“Now for a brief intermission!”

Tour: Downtown Battle Mountain Tour 2011

Lineup: Just Like Vinyl, Close to Home, In Fear and Faith, iwrestledabearonce, Dance Gavin Dance

Date: March 28, 2011

Venue: First Unitarian Church (Philadelphia, PA)

I wasn’t supposed to go to this show. If it weren’t for a friend of mine who got me guest listed, I wouldn’t have gone at all. Well, I have to give part of that credit to Mikey Montgomery from IWABO who threw me on the guest list at the last minute. If the two of them hadn’t gotten me in I would’ve missed a ridiculous show. I always love being blown away when I’m least expecting to be.

At Mikey’s insistence, my friends and I hung around for the opening band, Just Like Vinyl. They’re a Seattle-based DIY band that has the potential to be huge. Not only are they sick musicians, they have the stage presence and personalities to make it far. They got the crowd involved throughout their set, which is something a lot of opening bands don’t utilize. I think someone said their frontman was the previous guitarist and vocalist for the Fall of Troy. If this is true, you could definitely hear some TFOT in the music, mostly the guitar parts. If you’re looking for a new band to jam to I would recommend these guys. Like I said, they’re a completely DIY band and they both need and deserve the support.

I’d only heard one song from Close to Home prior to their set and that was their cover of Sean Kingston’s “Replay,” and that was only because it was free to download from PureVolume. Regardless, I think everyone in the crowd was kind of looking for something to move to and Close to Home gave them that something. They had some pop-punkish songs and some harder ones, which provided a nice change of pace for someone smashed against a barrier that only comes up to your knees. Some of the guys from INFAF provided instrumental help so I’m not sure what the full band is like live, but if they’re anything like they were last night, they put on a show worth seeing.

I was lucky enough to see In Fear and Faith last September when they toured with We Came as Romans and Confide. This was before their former rough vocalist quit the band and they played their cover of “Gangsta’s Paradise.” I wasn’t smart enough to ask who they have filling in for them (or if he’s their new screamer) but he was fantastic. I always enjoy the show they put on, even if they’re one of those bands music websites like to rag on for being the same as every other band in the scene. They got the crowd moving and the songs they chose were (most of) my favorites. I’m still kicking myself for not watching their set on Warped last summer but c’est la vie.

However, if I thought I’d seen anything before iwrestledabearonce took the stage, I was sorely mistaken. I admire IWABO as musicians because they’re all incredibly talented, but I was never really able to get into their music as much as some other people I know. I think seeing them last night may have changed my mind on that, though. The crowd went absolutely nuts during their set. If you’re looking forward to their new material, trust me - it’s sounding sick. So sick, in fact, that after they were finished playing the new song, the fire alarms went off and everyone had to evacuate the venue. Obviously this pissed everyone off, bands included, because it was freezing cold outside and IWABO weren’t finished playing. But once everything was settled, they finished their set like champs.

I was kind of hesitant about seeing Dance Gavin Dance with everything going on with Jonny Craig. Although I’m more of a Kurt Travis-era DGD fan, I enjoyed Downtown Battle Mountain II enough to agree to go to the show. Aside from the lame Macbook jokes going on in the crowd, it was pretty obvious everyone was there to see them. It’s not too often that a band returns to its original lineup (unless you’re Taking Back Sunday because, let’s be honest, no one really cares about Of Mice & Men doing it) and you get to see them perform that way. Last night was my first time seeing them live altogether so I really didn’t know what to expect. I’ve seen Jonny Craig perform both solo and with Emarosa within the last year, though, so I had a fraction of an idea…I just wasn’t prepared for it. If you’ve yet to see this show or are hesitant about going, I urge you to go. If you’re wondering how much of the old album they played, I can’t really help you out too much there since their set was cut short because of the evacuation. However, of the songs they did play, only three of them were new. They opened with “Lemon Meringue Tie” and played “Untitled/Times New Roman” as an encore. All of the songs were strictly off DBM I or DBM II. Aside from having the stinkface he almost always has, Jonny seems to be in better spirits than he used to be, and Jon Mess is one of the most down to earth band members I’ve met. Will Swan will probably love you if you bring him some weed, too.

In all, it was a great show and I have nothing negative to say about it at all. This was a solid tour lineup and provided a wide range of genres. If you’re even a minor fan of Dance Gavin Dance, they put on a show worth seeing and I can’t wait to see them at Warped this year. I guess that means I’m going. If you’re not too deterred by most of the shitty bands, don’t miss DGD. I’m probably leaving a lot out, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Posted by why dont u guys make out As well:)??? 29 March 6 Permalink

ofliesandhope:

  DGD posted this on their fb/myspace

Posted by why dont u guys make out As well:)??? 8 March yoursubconsciousstorm Permalink

fuckyeahdancegavindance:

Downtown Battle Mountain tour 2011 with Iwrestledabearonce, In Fear and Faith, Tides of Man, and Close To Home!

(click poster to enlarge)

3/10 Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey

3/11 San Diego, CA @ Soma

3/12 Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues

3/14 Lubbock, TX @ Cactus Courtyard

3/15 McAllen, TX @ Never Say Never Fest

3/16 San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit

3/17 Austin, TX @ Red 7 SXSW Artery Party

3/18 Austin, TX @ SXSW Artery Showcase

3/19 Dallas, TX @ South By So What

3/20 Tulsa, OK @ ACM at UCO

3/22 Louisville, KY @ Headliners

3/23 Pittsburgh, PA @ Altar Bar

3/24 Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live

3/25 Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock

3/26 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium

3/27 New York, NY @ Irving Plaza

3/29 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church

3/30 Cleveland, OH @ Peabody’s

4/1 Chicago, IL @ The Metro

4/2 Minneapolis, MN @ Station 4

4/3 Omaha, NE @ Sokol

4/4 Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall

4/5 Salt Lake City, UT @ Club Sound

4/7 Reno, NV @ Knitting Factory

4/8 Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades

4/9 Oakland, CA @ Metro Operahouse

Posted by why dont u guys make out As well:)??? 13 December 314 fuckyeahdancegavindance Permalink