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| Common Riderlive in Portland, OR2002 live show  Review by: RipperWalk See others by this writer Official Website (link) Only registered users can post comments 
 
Published on October 16th 2002 “Music ain’t nothing but expression of joy, when the train hits your gonna feel it.” Goddamn right. Remember Jesse Michaels? The singer guy from Op Ivy? Well, he is back, and taking some motherfucking numbers with him. Common Rider approached the stage on the Plea for Peace tour in Portland Oregon shortly after 8pm. Jesse stood to the side and stretched for about ten minutes, we all eventually knew why. Jesse danced himself into a sweat after 30 seconds of the first song. He runs, he jumps, he falls, he throws his mic, and wraps the mic cord around his eyes, all while singing. If he didn’t stretch before doing any of this, he would fuckin’ pull every single part of his body. The rest of the band, which included Mass and Dan from Screeching Weasel, and also featured Matt and Phillip from the Teen Idols on guitars, started putting their instruments on their shoulders. Here came Jesse. And without further ado – the band kicked into Castaways, a song Jesse says is one of his favorite Common Rider songs. There were few breaks between most of the songs, but Jesse did spend a few minutes talking about the importance of suicide prevention and made sure we all signed the petitions in the back of the venue. The crowd didn’t seem into Common Rider for the first two songs, but then Jesse said something about it. “I want you to get up and dance.” The very next song, On Broadway, there was a huge fuckin’ pit. The crowd went crazy. They relaxed afterwards, and over the next 12 songs, all you could hear was the entire crowd chanting the lyrics to every song. At one point during Carry On, Jesse stopped singing and let the crowd to his job, and you could see the entire band loved it. Also during Carry On, Jesse freestyled into the Clash cover song Armeageddon Time and right into a Toots and the Maytalls song, and then flowed right back into Carry On. It was beautiful. The crowd kept chanting for all kinds of Common Rider songs, and, because of this, they added four songs that were not on their set list, including their amazing finale, Prison Break. After the show, Jesse and Mass told me that they had a lot of fun. They both agreed that the response from Portland was one of the biggest yet. I was slightly saddened by the fact that they didn’t play One Ton, my favorite Common Rider song, but it was amazing without it. If I had to have one giant complaint it would be the venue itself. The Crystal Ballroom has the worst sounding vocals, Jesse’s voice at times was completely inaudible. But that is the venue’s fault, not Common Rider because every time I see a show there, the vocals are always terrible. So, go fuckin see Common Rider. Great show, and they fuckin’ have fun. They have so much fun that everyone around you is forced to have fun as well. Get up and fuckin’ dance. Set list in order: Castaways Firewall Small Pebble On Broadway Heatseekers Midnight Passenger Am I on My Own Conscious Burning Classics of Love Set the Method Down Longshot Carry On Prison Break
Visit both Common Riders homepage for more info on the band and please visit www.takeactiontour.com for info on Suicide Prevention.
The Kristin Brooks Hope Center provides free national access to suicide crisis counseling through the National Hopeline Network 1-800-SUICIDE. Help is provided through a network of local suicide prevention centers that are certified by the American Association of Suicidology. When those in crisis call the Hope Center's toll-free phone number, 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433), a sophisticated computer routes the call automatically to the closest participating center.
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there are too many unnessecary shitty comments on this website There are too many needless show reviews on this site. And don't fuckin remain annonymous. oh, and your comment about Jesse claiming to want to do a reunion, but he just has to wait for Tim to agree, well, here is what Jesse actually said: I personally interviewed Jesse and he has never agreed to do a reunion. He always says that it would be wrong. Interviews on the internet can be made up, its easy, but if you look at actual interviews, Jesse is against it. ok, in response to all of you who responded to my original post.... I interviewed Jesse when they were in Pontiac, MI. He was areal class act and was very open to OpIvy shit but is past all of that. He pretty much looks on as it being a good experiance, but is past it. check it out if ya want. yeah, I know the song wasn't by the clash. Armagideon Time is originally by Willie Williams Op Ivy's gone, face it. What the fuck u except Jesse to do? Make Op Ivy 2.0, that'd fucking stupid and unoriginal -- he changed everything and has good lyrics, thats innovation - instead of doing the same uniform thing. Why bash Jesse's dancing and lyrics. Show me proof that they lack intelligence and creativity. Don't just attack him because he isn't singing Take Warning or something. Op Ivy is over. Kurt is dead. So is Joey and Dee Dee. Yeah, i love them all, but it's over. Jesse has kept quiet for years, and he finally is back. It was well worth the wait. Eye ment too sey the most nearest. The closets? Was Op Ivy gay? Yeah some of the lyrics are cringingly bad. Really cringingly bad. But there are still some good songs thrown in to their 2 cd's. I'm sorry but Jesse M. you failed me! What a shitty show. It reminded me of a old burnt out has been who is trying to cash in on what he can off of the name of op ivy. Every song is generic and nothing special. Jesse acts like a idiot on stage and sad to say it was a really really bad show. Dont get me wrong, i went with optomistic ears and eyes but nothing about this show made it worth seeing except the fact that it supported the plea for peace tour. other then that... jesse quit wasting the time and money of op ivy fans and get on with your life... the writting abilities for op ivy were clearly with tim and matt because jesse cant pull off shit. now that ive said my peace, let the bashing begin. I really hope these guys make it up to Canada Nice one. One Ton is the best CR song, hands down. Saw 'em in SF last month. They played pretty much the same set, the crowd was relatively small but pretty excited about the band. Jesse didn't seem to be in good form--he looked drunk to me--and didn't perform nearly as well as he did two years ago at the Great American Music Hall. But, a bad Common Rider show is still something special just by virtue of Mr. Michaels. |
