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 | Hot Rod Circuit / The Reunion Show / Bleachlive in Atlanta2003 live show  Review by: sweetsugarpezz See others by this writer Hot Rod Circuit's Official Website (link) Only registered users can post comments 
 
Published on February 21st 2003 Ahhhh… the Cotton Club. By far, my favorite venue in Atlanta. Over the years, so many bands and so many killer shows came and went through, and yes I was at a majority of them. But due to moving 3 hours away for college this past year, I had not been there since April 2002. So it was due time for a trip back up to Atlanta. First off, I just wanted to mention the great setting and atmosphere of the Cotton Club, perfect for any punk show, and anyone who has frequented there probably has a soft spot as well. Moving on with the actual show…. The show was scheduled to start at 9 and we arrived promptly at 8:45. According to local flyers and Creative Loafing ads, the lineup was Northstar, The Reunion Show, and finally Hot Rod Circuit. Out of my 3 buddies and myself, I was the only one familiar with Northstar, but I assured them that it would be worthwhile not to miss them and get there a little early. Early we did, and as soon as we walked through the doors, I heard Northstar blowing the crowd away with “Rigged and Ready”. Just as I made my way towards the crowd, Northstar thanked everyone and left, leaving me to tears that I missed one of my favorite bands. The night was young though, and I waited for The Reunion Show to play. As the band started playing I was surprised that, there was in fact another band playing tonight; Bleach. I was surprised to see them on this tour, and although I hadn’t listened to them for quite some time, I remember Bleach as playing “space-rock/punk” if you will. Their lyrics were great, but sometimes to “uplifting” (See Tooth and Nail). As soon as Bleach started playing, the crowd was hooked, and their music seemed had a harder, faster, and overall different feel than what I remembered. This was definitely a good thing as they rocked for a good 30 min set. Due to the great atmosphere of the Cotton Club, and the lack of bouncers (yay), my buddy and I climbed up on stage with Bleach and we proceeded to air guitar our hearts out. Good times I tell ya. After an unsuccessful stage dive into a sparse pit, we recovered and waited for The Reunion Show to set up. I was not especially excited about seeing them due to many negative reviews I had read here on punknews.org, and I really wasn’t expecting much more than generic pop-punk. But my main thing when going to a show is to give every band a chance, and that I did. For the first 2 songs, the crowd didn’t really seem to dig TRS. Then came “Television” and for some reason, the crowd started going ape-shit. The band had plenty of energy, and soon the Cotton Club was rockin and it stayed that way for the next half hour. Now, to all The Reunion Show haters out there, if you have not seen them live, go check them out, they definitely have a killer live show. As for their music, it was well played, fun rock, which my have me at my local record shop looking for their CD. So then came Hot Rod Circuit. Plenty of screams from the ladies out there, but not in an annoying “We love Benji and Joel!” or “Blink me!” way. HRC played almost every song of off “Sorry About Tomorrow” except my personal favorite HRC song, “Get What You Get”. Hot Rod Circuit also played a few tracks off of their new B-sides album, “Been There, Smoked That”, which the HRC faithful belted out every word with Andrew. “The Pharmacist” was also a crowd favorite, with virtually everyone singing the first verse at the top of their lungs. After chanting over and over for “Radio Song”, HRC tore the walls down, proving that they still put on one helluva show. Out of the 3 times I had seen HRC, this was the best, even though Andrew cut the set a bit short due to “losing his voice”. Rock! All in all, this was a great show, and an even better homecoming to my favorite venue. Hot Rod Circuit rocked like they always do, and if you like them and you haven’t seen them live, you are missing out. The Reunion Show shocked the hell out of me, proving once again think for yourself and don’t base all your opinions on other people’s reviews and opinions. The Reunion Show had plenty of energy along with their catchy as hell songs. Bleach rocked as well and now I will be looking for my old Bleach cd’s and get them back into rotation. If your looking for some well done, rock and roll, check out their new album “Again, For the First Time”, it will not disappoint. Though I missed Northstar, I know they kick mucho ass, and if you are a fan of Taking Back Sunday, etc., check ‘em out. Good stuff. Be sure to catch this tour in a town near you, definitely one of the best ways to spend 15 bucks.
