The Airborne Toxic Event made their way back to Newport Music Hall in Columbus, Ohio, which is their, “favorite venue in Ohio,” according to lead singer Mikel Jollett.

LEAGUES opened for The Airborne Toxic Event and the crowd stayed attentive throughout the entire set. The band played ten songs in their set and got the audience excited for The Airborne Toxic Event, who were set to hit the stage at 9 p.m

LEAGUES kept the audience moving and showed the crowd that there was about to be a killer band onstage at Columbus.

Before The Airborne Toxic Event even came on stage though, an inflatable eagle graced the middle back of the stage. Then the band made their way out where they started the set with “Gasoline.”

The band left little time to talk during their 18 song set. When they did talk, though, Jollett reminded fans how much they loved them and how much the band loves coming to Ohio to perform. Jollett even said that the crowd at Columbus was the largest crowd that they ever had.

The band played four songs from their newest album, “Such Hot Blood,” which was released on April 30. One of the new songs, “Elizabeth,” was the final song of the set.

The Airborne Toxic Event proved in Columbus that they deserve to have their own headlining tours. The entire show was filled with life and the band made sure that there was never a dull moment.

Even though the Columbus stop was the last day on the Such Hot Blood tour, The Airborne Toxic Event proved that they will come back as a headliner in the future.

The Airborne Toxic Event’s set:

1. Gasoline
2. Happiness is Overrated
3. Does This Mean You’re Moving On?
4. True Love
5. Changing
6. Something New
7. Half of Something Else
8. Numb
9. Safe
10. The Storm
11. Wishing Well
12. Sometime Around Midnight
13. All I Ever Wanted
14. All At Once
15. Timeless
16. The Book of Love (The Magnetic Fields cover)
17. Elizabeth
18. Missy/Ring of Fire/American Girl/Born in the USA/Missy

Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City

Vampire Weekend’s third album, “Modern Vampires of the City” is the final album of a trilogy, according to lead singer Ezra Koenig.

The second track on the album, “Unbelievers,” is an upbeat song with a feeling of summer woven through the music. The drums keep a steady beat during the track that will get listeners tapping their feet throughout the entire song.

“Step,” the third track on the album, is another slower slow that calms the listener after “Unbelievers.” Soft vocals and a piano lull listeners into Koenig’s vocals and the soft drumming. “Step,” tells the story of a man who is ready to life his life to the fullest.

The first single from the album is “Diane Young,” and it was released in March. The song is different than the others on the album and it is definitely a single song. The song seems to be geared more towards a pop genre whereas the rest of the album is indie rock.

“Hannah Hunt” is by far the best song on “Modern Vampires of the City.” While the song is another slow song, Koenig’s vocals will mesmerize listeners into the story of Hannah and her relationship with Koenig. The song picks up about midway through and a solo of piano and drums and continues until the end.

“Finger Back” has Koenig experimenting with the vocals with high pitches instead of his regular deep pitch. The song’s beat is faster than the rest of the songs on the album, and “Finger Back” is a good pick me up for all the listeners.

The album is a good ending of the trilogy that Koenig mentioned in interviews, although it could be improved upon. Having more upbeat songs would make the album go by faster, but that doesn’t mean that slow songs are bad.

Vampire Weekend showed what they could do in the beginning of their career; now listeners have to wait and see what is next.

4/5

Dylanne

Relient K made their way back to their home state of Ohio on May 14 to play in Columbus at Newport Music Hall. The band brought Mike Mains & the Branches, William Beckett and Hellogoodbye with them on the tour.

Mike Mains & the Branches opened the show promptly at 7.  The band played a set of six songs, a few of which were from their upcoming album, “Calm Down, Everything is Fine.”

The band got the crowd involved with their set, having the audience echo lead singer, Mike Mains, for the chorus of their new song, “Calm Down, Everything is Fine.”

After Mike Mains & the Branches was William Beckett. Beckett, formerly of The Academy Is…, entered the stage alone, armed with only a guitar and his “band in a box” (aka a MacBook Pro). Beckett played the guitar parts in his six songs while the “band in a box” played the recordings of the other instruments.

