Punknews.org | Catch 22/Bigwig/Fall Out Boy

Review Navigator

Features

Reviews

Catch 22 / Bigwig / Fall Out Boy

live in Hartford
2003
live show

Review by: sk8punx4evr
See others by this writer

Only registered users
can post comments

Published on January 9th 2004

To be honest, I went to this expecting somewhat of a good time, but the main reason I went was to kill time. It turns out, having a good time and killing time are interchangeable. I ventured into the Webster, about to see the all-star cast of Fall Out Boy, Bigwig, and Catch 22.

I had never heard any Fall Out Boy songs, and I found out there was a reason for that. Fall Out Boy is just another one of those bands who’s primary fanbase is heavily made-up young teenage girls. Now, I don’t have a problem with heavily made-up young teenage girls. Actually, I do. As Fall Out Boy was starting, I was having myself a smoke when a girl who couldn’t have been older than 13 just walked right in front of me. She complained of the smoke, to which I replied, “Sorry. I don't normally smoke.” The damn runts these days, don’t know what’s good for ‘em. Our little mishap ended there, but it didn’t make Fall Out Boy’s performance any better. The songs were painfully generic and essentially sounded like New Found Glory with the occasional scream. The Bane-shirt clad bassist was the screamer, but I think he only screamed random one-syllable words like “yeah” and “rah.” He and the non-singing guitarist spun around a lot. They must have been dizzy and exhausted after a while, but the hordes of heavily made-up young teenage girls probably fed them the energy they needed. At one point, someone from Less Than Jake came onstage and I think Fall Out Boy dedicated the song to him. That was cool, and saved them from being total losers.

The Wig was next and I was excited. It had been almost a year since I’d seen Tom and crew! The new drummer lit his cymbals on fire and everyone cheered. It was an intense moment. They then started “Sink or Swim” and a good portion of the crowd rocked out. The bassist playing with them was, interestingly enough, the same bassist who played on their first two albums! Everyone say, “Hi John (again!)!” I was slightly disappointed, though, in finding out that he didn’t play the bass line at the end of “Mr. Asshole.” That riff is awesome and its’ absence kind of made both me and the set feel empty. Aside from that and not playing “Numbers” (what the fuck? Isn’t that a Bigwig standard?), their set was pretty good. They played all the favorites (Still, Sellout, Girl in the Green Jacket, Best of Me, etc) and all of the others that could very well be favorites (Waste, Sore Losers, Moosh, Hope, Counting Down, and Falling Down). They played well, and Tom-man really burned the frets. It wasn’t the best I’d seen them, but it was damn good.

Catch 22. Once great, now mediocre. The current Catch 22 lineup seems more like a Catch 22 cover band than the actual band themselves. It seems that they’re not really into it when they play, and they play too fast and fast means sloppy and sloppy means I leave early. I left probably mid-way through the set, after only hearing 2 or 3 songs that I recognized (On & On & On, Day In Day Out, Bloomfield Ave, maybe there was one more). They played some new songs too. At least the crowd liked them. I think Catch 22 fans are pretty rabid, which is good for the band. Good for you, Catch 22.

This show was alright. I succeeded in having a good time (Bigwig, 13-year-old-smoke incident), but mostly it just served as a way to kill time (Fall Out Boy, half of Catch 22). I think the tour’s nearly over, so don’t be on your way to see this.

Login to rate this album

Please login or register to post comments.

What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?

Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 3, 2004 at 6:48 PM (EST)
My Score:

shut up.

you got served.

-sk8punx4evr

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, January 15, 2004 at 1:19 PM (EST)
My Score:

first, i hate assholes that smoke at shows. second, i hate bitches that rip on pop-punk. fags.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, January 14, 2004 at 11:57 AM (EST)
My Score:

the way i hear it is....
so josh marsh never returned after the broken fingers and then just recently brent left and john from back in the day took over on bass. so they're a trio now of:

1. Tom-vocals/guitar/orginalmember
2. John-vocals/bass/first two albums/orginal member
3. Keith-drums/ex-split50

Is that right? I wish they would just update their website or play near me. I haven't seen them for over a year.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, January 13, 2004 at 1:15 PM (EST)
My Score:

what about all the josh marsh is leaving the band rumors? i know he had broken fingers, etc. but everyone was speculating that his time with bigwig was over.

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, January 11, 2004 at 7:20 PM (EST)
My Score:

Yup your right
Tom-vocals/guitar/orginalmember
John-vocals/bass/first two albums/orginal member
Josh-guitar/vocals
Keith-drums/ex-split50

And Brent went to go settle down with his wife, and his bass was on eBay thats when i knew he left

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, January 11, 2004 at 5:19 PM (EST)
My Score:

"smoking near other people isn't the most considerate thing to do."

a) i'm not even a hardcore smoker
b) i was standing on the far side of the room when the idiot walks in front of me and complains

-sk8q-39rlal

Posted by CrankWillDestroy on 2004-01-11 15:51:53
My Score:

next time i see Bigwig, they better play 'Drunken Knight' or I'm gonna bring Tom down. I'm gonna bring him down to chinatown.

