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Poison The Well / Every Time I Die / Nora

live in University Park
2003
live show

Review by: benz
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Published on December 5th 2003

200 miles.

We drove 200 miles through the cold mountains and woods of Pennsylvania to go to this show. Sure, we were visiting friends and hanging out at State College, but what it all boils down to is that we drove from Philadelphia to University Park to see a concert.

We entered the Crowbar (which, by the way, is the coolest name for a bar) a little after 9 o'clock, headed up a stairwell to be greeted by the punk rock stylings of The Bronx. There seems to be a lot of buzz about these guys nowadays, and I think I know why now - the energy. It seems as if punk has started getting a little lazier these days, opting for more serious ballads and guitar trickery. The Bronx are trying to bring back the non-stop, kick in the face, rock out speed that has characterized the genre to begin with. It seemed that the crowd was unresponsive in the beginning of their set, garnering only a couple bobbing heads. I looked around and some kids seemed anxious to start rocking out, but were hesitant. The lead singer came over and stood on a barrier separating the stage and the crowd and said, "I think I know what's gettin' you all down - this barrier." And with those words, he hopped into the audience and they continued their set. Right away, a pit exploded inwards. The singer lost his microphone in the pit and it took him a little bit to get it back. I was only familiar with one Bronx song, "Heart Attack American", which they closed their set with. The audience seemed to really get into it and the vocalist removed his shirt somewhere in there.

Later, Nora came onstage and right off the bat they seemed like really cool guys. The lead singer looked out at the crowd, packed in like sardines, and said "Listen guys, I know this is a small palce, so be nice to each other. While you're in the pit watch out for one another. Other than that, have fun." Nora was pretty good, I'm just not too into them. The vocalist did a great job of getting people pumped and going nuts. He seemed like a real cool guy; you know one of those cool guys that probably isn't actually saying words half the time he has the mic, and likes to slam the mic against his chest and face. The only thing that seemed a little off about Nora was that their guitarist and bassist seemed to be playing something different than the drummer half the time. But it was loud and crazy enough for me to forgive it. Cool guys, decent music.

Soon after Nora left, the Monday Night Football theme would come blaring over the PA. Every Time I Die came sprinting onto the stage like a fucking team and a half, all clad in white t-shirts and khakis. As soon as the football song ended, they exploded into "Off Broadway". The crowd went insane, absolutely insane. The between song banter was hilarious and they all seemed really cool. Some kid started crowd surfing right when "Off Broadway" ended, and he was kinda just stuck there between songs. The vocalist was surprised, commenting, "Whoa! All I have to do is talk and you start crowd surfing. It's like moshing to feedback." Every Time I Die was awesome. They definetly stole the show and got the audience the most into the music they would be all night. They played a pretty even mix of songs off their two full lengths (although I was disappointed that they didn't play "The Logic of Crocodiles"). They closed the set with a wild rendition of "Ebolarama".

The final band of the night was Poison The Well, and lemme tell ya, they sounded like shit. Now, don't get me wrong, I love Poison The Well, none of their releases or previous live shows have disappointed me. The poor quality of their set didn't seem to be their fault either, their sound was just incredibly screwed up. The bass was turned up entirely too high, and I swear I couldn't even hear one of the guitarists. The vocals were off, but I couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was about them. They seemed to semi-sort out the problem towards the end, but the sound was still bad. The thing I like about Poison The Well's live shows is that they evenly divide all the material they play amongst their three full lengths. For the second time since I last saw them, they closed with "Nerdy", an eternal crowd favorite.

If you get a chance, I highly reccomend seeing this show, especially for Every Time I Die.

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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, November 24, 2005 at 4:02 PM (EST)
My Score:

what do u think? http://www.trinitytc.com/888/casino-directory-2005.html

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 11, 2003 at 7:46 PM (EST)
My Score:

you drove 200 miles?!?! holy crap!!

I once drove 500 to see off minor. that's dedication, friend.

Posted by notfeelingcreative on 2003-12-09 23:29:00
My Score:

I saw the Bronx on the Circle Jerks/GBH tour and had to hold my ears they were so horrible.

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, December 8, 2003 at 11:20 PM (EST)
My Score:

the bronx rule, they should be headlining.

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, December 8, 2003 at 5:50 PM (EST)
My Score:

you would vandal.

Posted by Greenvandal on 2003-12-08 08:55:39
My Score:

I think panties is a cute word. makes me think of the color pink and giggling.

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, December 8, 2003 at 2:27 AM (EST)
My Score:

I saw this show, minus Nora, Saturday in Iowa City, and The Bronx were awful. The energy that the reviewer spoke of was just not quite there, the lead singer took his shirt off halfway through the set for some reason and said terribly stupid things between songs, and I just wasn't very impressed by a band I was excited to see. Every Time I Die (stop using acronyms) were totally amazing, one of the best hardcore bands I've seen live. I've never seen a crowd explode more quickly or completely as when they started their set. And Poison the Well was very OK.

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, December 7, 2003 at 9:04 PM (EST)
My Score:

oh yeah...

the show was in state college, not university park...

geez... learn some geography.

