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Street Dogs - State of Grace
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I was really looking forward to this show. I had seen The Anniversary twice before (w/ the Get Up Kids and the Mars Volta) and they were always a good live band... Things have changed.

First up was The Gadjits. I knew nothing about this band before the show other than their name. They put on an energetic performance and their music was ok. They seemed to use a lot of the same riffs in their guitar parts. They played for 30 minutes and then the Burning Brides came on.

I had never heard anything by this band either. I had only read an interview with them on Buddyhead. Plus Buddyhead's gossip page said that they were gonna blow The Anniversary out of the water. So I had high expectations. They were a threesome - 2 guys and a girl. The lead singer had big hair which made me hope they would rock (fros = rock. ie; At The Drive-In, Coheed and Cambria, Vendetta Red). The girl was smoking while playing bass which was fairly unattractive. They came on stage and introduced themselves as the Burning Brides - Otherwise known as the anti-Saves The Day, the anti-Dashboard Confessional (everyone cheered), and the anti-Hey Mercedes. I think that it is pretty lame to get on stage and say something like that right off the bat. Throughout their set, I kept on thinking they were gonna play "Fell in Love With a Girl" the whole time. That's right - they reminded me of the White Stripes. Their music felt uninspired and they seemed like they didn't want to be opening for the Anniversary. The crowd was really moving the whole time which was nice.

Next was the reason everyone was there. The Anniversary finally made it to the stage (after a sample of a Dr. Dre song looped for awhile). I noticed one thing immediately. They looked like they came straight out of the 70's. I look back at my cherished "Designing a Nervous Breakdown" album and I recognize none of the people in the CD booklet but Adrianne. Seriously, it was unbelievable. I am all for change, but they couldn't be serious. It's too bad the Strokes got so popular - they have changed everyone into smoking-on-stage, denim-wearing, shaggy-haired rockstars.

Okay, so they looked different. That I could handle. They opened with an instrumental song that was interesting. There were no lyrics or anything, just a bunch of rock riffs with crashing cymbals. "Your Majesty" was played almost in it's entirety starting with Sweet Marie. The only songs off of that album that they didn't do were Tu-Whitt Tu-Whoo and Follow the Sun. A few new songs were played that seemed decent. The thing that disappointed me the most was the fact that they only played TWO songs off of "Designing a Nervous Breakdown" (Perfectly and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter) during the hour and a half on stage (with two encores)! And Perfectly was hardly recognizable because Adrianne was playing the congas instead of the familiar keyboard parts. I couldn't believe they ended the show without "All Things Ordinary" or "The D in Detroit". Those are all such fun songs compared to the dreary Husam Husam, the unbearable Follow the Sun and the rest of "Your Majesty". Adriane needs to quit the band. She played tambourine, shaker, and the congas half the time. She didn't even need all those moogs and keyboards. She barely used them.

I guess I just had expectations for this show and I was severly let down. The Anniversary is all about rock ballads now. They have lost their since of humor on stage. No longer are they the moog rocking fun band that I used to know and love. Don't go see them unless you like their new stuff more than their old, because they aren't playing any old stuff at any of their shows. And expect to hear the conga more than the keyboards.






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    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, October 2, 2004 at 10:31 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    To the DOUCHE-bag who said "Kansas City sucks and so do their bands."
    First of all, the Gadjits (who have now broken up) were one of the most talented bands to ever sign to Hellcat and put on a helluva live show.
    The Anniversary and fellow KC group The Get Up Kids (you might've heard of them?) are two of the most important and influential bands in the current "emo" trend. And you can say emo sucks, but if that's the case, what in hell are you doing reading a review for an Anniversary show? Have a little respect, asshole.....

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 27, 2002 at 10:07 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    i love the gadjits new and old stuff...and their show is amazing...same with the anniversary...just different...it seems like all anyone ever likes here is emo...get over it, the anniversary are just rock now...i think it kicks ass...it's just different.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 7:47 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    plenty of bands have a keyboard

    and i heard the anniversary was very good when they played here...

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 4:23 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    i think the only thing that set the anniversary apart from a lot of bands was the moog and keyboards. now that they've lost that, they have nothing going for them. I dont really view them as a get up kids jr or anything like that - i think they are a good band in their own right. but their live show has gone waaaay downhill

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 1:43 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    I've seen The Anniversary twice, once right before your majesty came out and once after. I have to say their live show has gone downhill after abandoning most of their older stuff. And they didn't play All Things Ordinary either time, which pissed me of to no end. I happen to like your majesty for the most part but it does bad things for their stage presence.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 12:55 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    kansas city sucks and so do their bands.

