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HORSE the Band / the Fall of Troy / Criteria

live in Levittown
2006
live show

Review by: Brian
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Published on April 14th 2006

Here was a show where I was excited at the idea of a consistent trio of openers, but with a headliner I really didn't care for.

Criteria played a long, long set for a first band, and I was hardly complaining. The set was LOUD and the rock was rolling for every one of the songs, which the band played with precision and care. Front-man Stephen Pedersen said little to the crowd, but that was okay, as he took on some of his rabid fans' in attendance requests ("The Coincedence" and "Me on Your Front Porch"). He gave off a good energy for every song, and the rest of the complemented him nicely. Plus, every song had their distinctive guitar leads that could be heard crisp and clear. An unexpectedly lengthy, but enjoyable set (though I would've loved to hear "The Life" and/or "It Happens").
(in no particular order):

En Garde

The Coincedence
Mainline Life
Talk in a Crowded Room
Me on Your Front Porch

When We Break

Prevent the World
Good Luck
Kiss the Wake
Self Help
Ride the Snake

I began prepping some face armor, sure that the Fall of Troy would basically rip it off. I would soon learn that this armor would be very, very useless. The band was in top form; lead singer and guitarist Thomas Erak did seem to rely on his highs a bit more often, but he was a virtuoso on the axe. The set was peppered with several jam sessions á la the band's biggest influence, the Mars Volta, with a little bit of Led Zeppelin guitar saluting here and there (actually, Erak even referenced Hendrix at one point with the last few notes of "The Star-Spangled Banner"). Every member was incredibly on point, though; Andrew Forsman, the drummer thrashed at every cymbal and tom like his life depended on it, while the mostly stationary bassist in Tim Ward efficiently plucked his strings, at one point seeming pretty pissed about his distortion. I will admit it seemed like some guitar parts were pre-recorded here and there, because Erak was clearly not on the fretboard, but a part could be heard ringing out. It was only one or two brief moments, though, and I'm still unsure as to if it was the actual case. The crowd definitely ate every note up regardless. The new song they played, which I've already forgotten the title of, I'd heard at their last show at this venue, is one of their most intense offerings; guitars furiously yank from every corner of the room at multiple stop-starts with Erak manically screaming lines with minimal pauses in between. A pretty rousing set if I do say so myself. And I do, I guess.
(in no particular order):

I Just Got This Symphony Goin' [lead song]
Act One, Scene One
F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X.
Mouths Like Sidewinder Missiles
We Better Learn to Hotwire a Uterus
Whacko Jacko Steals the Elephant Man's Bones
Macaulay McCulkin
new song

HORSE the Band was sure to present another ridiculous set of keyboard-addled metal/hardcore, a band who's surely more formidable in the live setting than on record. Opening with "Birdo," I've never seen a more energetic, serious-looking unit playing a song about a Super Mario 2 boss. The keyboardist, who many may notice could be a stand-in for Napoleon Dynamite, actually had excellent stage presence, facing the crowd directly and in a defiant pose, striking each key as if it was a button to destroy the world. But really, the entire band gave off an admirable energy, even as most of their songs are fairly indistinguishable. The self-deprecating, bullshit banter was humorous only for the strange efforts put into it. "We wrote this song while eating chocolate," f.e. The band also teased the sound guy, simultaneously pleading with him not to "contact our label and never work with us again." The band was as intense and energetic as could be though, especially rousing the crowd into a frenzy for set closer "Cutsman" (which they preceded by saying "This is a Bane cover. We hope you enjoy Bane."). They also played "Taken by Vultures," but I'm hard-pressed to remember any others.

Poison the Well is a band I simply missed the boat on. Sure, they deserve some credit for helping to spearhead the modern wave of American metalcore, and I appreciate that they add some frills in to make their heavy chaos not all straightforward white noise, but again, I just wasn't feeling it too much. I stayed for around half the set and checked out.

So yeah, quite the solid tour, even if I had no interest in the main attraction.

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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, April 20, 2006 at 5:34 PM (EDT)

Whatsw up guys happy four tweeny 4:20.....

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 18, 2006 at 12:09 AM (EDT)

the fall of troy and horse are 2 of the absolute worst bands ive ever heard. i can't find a single thing about either band that i can understand anyone enjoying. i'd rather melt my face off than see a show like this.

Posted by GreenVandal on 2006-04-17 19:02:02

gotcha. it was funnier the way I thought it happened, but still slightly amusing.

Posted by givemeamuseumandillfillit on 2006-04-17 11:38:52

*think
*think.

Posted by givemeamuseumandillfillit on 2006-04-17 11:37:59

Ok, someone mispelled the pedal in "guitar pedal" as "peddle, which made me thing of paddle, which made me thing of when the old dude got his beard caught in the pencil sharpener, and his lecture about the paddle.

Then some incredibly stupid human began yelled at me for talking about peddles, when it's clearly PADDLES.

OH YEAH!

Posted by GreenVandal on 2006-04-16 15:10:37

I thought I would also point out that The Fall of Troy's guitar player is by no means a "virtuoso". He is sloppy as all fuck and only has one trick that he uses endlessly. Every Fall of Troy guitar part reminds me of a bad knockoff of The Blood Brothers "USA Nails".

Posted by GreenVandal on 2006-04-16 15:05:01

Paddle? Are you fucking stupid?

Am I missing a joke? (I hope not, because I love stupid people)

Posted by sprainedsoul on 2006-04-15 20:26:46

Why bother mentioning PTW as headliner if you aren't even going to review the band's set?

Posted by givemeamuseumandillfillit on 2006-04-15 19:59:41

"it's PADDLE.

as in, "paddling the school canoe? you better believe that's a paddlin'..."

