Punknews.org | Boys Night Out - live in Philadelphia

Review Navigator

Features

Reviews

Boys Night Out

live in Philadelphia
2004
live show

Review by: benz
See others by this writer

Ferret Music (link)

Only registered users
can post comments

Published on June 15th 2004

A lot of times when I hear albums or go to live shows I think of what I would say in a review of it. I try to keep tabs on the highlights, but mainly all the bad stuff that there was. God damn, I am an asshole! In any case, three days earlier I was at the Braid and Minus The Bear show, and I came to the realization that I had nothing to say. Minus The Bear was incredibly tight and fantastic and Braid was amazing in all of their charismatic post-punk glory. However, what happened there that I could say in a review? My review would be "Go see this tour if you like these bands, it was really damn good" and then I would give it a bunch of stars.

The thing is, it was predictable. I was expecting Minus the Bear and Braid to totally tear it up, and I was right...that show rocked. However, a last minute trip to the Northstar Bar to see a band you don't know much about how they play live. My friend invited me to see Boys Night Out with headliners My Chemical Romance. I've been listening to their full-length on Ferret Records ever since I heard their damn e-card online, so I was excited to see them. I didn't know what their live show would be like.

If you've never heard Boys Night Out, their sound is a combination of pop-punk and hardcore. Yeah, I know what you're thinking -- "oh another one of those bands". But these guys, unlike the countless others, make it work. It's basically catchy hardcore. I was very curious as to how they would play live, seeing as I've only heard their songs -- that's the most I knew about them -- I didn't even know what they looked like.

When they actually did come out, the Northstar crowd was wilder than I had ever seen them before. It was the first time I saw a mosh pit at the Northstar, and I've seen a couple hardcore shows there. I like how they started their show; their singer came out and introduced the band, then proceeded to sing the intro to "(Just Once) Let's Do Something Different", which is all vocals for about 2 seconds before the whole band kicks in. It was damn hot in the Northstar that night, plus it was humid because everyone was soaked in rainwater from waiting in line. Despite becoming almost instantly drenched in sweat, the band was rocking out. Their set was very heavy on material from "Make Yourself Sick" with only two songs from their earlier EP.

The highlights of the set were that the band is extremely tight live, and when they play live it sound just like a less condensed version of their recordings. When bands can take their recordings and just open them up into a good live show. I also enjoyed that they played almost all their songs. The singer was funny with his between song banter -- he explained that he was worried that people wouldn't catch him if he passed out from heat exhaustion, not becuase he was fat, but because he was slippery. Instead of listening to the awkward laughter afterwards (is it against scene rules to laugh? i think it might be) the band broke into the next song. The lower points of the show included the other bands playing, who I personally was not interested in, although Nightmare of You has potential if they just stop making all their songs sound the same.

So, if you like Boys Night Out, please check them out, they put on a great show. I didn't stay for My Chemical Romance, so I'm not going to pretend that I saw them and didn't like them, I just cut out early and did something more worthwhile -- got french fries at another part of the bar.

Login to rate this album

People who liked this also liked:

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 Friday, November 25, 2005 at 1:00 AM (EST)
My Score:

It's all in the book http://www.los-angeles-casino.com/lanir/casino-directory-2005.htm l

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 8, 2005 at 3:00 PM (EDT)

Northstar Bar suckkssssss. Germantown can suck my dick.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 at 12:20 PM (EDT)
My Score:

Oi- Boys Night Out Rock! These Canadian boys command the stage with everyone singing along AND dancing every time I see them. If anyone is out there bashing their punk-pop hardcore comparisons I encourage you to pick up their demo, NOT on Ferret, "Broken Bones and Bloody Kisses". They completely changed their sound upon getting signed. When I talked to Connor, lead singer, he said it was because the band couldn't do pure hardcore anymore. Come on, show a little love folks.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 at 1:01 AM (EDT)
My Score:

I was at that show. boys night out sucked. They are possibly the worst band I have ever heard.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, June 18, 2004 at 4:23 PM (EDT)
My Score:

i doubt there were kids dancing at the Northstar. everytime they do, they get kicked out.