    Posted by Hamish on 2002-11-26 12:53:57
    My Score:

    Well, I have seen them live in their "70s" mode, and I enjoyed. They played extremely well, and they put a new spin on their songs instead of just playing them exactly as they are on the records. And my "Get Up Kids Jr" comment was used before I even noticed what your SN was, so don't take that as an insult. I said that because that's what they were. Just a rehash of a more popular band. Now they're doing their own thing and it's a hell of a lot better.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 5:32 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    Burning Bridges fuck all those copy-cat bands hard. The Gadgits are cool though, as they always have been. The Anniversary is shit though!

    Posted by evildeadalive on 2002-11-26 04:46:10
    My Score:

    Actually, I thought it was a decent review, I just disagreed with your opinion on the Burning Brides. I'm sorry for bringing your name into it, I was a little angry. Have a good night.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 4:36 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    oh i see. i just thought you were supposed to express your opinions on reviews... so i did just that. i bet i like a lot of bands that you wouldn't think i like simply because i chose the name thegetupkid.

    Posted by evildeadalive on 2002-11-26 04:25:43
    My Score:

    (Actually I was talking about your comments on the Burning Brides with my reference to your name)

    And yeah, I did see the Anniversary when they weren't hippies...with the Get Up Kids actually...

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 4:19 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    hey, and sorry i didn't have more about the Gadjits - i wasn't paying a ton of attention to their music. i will check them out soon. thanks for the recomendation.

    -thegetupkid

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 4:17 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    actually, the show sucked because of how much they have changed for the worse. if you had seen them before they became a 70's cover band and then again after - then you would know what i am talking about in the review. If they weren't the Anniversary anymore, it would have been a lot more enjoyable. I don't mind their last album, but they really screwed up their live show. And my name has nothing to do with my opion of the anniversary, it just means i like the get up kids so go to hell.

    -thegetupkid

    Posted by evildeadalive on 2002-11-26 03:22:10
    My Score:

    Saw this show in Vancouver, although the Gadjits didn't play here. Anniversary sucked ass. At the end of their set they were taking requests, but got extremely pissed off when anyone would ask them to play anything old. The Anniversary fucking suck. Burning Brides however, were amazing. Uninspired my ass. What do you expect from someone with the name thegetupkid though?

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 1:08 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    Anniversary have gone way downhill.

    -Scotty

    Posted by Hamish on 2002-11-26 00:23:15
    My Score:

    "They didn't play songs from the first album" isn't a legitimate reason to bash an entire show. I really respect them for trying a new sound instead of rellying on the "Get Up Kids Jr" sound that got them so popular. If they played good songs and they played them well, then that's a good set, not a 1.5 star set. Try to be a little more open-minded.

    P.S. To the guy bellow me, The Gadjits left Hellcate for Thick Records and THEN got signed to a major label. And who the fuck cares? What does it matter what label they're on?

    Posted by ripperwalk on 2002-11-26 00:12:38
    My Score:

    i use to like the gadjits, then they left hellcat and signed to a major label, kinda dissapointing.

    Posted by WussEmoRock on 2002-11-26 00:04:50
    My Score:

    hahaha I know, my sentence down there didn't need two that's. handle it.

    *****Wuss-Emo-Rock*****

    Posted by WussEmoRock on 2002-11-26 00:03:41
    My Score:

    who cares if "follow the sun" is a dreary song in your opinion, you just told us 2 lines above that, that it wasn't even played. so why mention it?

    *****Wuss-Emo-Rock*****

    Posted by Dubar on 2002-11-25 23:50:44
    My Score:

    I read this review solely to hear about the gadjits. "they played for 30 minutes". Excellent review there.

    Not to be all angry and mean (because thats sure to come when more people start posting, as always) but you should definitely check the gadjits out. Especially their older, more traditional ska type stuff.

    Posted by maverick on 2002-11-25 23:40:57
    My Score:

    I saw the Anniversary 2 times this year - once back in March, and once back in May. Both times they blew me away.

    Sorry they didn't do the same for you.

    Give the Gadjits another shot, though, they're really, really good [way better than the fucking Burning Brides].

    -Scott

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