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By: Meagan Rockne
May 5, 2005

 

The Rocket Summer
Brandtson
Umbrellas
The Yearbook

Lo-Fi Cafe
Salt Lake City, UT

I have a theory as to if a band is good live or not. I know, it should be simple to distinguish, but sometimes you can get caught up in the catchy tunes and hype of a band and miss the fact (or ignore it) that they totally suck. But there is always one key element present if a band is good: the other bands are paying attention and rocking out. Think about it, you're on tour with a band who plays the same set almost every night for five weeks, but you somehow find yourself pulled in, watching that set every night. The Rocket Summer fits the criteria for a good live band.

The Militia Group Family Affair tour, featuring The Rocket Summer, Umbrellas and Brandtson, was held at Lo-Fi Cafe in Salt Lake City, Utah. The opening band, The Yearbook, from Salt Lake City got the night off to a rather anticlimactic start. They had really good, catchy songs and amazing vocals but the band was so boring to watch. As hard as I tried to get into it, I felt zero energy coming from the band.

Umbrellas, from Long Beach, CA, have a sound very similar to Something Corporate. They are very chill and mellow and have a decent stage presence, much better than the opening band. The lead singer looks more like he belongs in a library or bookstore rather than the lead singer in a band. It was slightly refreshing seeing someone that didn't fit an image on stage and still make great music.

The show was promoted as Brandtson headlining, but they didn't. This was my first introduction to seeing Brandtson play live. They were very energetic and put on an amazing show. Drummer Jared Jolley's vocals reminded me of Our Lady Peace. But the best part of the set was a rock version of Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River." After I realized what song it was, I danced my little, closeted Justin-Timberlake-fan heart out, which didn't go unnoticed. The guitarist, Matt, would periodically look over at me with a huge smile on his face, I assumed, because I was pretty much the only one dancing. After awhile his attention started to creep me out and I tried to avoid eye contact or looking in his direction.

By the time The Rocket Summer got on stage, the room was noticeably hot and I had my doubts as to the quality of his performance. It has been my experience that bands give a half-ass performance when it's hot on stage. But The Rocket Summer didn't let it affect him and the audience seemed to ignore the heat as he broke into "Cross My Heart." (Side Note: The Rocket Summer is actually one guy, Bryce Avary. But when he goes on tour he does have a back-up band. Does that clear up any confusion you may have had? Good.) With a new album coming out, I was impressed with how many old songs he played. He only played two new ones, "Brat Pack" and "Never Knew," both of which can be found on his MySpace page. It was great that I, along with the rest of the audience, could sing along with him.

The Rocket Summer puts on an amazing show. He ran from his keyboard mic to his guitar mic with energy and never really let the audience know how the heat was affecting him, although it was visible that it was. He took song requests from the audience and at times claimed that he didn't know how to play a certain song. I didn't hear the song names in question, but since he played all the instruments on his albums, I find it hard to believe that he didn't know how to play it. Oh, I almost left out the fact that he had a confetti gun. A little cheesy but entertaining, especially when the confetti gun was misplaced and he had to play an extra long version of "This Is Me" until someone found it.

During most of the set, a few of the members of Umbrellas could be seen off stage singing and dancing to his set. He closed the set with "TV Family" but succumbed to the audience chanting "one more song" as he prepared to leave the stage. He even produced an impromptu guitar riff to go along with the chant before breaking into "Mean Thoughts and Cheap Shots" as an encore.

By the end of the night the crowd went home hot, tired, covered in confetti, suffering sore throats from singing and, most important, highly entertained.