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Instant Winner / Plain White T's / Don't Look Down

live in Seattle (2003)
Fearless Records

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: Katie4213
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on February 18th 2003

So the Plain White T’s came to Seattle again, and put on another amazing show. This time they stopped by on their tour with Don’t Look Down, a four-piece band from New Jersey. These bands played on Valentine’s Day at the Vera Project, Seattle.

Don’t Look Down was the first band to take the stage. The Jersey boys rocked the venue with a catchy pop punk sound. They had a few big fans in the crowd, rocking out, trying to create a mosh-pit, but failing. There set was upbeat and enjoyable. As for their style, there are pretty run of the mill pop punk, but they do a very good job performing, making it an enjoyable show to watch. Give them a try- you may like them, I did.

Second to play were The Plain White T’s, one of my Chicago favorites. I know I am bias towards them, but I truly believe they had an amazing set. Once the T’s took the stage, the energy lever skyrocketed. Kids were dancing and singing along, having a good time. The T’s played the majority of the tracks from their latest album STOP out on Fearless Records. They also played a new one, which sounded pretty promising. For those of you not familiar with the T’s they too have more of a pop punk sound, but put on an inspiring show. When they perform it is easy to see the passion and determination in the band. Since their bassist, Ken Fletcher, recently left the band, Mike Retorndo, from the band Tone Deaf George filled in melding nicely and completing the Plain White T’s sound. The T’s even had to hardcore fans that demanded the song “Radio’s in Heaven” and took the liberty to jump onstage and attempt to sing the lyrics with Tom. In the future I would suggest they practice, and know the lyrics, before taking center stage. The T’s closed with a powerful rendition of “Penny” dedicating it to a few troublemakers out in the crowd, who were well deserving of the dedication.

And finally Instant Winner played. Instant Winner is a Seattle native ska band. There music was pretty much a garage band ska sound. Their set was a little too long, seeing as the crowd began to steadily decline. Instant Winner will soon be heading off on a West Coast tour, hitting most of California. The highlight of their set for me was their ska version of Weezer’s “Say it Ain’t So”. They don’t get my highest appraisal, but if you are into stripped down ska, you might dig them.

The night went well, and I was able to get another taste of home seeing the T’s again. If you have chance I suggest you check out the Plain White T’s/Don’t Look Down tour, chances are you will have a great time rocking out.

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Anonymous (February 20, 2003)

Instant Winner = Stripped down Ska??? You have to be joking. With the exeption of a horn section and a reggae cover of weezer, this band IS FAR FROM SKA... take a listen people- the specials, lets go bowling, hell even reel big fish- that is SKA.
IW sounds more like a punk rock band that just uses horns to its benefit. Sorry for my ranting, but... Stripped down ska???

pwfanatic (February 19, 2003)

is it really? cause the mad caddies/rise against show is there, and my friend said that the soundsystem sucks.

AtomicGarden (February 19, 2003)

Dude that's crazy. I was the guy doing the lighting during this show :) I didn't like either of the first two bands - they weren't bad by any means, but they were not my thing. Instant Winner is fucking incredible in my opinion though. But whatever, The Vera Project is awesome!

Anonymous (February 19, 2003)

reviews should be broken down into 2 subsections, shows and albums...would be better organized. - bigjerk

Anonymous (February 19, 2003)

Man, I've never heard Plain white ts or DLD and I just saw this concert. I have to say I wasn't impressed at all. generic pop-'punk' just following the formula. PWT's had a song that sounded identical to AK3s 'stupid kid'. i pretty much fell asleep during their sets. at least Rise Against headlined and I woke up again.

FeedMyNightmare (February 19, 2003)

Plain White T's; one of your favorite bands from Chicago??? HA what the fuck part of Chicago do you live in...

Anonymous (February 19, 2003)

Why do they need to limit anything? reading is reading. who gives a shit if they only post reviews of the warped tour? its not your choice, so dont say they "need" to limit anything, because they dont. Just read what they post, bitch about it, then go cry yourself a river.

-jeremy from gj co

Anonymous (February 19, 2003)

hes got a point it did get annoying when we had a million and a half warped and plea 4 peace reviews posted every week. While i see that those tours have so many bands that they could have been all different(but not really, think of all the times common rider, tinc, nofx, br, and whoever else was popular this year were mentioned, and it got real old after 2) but i think that the live shows should be limited to certain writers like the top 10 lists this year espically big tours like warped and p4p, just have maybe the editors or a person from each region like west & east coast, midwest, south. it would be alot better. maybe every now and then you could do a new person, kinda like a try out, but you really need to limit them.

WussEmoRock (February 18, 2003)

To Turdcorn:

you have a good point, but you have to look at it like this...sure the person will give the show a high rating and be bias (most of the time) toward the band(s) he/she went to see...but at the same time their will most likely be a band or two that is opening or headlining that is not enjoyed or is new for the person, and then they can be reviewed and showcased to us from the reviewer's first impression. Anyway, yeah...stick to the live reviews, I find them quite enjoyable to read...and this was very well written...good job!

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

turdcorn (February 18, 2003)

I'm not knocking this review, or any review for that matter. It was good. I just have a question. How many of you guys/girls go to see bands you don't like? I know I don't. Sometimes when I'm going to see a headliner there is a opener that I didn't like or vice versa. Or I'll go to local show and not like any of em'. But I almost never see reviews of shows just full of locals. Anyway, my point is, as far as live reviews go, I don't remember many being under 4 stars. Because people don't go to shows they don't want to see. If this is always going to be the case, what's the point? And please, don't jump up my ass. Just posing the question.

pwfanatic (February 18, 2003)

even though i wrote the review of instant winner, these guys are the shit live, especially if you know their music. but she is right, their cover of Say It Ain't So is beyond awesome.

Anonymous (February 18, 2003)

Scott, back off, Katie's marrying me! I'm the one who goes to visit her!

maverick (February 18, 2003)

Wait in line, dude. I was here first.

-Scott

Anonymous (February 18, 2003)

katie, will you marry me?

Anonymous (February 18, 2003)

Plain White T's were over at our house before/after the show... pretty nice guys, just a *tad* poppy for my taste. STOP has a few winners on it, though.

Anonymous (February 18, 2003)

Instant Weiner would be a great band name too.

-sickboi