Beckett engaged the crowd as well telling a story about a basketball match he had on his first day of sixth grade.

Included in his set was a new song titled, “Benny & Joon” from his upcoming album that should be released later this year.

During Beckett’s final song, “Great Night,” Matt Thiessen, lead singer of Relient K, came out to sing with Beckett.

After Beckett was Hellogoodbye. The band played a total of 10 songs for the crowd. Just like Mike Mains & the Branches and Beckett, Hellogoodbye got the crowd involved with their songs. It was Wiz’s birthday so the audience, and the other members of Hellogoodbye sang “Happy Birthday” to the keyboard player.

Hellogoodbye ended their 10 song set with their most popular, “Here (In Your Arms)” where the venue was filled with voices singing along.

Finally, it was time for Relient K. The band came out to the entire venue cheering, where they opened their set with the ever-popular “Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been.”

Then the band spiraled into a 19 song set.

Relient K kept the audience engaged by singing a mix of old and new songs from their upcoming album, “Collapsible Lung,” which is set to release in June.

Beckett joined Relient K onstage for the new song, “Boomerang.” Beckett accompanied Theissen on lead vocals and Beckett was as energetic as he was when he was in The Academy Is…  and after singing the song, Beckett and Thiessen hugged.

The band even had members of the opening bands come out for a cover of the song, “Motorcycle Drive By” which is originally by Third Eye Blind.

Throughout the show Relient K was happy to be home and always made sure to say that. Their family members were even at the show and Thiessen dedicated “Savannah” to his sister, brother-in-law, and their unborn child.

Overall, Relient K proved that after 15 years they still know how to bring the house down.

William Beckett’s set:

1. Compromising Me
2. Scarlett (Tokyo)
3. Dear Life
4. Benny & Joon
5. Dig a Hole
6. Great Night

Hellogoodbye’s set:

1. When We First Kissed
2. Finding Something to Do
3. Getting Old
4. Swear You’re in Love
5. Coppertone
6. The Magic Hour is Now
7. Oh, It is Love
8. When We First Met
9. Everything is Debatable
10. Here (In Your Arms)

Relient K’s set:

1. Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been
2. High of 75
3. Mood Rings
4. In Love with the 80s (Pink Tux to the Prom)
5. Don’t Blink
6. Flare
7. Candlelight
8. Sahara
9. The Lining is Silver
10. Boomerang
11. Sweeter
12. Motorcycle Drive By
13. Forget and Not Slow Down
14. Collapsible Lung
15. I Could Take You Home
16. Sadie Hawkins Dance
17. Savannah
18. Which to Bury, Us or the Hatchet
19. Be My Escape
    

Dylanne

The Wonder Years - The Greatest Generation

Today Philadelphia’s The Wonder Years released their fourth full length album, The Greatest Generation. To celebrate the release over the weekend The Wonder Years embarked on a 24 hour record release tour which made stops in their hometown of Philadelphia, New York City, Chicago, and Anaheim. After listening to this album and attending one of the record release shows, I do admit they have a lot to celebrate for making a sound mesh that is appealing to fans new and old. 

The album opens with “There, There” which starts off as a slower track but kicks into a pop punk explosion as soon as the second chorus starts. Right away from listening to the first song I could tell this album was going to be different from anything they have ever released musically, however it was refreshing to see frontman Dan “Soupy” Campbell’s song writing had not changed much when he cried “I’m awkward and nervous” which is one of the ongoing themes in The Wonder Years’ lyrics.

The second track “Passing Through A Screen Door” was the first song the band released from the album which almost sounds like it could be a B-Side to Suburbia. “Dismantling Summer” and “The Bastards, The Vultures, The Wolves” were the second two songs released by The Wonder Years before they started streaming their album online. “Dismantling Summer” which Campbell admits is a song he wrote about his Grandfather is probably one of the most personal songs ever put out by the band.