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I added you to my list to have a 'civilized' discussion. madcap, the bouncing souls, the eyeliners, as well are "punk" bands i like. if you want to actually discuss all of this in an intelligent manner, i'd love to dismember your opinions over instant messenger. my s/n is evilmidget2, same as my s/n on here. dont think i wont block you if i dont like the cut of your gib, tho. hmmmmm.... how to address that. the cotton club does have good shows, they just usually arent the punk ones. dont get me wrong, i do like SOME punk bands (after all, it wouldnt make much sense for me to post on here if i didnt). DKs, bad brains, sick of it all, choking victim, tsol, dag nasty, some misfits, hmmmmmmmm, uh, i cant think of any others that yall woulda heard of. but i dont think any of you can argue against the idea that most punk is EXACTLY THE SAME AS WHATS BEEN PUT OUT FOR THE LAST TWENTY YEARS. the main reason i'm here is because there are a lot of good bands that get grouped under the vast umbrella of punk: sleater-kinney, new bomb turks, turbonegro, supersuckers, sahara hotnights, ikara colt, pavement, interpol, slint, etc. "its too bad that with such great music in atlanta (carbonas, black lips, the lids, jucifer, lifeform project, the helgas, the hiss, the woggles, rock*a*teens) people still flood to shitty shows like this one." and to anybody who remotely likes garage rock: get The Lids 7". it's s/t and you should be able to find it at wax 'n' facts, full moon, etc. and the only good venues in ATL (in terms of the bands that play) are the echo lounge, MJQ, the earl, the variety playhouse, OCCASIONALLY the neutron bomb, OCCASIONALLY the cotton club (i cant wait to see dead prez AND killer mike) and OCCASIONALLY swayze's. actually, the masquerade did have DJ Z-Trip once, but its usually just shitty metal and generic punk. and eleven50 (DJ krush and fischerspooner and royksopp and jazzanova and supergrass in the next two months? shit yeah). its too bad that with such great music in atlanta (carbonas, black lips, the lids, jucifer, lifeform project, the helgas, the hiss, the woggles, rock*a*teens) people still flood to shitty shows like this one. yeah, you're right, i fogot about ticketraper's charge you air guitared on stage? mmmmmm. I dont about the interviewer, kinda sounds like a tool These are some rad bands well technically $12 then ticketmaster's bastard of a service charge ($3). and yes, i miss the 513 club. the price on shows in atlanta depends on the club that is being held at. All cotton club shows are at least 10 bux normally they are like 12-15. Cotton Club and the Masquerade are where most bigger punk shows happen so all the door prices are kinda high. We used to have the 513 where I saw AFI/Fury 66 as soon as Black Sails came out for 5 bux. However there are very few places in atlanta that do under 10 dollar shows. yeah, wait a minute....15$?! hot rod circuit is awesome..... Holy shit! I never even thought of doing that. I am totally going to start ripping off those dumb fucks who ask me to buy them cigarettes. Thanks for the idea! to the post below... yea i forgot to mention the Jawbreaker cover, and you are absolutly correct, it wasn't worth mentioning, but it did not detract from an overall good set. I as well was at the show. I thught the show was good, but I really didn't expect as many people that were there to show up. The only problem I have when alot of people go to shows is there is always a ton of shit talkers and assholes that go. Such as the stupid 13 yr old kids that surrounded me and a friend and kept trying to get us to buy them ciggerettes. Or my favorite, the elitist assholes who stand completly still and expect everyone else to do the same as they are doing and if people are dancing and having fun then something is wrong with them. I guess this is true for any show...but typically it happens more at bigger venues in Atlanta, like the Masquerade or the Cotton Club. (I have seen some kick ass shows at cotton club though, but same thing with the crowd. i.e. Hey Mercedes/Koufax.) the cotton club is a cool venue. but not the best. under the couch is the best. but they have some stupid new policy where only GA Tech bands can play there or something. and only GA Tech students can go there. i don't really know. but as i said before the old cotton club was MUCH better. the new one is still cool though. hot rod circuit is good times....i haven't listened to them in forever, perhaps this review will motivate me to do so |
