Friday, March 30, 2012

Comeback Kid/Foundation/Living With Lions/Such Gold/Close Your Eyes
Wednesday, March 21st 2012
Local 662, St. Petersburg, FL

Looking at the line-up, it seemed like it was going to be a crowded evening.  Not so -- several unfortunate events transpired, and while the remaining bands were still extremely good, more quantity of their quality would have been welcome.  So what happened?  Christian hardcore band Close Your Eyes either pulled out or were mistakenly included on the poster.  New York's heavy pop-punkers Such Gold apparently broke down on their way to St. Pete.  And Living With Lions, from Vancouver, did make it, but sadly I only caught a few songs.  They sounded cool, so having given them a closer listen online, I decided they come across like an international smörgåsbord of Millencolin, Taking Back Sunday and fellow Canadians Belvedere.  Further national solidarity was noted through one members wearing of a Propagandhi shirt.  Since that's all I have to say, I'll just end by paraphrasing The Damned: linklinklink!  http://www.last.fm/music/Close+Your+Eyes, http://suchgold.bandcamp.com/, http://www.punknews.org/bands/livingwithlions

It's the first time in Tampa Bay for Foundation, but you would never know from the love that the crowd showers upon them.  Apparently not disappointed by the lack of 'Build Me Up Buttercup' [er, that's The Foundations], the audience goes for it with this Atlanta straight-edge hardcore band, who communicate with them perfectly.  Or at least they would have, if they had let their music do the talking for them.  Vocalist Tomas Pearson fronts everything with fantastic passion, but falls prey to doing a hardcore sermon from the punk pulpit.  It's not offputting or terrible compared to some straight edge ensembles, but rather cliché.  If nothing else though, his enthusiasm at the age of 28 does perhaps show that being in a band is the best way to keep ones cynicism about music and punk pushed evermore into the future.  A solid foundation for the headliners built, and two welcome false-endings later ("this is that same song but part 2!"), they exit.  

Comeback Kid scare the crap out of me with their sudden opening, devoid of clues such as warm-up noises or a hello.  Pit enthusiasts impersonate the kamikaze bugs from Starship Troopers, piling themselves all the way up to the head-height of stagebound and very tall frontman, Andrew Neufeld.  The drums are immense and command excitement.  Last time I saw Comeback Kid was in Manchester, England in 2006, and they were underwhelming.  Maybe at the time they were getting used to their new line-up or the venue had bad sound, but it doesn't matter now -- this band, so aptly named for a second chance, do a great job.  They play a mix of material, including huge tracks like 'All in a Year' and 'Die Tonight' from their equally appropriately named 'Turn It Around' debut.  The State Theatre across the street, where the band tell us they have always performed in the past, surely couldn't measure up to the intimacy here.  Not so intimate though, that giant dickheads can keep themselves from throwing trash cans across the room on multiple occasions, landing un-comically on peoples heads.  Getting hurt at these gigs might be par for the course, but for some reason this just seems a different situation to being clocked by a flying windmill arm (which I was).  Perhaps hoping to soothe our injuries (this is the Symptoms + Cures tour after all), Comeback Kid end with the somewhat tired 'Wake The Dead'.  But, with some assistance from another Propagandhi shirt, they leave having overall reminded us that Canada often just does things right.  

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