......................A guitar paddle?
The jerkstore called, YOU'RE A PHONY!

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 15, 2006 at 4:26 PM (EDT)

The part where it loops is definatley not pre-recorded, he's got a pedal that records and loops. Saw em about 6 months ago and he played the hook, looped it, soloed over it, and then put the guitar down and walked away to end the set. Awesome.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 15, 2006 at 3:07 PM (EDT)
My Score:

Poison the Well is a band I simply missed the boat on. Sure, they deserve some credit for helping to spearhead the modern wave of American metalcore, and I appreciate that they add some frills in to make their heavy chaos not all straightforward white noise, but again, I just wasn't feeling it too much. I stayed for around half the set and checked out.

are you kidding me? you're a staff member. score is for bad journalism.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 15, 2006 at 11:25 AM (EDT)

it's PADDLE.

as in, "paddling the school canoe? you better believe that's a paddlin'..."

Posted by givemeamuseumandillfillit on 2006-04-15 05:33:47

a peddle?

riding the schools canoe....that's the peddle.

Posted by ClicheMyHeart on 2006-04-14 19:25:14

the fall of troy have a loop effect peddle for the guitar where you can record a part on the peddle then hit repeat while still playing another part.

Posted by skolarx on 2006-04-14 18:52:57

kind of funny that if this were a review of the detroit show the reviewer would have covered the whole show. ptw canceled the morning of our show and we had to move it to a smaller venue. funny that no one who had a ticket for ptw decided they would rather get a refund that come in and see the other bands for 12 bucks. felt that made a pretty bold statement

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 14, 2006 at 6:37 PM (EDT)

Horse the Band bring a lost aspect to shows: fun. I saw this show in Seattle, and of course Fall of Troy was the main draw because of the hometown thing so they played a crazy ass show, but the place cleared out so badly after they played that PTW was left with half a crowd that was standing around, and I'm pretty sure PTW was pissed off because they played a really short set and didn't play an encore. They didn't play Nerdy, wtf. It sucks that this band has fallen so hard because of the general impatience and disloyalty of kids these days. And getting rid of most of their members.

Posted by rkl on 2006-04-14 17:31:08

its not about whether people like or dont like ptw(personally, i find them generic).

reviewing 3/4 of a show is like reviewing 3/4 of a cd.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 14, 2006 at 5:28 PM (EDT)

I have no idea who Horse the Band are or what they do but i'd like to see them live

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 14, 2006 at 5:24 PM (EDT)
My Score:

i went to this one. such a good show. except for idiots during HORSE's set.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 14, 2006 at 4:31 PM (EDT)

"This is a Bane cover. We hope you enjoy Bane."

Horse is funny.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 14, 2006 at 4:27 PM (EDT)
My Score:

score is for review.

PTW > any other band that played

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 14, 2006 at 4:20 PM (EDT)
My Score:

This review is perfect because when I went to this show the same thing happened, I had to leave. Poison the Well is no longer the cutting edge so when a band like Fall of Troy opens or even Horse, they look like aged-metal-heads in comparison.
It's possible that The FOT guitar player pre-recorded shit into his pedal, but I would think it more likely that he played the riff(s) and then looped it with a pedal. Either way the dude slays.

Posted by etwiels88 on 2006-04-14 15:01:14

I like this review

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 14, 2006 at 1:26 PM (EDT)

"How is possible to check out when you never checked in. Did I miss that at the start of this shitty review"

What the hell did you want? A backstory about how each band has played a vital role in the reviewer's life? A description of the drive to the show? It's a show review, not a blog dumbass.

Posted by iconoclast on 2006-04-14 13:14:32

"the opposite of december" = one of the best hardcore albums ever. everything else PTW released sucks shit tho.

Posted by sirens on 2006-04-14 12:07:12

i was a huge PTW fan 4 years ago

Posted by skaboom on 2006-04-14 11:58:43

Angry people. Since when did PTW have fans here?

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 14, 2006 at 11:37 AM (EDT)

this review is meh.

Posted by benz on 2006-04-14 11:19:19

yeah, you should've just said this was a HORSE the band / Fall of Troy review, if you werent going to review the main band.

i saw this show last night in Philly, it was okay.

-benz

Posted by skolarx on 2006-04-14 10:53:51

the keyboard player from horse smiles so much that it makes me uneasy. no one should be that happy. plus his teeth may actually be bigger and whiter than AWK's

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 14, 2006 at 10:33 AM (EDT)
My Score:

I show this show in Boston. Criteria played a short set (and was terrible). HORSE played second, and they definately stole the show.

The Fall Of Troy was disappointing. THey were good, but they only played about five songs because of their little interludes and jam sessions, and at one point, he put his guitar down, but it was still playing, and he dove into the crowd. So yeah, I'm sure some parts were pre-recorded.

And we didn't stay for Poison the Well, because honestly, who likes them still?

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 14, 2006 at 9:46 AM (EDT)
My Score:

I stayed for around half the set and checked out. How is possible to check out when you never checked in. Did I miss that at the start of this shitty review. Did you find your face armor after it came off? Score is for review.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 14, 2006 at 9:31 AM (EDT)

Erik of HTB is such a rad dude. I love the interaction between him and singer Nathan.

One thing about HTB shows is that at least one person in the crowd has on a Mega Man t-shirt.

Ramo

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 14, 2006 at 8:47 AM (EDT)
My Score:

Score is for not even bothering to make an attempt to review the headlining band of the tour you saw. You could have at least made some attempt to comment on how they sounded that night or what songs they played.

Like going to the Fallout Boy show and not bothering to review FB