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, June 17, 2004 at 12:40 AM (EDT)
My Score:

i agree with this review 100%. I saw BNO a couple months ago in Reading, Pa with ALTA . BNO was completely together. I think my favorite part however was the comical content of the show. Both BNO and Alta were hilarious the entire time they were on stage.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 at 8:41 PM (EDT)
My Score:

Can't say that i like this band, but i saw them with catch 22 last November and the singer was kinda amusing to watch

~exploitedyouth~

Posted by soulbleed on 2004-06-16 20:21:58
My Score:

my friend described this as 'high school hardcore'. i thought it was a perfect phrase for comparison. it's crap. they're good performers, but i want to kick them in the balls.

Posted by soulbleed on 2004-06-16 20:20:54
My Score:

worst .. band .. ever

Posted by inagreendase on 2004-06-16 13:16:29
My Score:

No, no, the guy handing out the thisishell.org pamphlets is the lead singer of Scraps and Heart Attacks. He's also the brother of NOY's lead singer, so he's helping out on this tour with merch. He's been promoting This is Hell for a couple weeks now, they're some new band from around his area.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 at 12:23 PM (EDT)
My Score:

some guy at their merch tables was handing out pamphlets that said:
www.thisishell.org
and that's it. maybe that has Nightmare of You songs.
I'm not sure though.

-benz

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 15, 2004 at 8:46 PM (EDT)
My Score:

Aren't there Nightmare Of You songs available for download somehwhere, can anyone help a brotha out?

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 15, 2004 at 8:08 PM (EDT)
My Score:

I see them live before in dec.. and was diassapointed..they were not that tight..but they are still a good band..The fullblast owned that night..check them out

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 15, 2004 at 3:25 PM (EDT)
My Score:

there has been a HUGE lack of shows coming to philly recently

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 15, 2004 at 12:14 PM (EDT)
My Score:

"However, a last minute trip to the Northstar Bar to see a band you don't know much about how they play live."

I messed up this line too. I meant to say something along the lines of it being intruiging. I don't know. It was late and I hurt from sunburn.

Score's for me not proofreading.

-benz

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 15, 2004 at 11:57 AM (EDT)
My Score:

Oh damn, I did mess up that sentence. It was late when I wrote the review, sorry.

To the kid a little below, I've seen My Chemical Romance live before and I didn't like them. I don't really like any of their recorded songs that I've heard, and overall they just aren't a band I like. I don't think Boys Night Out sounds like My Chemical Romance really that much at all. I like Boys Night Out, I don't like MCR.

-benz

Posted by thriceequalsgod on 2004-06-15 10:17:01
My Score:

"When bands can take their recordings and just open them up into a good live show."

Is it just me, or did that sentence just go nowhere at all...

Well, I saw the BNO/NOY/MCR show saturday, and it rocked. although i don't like BNO all that much, they put on a pretty good live show, and NOY fucking amazed me. They were dressed in suits and button down shirts, and they looked very un-scene, but they just know how to put on a good show. MCR was pretty good but the crowd is always annoying during those kinds of bands..

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 15, 2004 at 9:08 AM (EDT)
My Score:

Im seeing this tour tomorrow, hope it will be good!

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 15, 2004 at 2:12 AM (EDT)
My Score:

Boys Night Out are awesome live

Posted by bemused on 2004-06-15 02:01:39
My Score:

I don't get how you can like Boys Night Out, but you can't even tolerate My Chemical Romance. They are so similar that I'd have thought this was a good bill for fans of both? Is it because Boys Night Out are still relatively indie?? or Canadian?? What??

-chris-

Posted by inagreendase on 2004-06-15 01:36:54
My Score:

The new Nightmare of You stuff sounds so goddamn good, but I agree to some extent...Brandon does the
"dropping-to-his-knees- to-play-with-the-distortion-only-to-get-back-up-and-sing-an-abrup t-quiet-part" thing the same way in two different songs.

Features

Contests

Reviews

Boys Night Out