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, December 7, 2003 at 9:03 PM (EST)
My Score:

jumpstartrecords? is that jeremy or t-bone or both of you?

yup, i was there, crowbar sound generally sucks if a band's never played there before... usually the second time a band rolls through town they get it right...

at any rate... jeremy or t-bone, tell pagoda if she punches me in the face again for losing at beer pong i'm gonna kick her ass.

Curt

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, December 7, 2003 at 1:46 PM (EST)
My Score:

Jeanelle, I just creamed YOUR panties.

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, December 7, 2003 at 1:38 PM (EST)
My Score:

I love...

PANTIES!

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 6, 2003 at 11:40 PM (EST)
My Score:

I love the crowbar i can't wait til the murphey's law show.

Posted by greenandtangerine on 2003-12-06 22:30:22
My Score:

cream is a worse word

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 6, 2003 at 7:12 PM (EST)
My Score:

"ETID is so awesome live, I creamed my panties."

first, panties is the most horrid word - it should be banished from the english langauge. secondly, if you're a guy and refer to your underwear as panties...um...nothing more has to be said.
-Janelle

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 6, 2003 at 2:50 PM (EST)
My Score:

ETID is so awesome live, I creamed my panties.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 6, 2003 at 12:10 PM (EST)
My Score:

NOt a fan of PTW by any stretch, but they do put on a great live show.

Posted by superdude on 2003-12-06 11:33:16
My Score:

This review was good, but here's how I would make it better:

1. Don't drink the water!

2. Did any of the bands cover The Police?

3. Was there anyone there who was wearing a shirt that said somethign funny on it?

4. What did you guys do after the show? By any chance did you laugh about anythihng funny?

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 6, 2003 at 2:22 AM (EST)
My Score:

Poison Idea should murder any band who has the balls enough to steal their fucking adjective! Jerry A vs. the fucking World!

"I once knew a jack who looked like a Jill and smelled like a John."

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 11:35 PM (EST)
My Score:

sorry about that mistake. a little before i wrote the review i actually thought to myself "dont get that song confused with the Give Up The Ghost song", but i did, i'm a moron.

also to the kid who said what songs ptw played:
Botchla
Nerdy
Artists Rendering of Me
Crystal Lake
Zombies Are Good For Your Health
Ghostchant
and several other that i cant remember or couldn't hear well enough to decipher since the sound was so bad

-benz

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 11:28 PM (EST)
My Score:

Go Cowboys!

-sickboi

No, it's go Rams. Go Rams...

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 9:58 PM (EST)
My Score:

and thanks, Adam, for that correction

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 9:57 PM (EST)
My Score:

I'm going to this a week from yesterday and ETID have the trendy metalcore thing going for them and all, blah, blah blah, but lemme just say...
THE....FUCKING...BRONNNNNNNNNNXXXXX!!!!

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 9:43 PM (EST)
My Score:

Perchance I was not, Janelle, but seeing Hot Cross likely would have been quite the time
-inagreendase

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 7:53 PM (EST)
My Score:

ETID own all of you. And sorry sickboi, but they're Bills fans through thick and thin, even if it's real bad this year.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 5:41 PM (EST)
My Score:

"ETID was really, really good when I saw them in Farmingdale, playing with This Day Forward, who was also really good."

I saw TDF in Mineola...were you there perchance? w/ Hot Cross
-Janelle

Posted by shindo on 2003-12-05 16:35:11
My Score:

Reviewer: "Love American" is a Give Up The Ghost song. I think you meant "Heart Attack American"

-adam

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 4:09 PM (EST)
My Score:

Posoin The Well are always fun to see live. I saw them on the Plea For Peace Tour this year.

-Eric

Posted by jumpstartrecords on 2003-12-05 14:00:20
My Score:

i was at this show and i've got to say the bronx impressed the shit out of me. the hype on this band is real and warranted.

nora is a great band but i thought the first half of their set was really sloppy and they sounded a bit out of it. the last few songs sounded much more together and the crowd seemed to respond to that.

everytime i die and poison the well tore the place a new asshole. period.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 1:51 PM (EST)
My Score:

Go Cowboys!

-sickboi

Posted by inagreendase on 2003-12-05 13:50:35
My Score:

ETID was really, really good when I saw them in Farmingdale, playing with This Day Forward, who was also really good. I didn't even bother staying for PtW (not my thing) and it was still overall a fun show. I thought it was the Monday Night Football theme too, but I also thought they did it to coincide with the fact that it was a Monday and the "hometown team," sort of, Giants were on at the same time.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 1:36 PM (EST)
My Score:

A little more could've been said about what ptw played rather than going on about their poor sound quality.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 1:23 PM (EST)
My Score:

I saw this show in albany and it was awesome. also i dont think at the reviewed show they played the MNF theme. it was the Fox NFL theme. obviously, the reviewer doensn't watch enough of the best pro sports league ever (save the NHL).

anyway PTW and ETID are rediculously awexome and this show is awexome. make sure to catch this show when it comes to your shitty town.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 5, 2003 at 1:10 PM (EST)
My Score:

ETID did the same thing in Toronto except its the FOX NFL football theme song, not the monday night football one