“The Devil In My Bloodstream” and “Cul-de-sac” are my two favorite tracks off the album. “The Devil In My Bloodstream” starts off with Campbell singing over a keyboard riff with guitar and drums slowly building into the song, it is also accompanied with vocals by Laura Stevenson. The song takes a turn when the lyrics “I bet I’d be a fucking coward” are screamed out. “Cul-de-sac” which is one of the faster, heavier songs on the album fades out perfectly into the closing track.

The album finally finishes with “I Just Want to Sell Out My Funeral” which is the longest song The Wonder Years have ever written at a time duration of seven minutes and thirty-five seconds. The song perfectly represents The Greatest Generation and even borrows lyrics from songs through out the album which in my opinion helps the song not drag on.

Overall I highly enjoyed the album and I feel that it has successfully filled fans voids of wanting more. Make sure to see The Wonder Years this summer on the main stage at the Vans’ Warped Tour to hear songs from The Greatest Generation yourself.

4.5/5

Jenna

She & Him - Volume 3

Zooey Dechanel’s side project, She & Him, recently released their fourth album, “Volume 3.” The album comes long awaited after “Volume 2” was released in 2010.

The album is a light album that would be good for a drive down the beach. The first song, “I’ve Got Your Number, Son” is a soft opener with sounds like The Beach Boys influencing She & Him’s sounds.

The fourth song on “Volume 3” is “I Could’ve Been Your Girl.” Deschanel’s alto voice entrances listeners into the story of a girl who has given up on a boy. While the story in the song is slightly cliché, Deschanel’s voice and M. Ward’s guitar create another soothing sound that listeners will enjoy.

“Somebody Sweet to Talk To” opens with M. Ward’s instrumentals before Deschanel’s voice literally takes over the song. It is slightly hard to listen to the rest of the instruments because of the volume of her voice in the song.

Yet again in the song, “Together,” M. Ward’s instrumentals kick off the song, but are overtaken by his companion’s vocals. The addition of back up vocals though adds something that had been missing from the other songs on the album.

“Sunday Girl,” is a nice change to the album. Unlike the rest of the songs on the album, Deschanel keeps her vocals soft, which allows M. Ward’s instrumentals to lead the song, which has a Beach Boys feel to it. The song also has Deschanel singing in French, which adds something different to the album.

Overall, the album is a light album that fans will enjoy listening to once or twice. Other than that, the album is not something that sticks out.

3/5

Dylanne 

Olly Murs

April 19, 2013
The Fillmore
Silver Springs, MD

Going into this show I knew three things about Before You Exit; All Time Low had worked with them a lot, they were 12, 17, and 19 brothers (turns out Toby isn’t 12, but 15), and that I had heard their covers, and they were awesome. Knowing only this, I had virtually no idea what I was getting into as the three members rushed on stage and what seemed like 2,000 girls shrieked of giddiness for the boys.

Of course, those girls weren’t shrieking for no reason. The three brothers did put on quite the show, and really know how to work a crowd. Hand grabbing, soaring vocals, and winks and smiles were copious throughout the set and I can guarantee this band gained more than a few new fans from Maryland. This could be seen less than 15 minutes after the show when swarms of girls crowded the three brothers in anticipation of snapping a new profile picture.

During the set, the pure chemistry that can only exist between blood became eminent. Before You Exit is more than a boy band, and seamlessly mixes in more of a rock side to their element. I already found myself singing along to a song by the end, and I promise I’m not just saying that. These boys will be going far, and I’m sure will enjoy their time this summer with Cody Simpson.

As soon as Olly Murs stepped on stage, though, a whole new wave of energy rushed through the crowd. Hundreds of bodies surged forward as the first few lines of Army of Two flooded the room you could physically see the crowd surge forward. I could tell right away that this was going to be a great set, and as the first night of the tour, I was thoroughly impressed with how smooth it went by and how impressive Olly’s set was.