Posted by PetroBPettson on 2004-01-11 04:38:48
My Score:

I seriously hope the post 2 posts ago is a joke. Otherwise, I hope someone puts a cig out in that chick's eye.

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, January 11, 2004 at 3:28 AM (EST)
My Score:

Wait...

So what is the current Bigwig lineup?

Tom (original member) on vox/guitar
John (first two albums and now back again) on bass
Josh (overdrives guy who joined in 2001) on guitar
Keith (5 driver guy who joined in 2002) on drums

???????

What happened to Brent?

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, January 11, 2004 at 3:24 AM (EST)
My Score:

i want to rock out in a sick pit when i see bigwig. i do, however, wish that pits weren't as dominantly male as they are. but i guess it is just a size issue. if you are smaller and not about to push for yourself, you are going to get hurt. some girls try to overcompensate and just attack others.

smoking near other people isn't the most considerate thing to do. sweating and pushing is fine.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, January 10, 2004 at 4:55 PM (EST)
My Score:

When I saw Pennywise, Not By Choice opened for them. Pop-punk at its worst.

Posted by turdcore92383 on 2004-01-10 02:13:48
My Score:

Although I didn't care much for this review, I see your point in the younger crowds. Any time there's a remotely good-looking guy singing on-stage you end up with young teenage girls. I say give it a year and this trendy shit will fall by the way side. I'm so sick of these little girls bitching because they can't handle the pit or they're being crushed. I also hate being jumped on by them (when I saw The Ataris) because I'm a little taller. For this reason alone, I love going to see bands like Pennywise and Dropkick Murphys who don't have pop-punk acts open for them. Not to mention they aren't exactly "hotties" and are in their 30s means less of these little turds there to see them.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, January 10, 2004 at 12:54 AM (EST)
My Score:

the first two bigwig songs HAVE to be numbers and then sink or swim. numbers HAS to be the opener. they opened with it every show for like two years. i can't believe they are changing it up. blinded is really good live. i've never seen them play static live and i wish i did.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, January 9, 2004 at 7:20 PM (EST)
My Score:

Dear bands,
You guys probably saw me in the crowd. Sure, I was pretty far away from the stage and all, but I was totally rocking out to the max. You should have seen it. I had on this awesome spiked bracelet. 3 SPIKES! Haha, I can't believe they even let me into the venue looking that dangerous. And I had on this radical Von Dutch meshback hat. i friggin' love that look.

So fresh and so clean,
clean.

ANyways, Bigwig, I can't wait until the next time you come through town. the whole hockey team will be there.

The best,
Superdude

Posted by bigwignj on 2004-01-09 17:00:34
My Score:

Bigwig is delicious. I've seen them once when they didn't play numbers....the crowd never seemed to go off. I saw them again later that night(yes im a loser) and everyone was basically not into the set, they played numbers, everyone went insane and the engery stayed with them for the rest of the night.

Bigwig's Set List should be as follows:

Numbers
Sink or Swim
Cheers
Pro-Life Taker
1-800 Whipped
Waste
Stand Up
CARNIVORE(havent heard this song in like 2 years)
Blinded
Flavor Ice
Thinning the Herd
Sellout

Last but not least...bigwig should never ever be allowed to play Friends ever again. And if they do, i personally get to rip off Tom's hand and shove it down his throat.

Posted by ThatotherGuy on 2004-01-09 16:25:53
My Score:

I don't personally smoke, but if you can't handle it, DON'T GO. Seriously. Stop being a pussy. Same goes for moshing, hardcore dancing, and most other things done at concerts. EXCEPT CROWD SURFING. That shit is stupid and annoying.

Oh, and Cover 22 sucks ass. Streetlight Manifesto can kill em any day.

THAT GUY

Posted by cactussac on 2004-01-09 16:18:34
My Score:

... its good to know that people realize that catch 22 sucks now.

its unfortunate but they really play with no passion at their shows anymore. it all seems very fake and i have an impossible time getting into their sets despite my love for all of their songs.

as for the rest.. bleh.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, January 9, 2004 at 4:03 PM (EST)
My Score:

i too hate it when people smoke behind/next to/around me at concerts. you are killing yourself, dont kill me too.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, January 9, 2004 at 3:44 PM (EST)
My Score:

yeah. this review actually sucks. i just realized it. sorry.

-sk8pun2935lakhsldk

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, January 9, 2004 at 2:35 PM (EST)
My Score:

that review made me vomit in my mouth.

scores for the review.