert. And I was far from disappointed.

Opening for We the Kings were Action Item, The Downtown Fiction, Hot Chelle Rae, and the Summer Set. My concert companion and I missed the Action Item and most of The Downtown Fiction, but the crowd already seemed pretty amped when we got there, so I'm assuming both bands put on a good show.

Unfortunately, the venue hosting the concert, St. Paul's Station 4, lacks air conditioning. Consequently, it was about a million degrees inside, so we spent Hot Chelle Rae's set listening from outside where it was significantly cooler (despite still being in the 80s). Hot Chelle Rae sounded great and, when we went back inside for the last bit of their set, the crowd seemed to be enjoying them thoroughly.

Following Hot Chelle Rae was The Summer Set, and they were fantastic. They sounded great and were troopers through the boiling conditions within the venue, even while much of the crowd wasn't. Really, my only disappointment with the night was the fact that the audience never got overly into the performances. Everyone looked like they were enjoying the performances, but, for the most part, people just stood there instead of dancing.

The Summer Set at first seemed a little frustrated by this, but I think they realized pretty quickly that the reason for the lack of movement from the crowd was the heat in the venue and not lack of interest in the band. I felt they even stepped it up for the second half of their set as a way to say thanks to everyone for enduring the heat to see them. Personally, I was a little bummed that they didn't play my favorite of their songs (Passenger Seat), but they had a solid set, and were fun to watch, so I can't complain about one song not being performed.

Finally, it was time for We the Kings. And once they took the stage, I did not stop moving for the next hour (which I'm pretty sure annoyed all the people around me who insisted on standing still).

We the Kings were absolutely brilliant. They played a great selection of songs from all three of their albums (including all of my favorites!), and were very sincere when they'd break between songs to talk to the crowd. And, of course, they actually seemed to be enjoying what they were doing. I've seen bands that will say from stage how much they love performing, but look absolutely miserable while onstage. We the Kings is not one of those bands. They make it completely evident how much they appreciate their fans, and how much pride and enjoyment they find in making those fans happy. Stage presence is an extremely important factor of live music for me, and We the Kings has it in abundance.

From beginning to end, We the Kings put on a fun, energetic, and entertaining show, even despite the heat and a couple of technical difficulties. There was one odd part where singer/frontman Travis Clark decided to give a spiel about the birds and the bees, but it was funny and led into a good song, so I can look past that. Overall, though, it was one of the most fun concerts I'd been to in quite some time. If you ever get a chance to see either The Summer Set or We the Kings live, I definitely recommend you take advantage of the opportunity.

Oh, and you know it was brutally hot in the venue when both The Summer Set (from Arizona) and We the Kings (from Florida) commented that it was the hottest show they'd ever played. Well done, Minnesota.

Songs of the Week: July 31-August 6

Last summer I attempted to do "Songs of the Week" posts, but only managed to cover two weeks...and did both weeks in one post. Oops. Let's see if I can be more consistent this time around, eh?

Here we go.

We the Kings: Heaven Can Wait -- Tonight I'm seeing We the Kings (expect a review in the next couple of days), so have been listening to them fairly incessantly in preparation. In particular, I keep coming back to "Heaven Can Wait." In typical WTK form, the song is poppy, catchy and a lot of fun to listen to. Add to the musicality sickeningly sweet lyrics--"Heaven can wait up high in the sky, it's you and I. Heaven can wait deep down in your eyes, I'm yours tonight. Lay your heart next to mine, I feel so alive. Tell me you want me to stay forever, 'cause Heaven can wait"--and you've got a delightful pop-punk love song. I've linked to the official music video (which takes place at a dog show and really makes no sense attached to the song), but there's also an acoustic version out there that's worth checking out.

The Summer Set: Passenger Seat (Acoustic) -- Opening for We the Kings tonight is Arizona-based band The Summer Set. They're equally as pop-punk as WTK, although my personal opinion is that, both musically and lyrically, they have a much younger feel. Nothing wrong with that, of course, especially as my favorite song of theirs is "Passenger Seat," which is all about a boy and girl sneaking out at 3 a.m. to hang out, risking getting caught by their parents. Ignoring that part of it (which makes me feel rather old), the song is absolutely adorable in the way in which it talks about new love: "Just sweep me off my feet again, my new addiction. I've been waiting, I've been addicted to this story of a girl who can help this boy meet world and sweep me off my feet again." Love it. There's also a non-acoustic version, but I much prefer the acoustic version, so linked to that.

Chiodos: The Words 'Best Friend' Become Redefined -- One of the things I was most impressed by the first time I ever listened to Chiodos was how effortlessly [former] frontman Craig Owens could go between actual singing (and good singing, at that) and screaming. I saw Chiodos twice before Craig's departure, and have seen his new band, D.R.U.G.S. once, and I remain baffled as to how his singing voice can remain so smooth immediately after screaming. Amazing. Anyway, I love that back-and-forth dynamic in Craig's voice, and I love "The Words 'Best Friend' Become Redefined" because the music takes on that same back-and-forth. It starts out really heavy, then goes into light piano, then gets heavy again. Throughout the entire song, it keeps going between hard and soft, sped up and slowed down, resulting in a song that keeps you on your toes.

Automatic Loveletter: Black Ink Revenge -- If you have not heard, or heard of Automatic Loveletter, you're missing out. ALL is technically a four-person band, fronted by Juliet Simms (who not only sings, but also writes the songs for the band and plays guitar), but Simms often performs solo also. And man can she perform! Listening to ALL's songs, you can tell that Simms has an amazing voice, no question about it. Back in July, though, I got to see her live at Warped Tour, where she played an acoustic solo set, and I was absolutely blown away. Nothing is done to her voice on ALL's albums! In a music industry that's becoming dominated by autotune, it's so refreshing when artists have legitimately brilliant pipes. And just to prove how good Simms is live, the link goes to her performance at Warped Tour. As for the song itself...well, if you've ever been cheated on or been in a relationship where you fought all the time, it'll speak to you (I, for one, cried through the entire song when I heard it live).

Demi Lovato: Skyscraper -- Demi Lovato's new single "Skyscraper" was actually recorded twice; first when Lovato was dealing with bulimia and her voice was extremely raw due to the damage to her vocal chords from purging, and then again after she finished treatment for her eating disorder and emotional issues. She decided to release the first recording of the song, and in the rawness of her voice you can hear every ounce of emotion she had been dealing with. It's a powerful song about remaining strong even when things are falling apart around you, and that message (and Lovato's fans) helped "Skyscraper" to be released as the #1 song on iTunes without any radio play.