Playing the entire Right Place Right Time album, Olly was definitely prepared for this crowd. His voice was unbelievable the whole set, and he was able to entertain over 600 young girls (and many parents) for 2 hours through his sexual dancing, joking antics, and “Olly knowledge” quizzes weaved into the show. We were able to get “Vine’d” (a new short gif/video app) and even got an Instagram post. Even more prominently, Olly dedicated one of his songs to the Boston bombing victims, and hailing from Boston, it was reassuring and calming that people were caring and thinking about the important things, even in times of fun and dancing.

Overall, Olly produced a night to remember for everyone in the crowd. He really knows how to put on a show. When not singing, he was slinging trivia about himself at the crowd, prompting cheeky British humor, and getting the crowd to have a genuine good time with his impressive dance moves. And when he was performing, Olly and his incredible back up vocalists sounded exactly like his produced music, which is a feat we don’t often see in the music industry anymore.

Olly Murs at The Fillmore in Maryland was a show that I won’t forget for a while, and I can honestly recommend this show for fans (or soon to be fans) of any age! You won’t be disappointed, and probably will end up boogieing sometime throughout the show.

-xx Avery

After a decade of making music, French indie-pop band Phoenix finally hit the nail on the head with 2009 album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, catapulting themselves into the European music scene. There are many expectations surrounding their follow-up album, Bankrupt!, and it seems that Phoenix have continued to deliver.

Entertainment begins the album in good stead. With riffs so sunny they’re almost blinding, and more than a smidgen of 1980s throwbacks, this track has everything that Phoenix’s previous album represented, but somehow more mature and certainly more epic.

A fun-filled whirlwind romance with dance music, this album unfolds into something special. The tracks become increasingly anthemic with all the joy of the opener, and the odd addition of something grimier.

The title track unveils a meditative sort of minimalism; trance-like modernism at its best, Bankrupt! offers a dreamy mid-album descent into the stranger depths of Phoenix’s music.

Drakkar Noir and, in contrast to its antecedent, has all the effervescent pop reminiscent of the band’s 2009 album. Powerful electro and more-than-catchy melodies marry up into a glorious dance track.

Chloroform is somewhat dirtier with a brooding bassline, while the penultimate track Bourgeois has all the ingredients of something more pensive and mature.

The album ends with the categorically anthemic track Oblique City; passionate, charismatic and undeniably cool, this track is a definite high-point in this gem of an album. Bankrupt! is effortlessly slick and a sure sign that Phoenix are simply getting better with age and experience. 

5/5

Natalie

Leaked early by the band itself, it seems like Yeah Yeah Yeahs couldn’t wait to get their latest album Mosquito into the eager ears of their fans. In a commentary of the album, Karen O describes it as a Yeah Yeah Yeahs soul record; “There’s something for everyone on there”.

The opening track Sacrilege shows off both sides of Karen O’s vocals: sultry softness and impressive power, in a sort of schizophrenic duet. It’s a repetitive and simple song, but powerful, especially due to the inclusion of a gospel choir in a sort of blasphemous twist.

Subway takes a more experimental route, using the rhythmic pulse of subway sounds to create something relaxed and controlled. In contrast, the following title track is packed with punch; suitably creepy lyrics and appropriately (if not a little crudely) whining guitar and some intense energy exuding from Karen O make this song stand out.

The album goes on to display examples of dynamic rock tracks with traces of experimentalism; Area 52 is, in Karen’s eyes, an example of some of the finest lyrics she’s ever written, and I would agree with her, set to dynamic music with a sprinkling of the bizarre. Buried Alive, a track on which several artist collaborated, is another charismatic track, oozing the dark sound of grunge.

Slotted between such songs are the cool, collected tracks; These Paths includes minimal instrumentation as the fragmented melody builds in intensity into something unexpectedly enchanting. Likewise, Always is pretty and pleasant, a sugary song that alludes to something nostalgically retro.

The album ends with a love song entitled Wedding Song; subtle, simple and altogether beautiful, it’s a well-written track, but something of a quiet and understated end to a Yeah Yeah Yeahs album.

In light of the bands dynamic earlier albums and fierce reputation for their wild rock and roll, there was something underwhelming in this most recent work. With elements of dance, a little exciting experimentation and some not-quite-heavy-enough afterwords to their classic rock style, this album, while an enjoyable listen, never quite hits the spot that the band have marked previously

3/5

Natalie

Stone Sour – House of Gold & Bones (Part 2)

Legendary Stone Sour released their fourth album House of Gold & Bones earlier this week. The album was split up into two parts, both of them containing 12 songs each. The first instalment was released on October 23^rd 2012 and the second one on April 9^th 2013.

The album begins with Red City, which is slow and almost theatrical with how stripped back the song is. Unlike some of Stone Sour’s other songs, this one plays a minimalistic approach in that the beginning just containing Corey’s distinctive voice and a piano. Slowly, it builds up to what is wanted from the band; pounding drums from Roy Mayorga, solid guitar work by Jim Root and Josh Rand and powerful vocals from Corey Taylor. So by the time Black John kicks in, we are fully prepared for what Stone Sour can bring to the table. Lyrically, this song shows a suffering that a person would not want anyone else to bare. “I feel my kindred little ways/ I know how my story ends” and in the chorus it says “It’s not your gift to choose…/Oh this futile circumstance/ You never had a chance”. The link between what the song is about and how the song is put together musically is nicely done because the song progresses from soft and slow to hard and aggressive; which could mirror the pain that a person might go through.

To finish off the album, it ends with the song that it was named after; House of Gold & Bones. It begins with a bang of drums and heavy riffs, which is constantly shown off throughout the album. By now, the listener is fully aware of what Stone Sour are capable of and this song is a great way to end the two parts to one massive collection of songs. In terms of what the song is saying, it shows that a person has the strength to overcome themselves and sort out their problems on their own “I’ll survive/ I’ve gotta do it on my own” is the first couple lines of the chorus. This will power and independence is something that Stone Sour like to write about and from that it what their fans like.

Track of the album is their latest single Gravesend. The intro is strong and solid, bringing the listener in. By the time Taylor starts to sing, it all calms down, almost to make the listener really listen to what he is saying. As the track leads to the chorus, everything has picked up again for a full blast of heavy riffs and drums. My favourite part of the song is the guitar solo just after the bridge because of the enchanting notes being played, but also how it is just the tune it’s been playing but with more substance.

Overall, this is a pretty good album. When listening to both of the parts together, they don’t really sound anything alike; they could just be two completely separate albums.  There are some hidden meanings behind the songs such as ’82, Influence of a Drowsy God and Blue Smoke. However, I feel there are times where too much is going on and you have to listen to the songs over and over again to scrape the surface about what they could mean.

2.5/5

Sarah

Paramore - Paramore

Paramore’s self-titled fourth album is a few years late.

“Paramore” is the follow-up to 2009’s “Brand New Eyes,” but it is not a few years late because it has been almost four years since “Brand New Eyes.”

The album is a few years late because it is the end of the old Paramore era and the beginning of the new era. The album also, finally, says goodbye to former members Josh and Zac Farro.

The track “Grow Up” is an example of Williams talking about Farro, although she does not miss her ex.

“Some of us have to grow up sometimes/And so, if I have to I’m gonna leave you behind,” Williams sings in the chorus. From the lyrics it sounds like Williams is finally ready to move on from the old and bring in the new.

In the song, “Interlude: Moving On”  Williams finally lets go of Farro and moves on completely. Williams sings along with only a ukulele in the minute and a half track, and it is a nice change for the band’s sound.

Paramore even samples one of their own songs in the track, “Part II.” The track takes lyrics and music from “Let the Flames Begin” which was on the 2007, “Riot!” album.

“Part II” is really like the end of the old Paramore era both musically and lyrically.

“Still Into You” is the second single off of “Paramore,” and for good reason. The song, which Williams’ wrote about her current boyfriend, is poppy and light, introducing the new Paramore.

The final song, “Future” is just that: the future of Paramore. The eight minute song is a soft acoustic ballad where Williams declares, “I’m writing the future/I’m leaving the key here.”

The song grows stronger and louder, leaving listeners craving a new album from the revamped Paramore.

4/5

Dylanne