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After going to this show, I can see why some venues do not serve alcohol. Some weird guy fell all over my friend and myself then he tried grabbing her. A fight broke loose, so loose it ripped through us and out the door. I only got elbowed in the stomach. It’s all good. I have one question about this show overall though…who the hell hired the sound guy for the night? It was awful, and it wasn’t the band’s faults.

The first band up were Mexican punkers Bye Sami. When they announced the fact that they were from Mexico, I was hoping for something like Union 13, but they were nothing like them. They sang all in Spanish, which is cool, but the lead singer’s voice was monotone. I wanted to fall asleep. They’re music was bland and after a while it just seemed like one long continuous song. I was ready for Midtown.

Although Midtown has played better, they rocked out the best they could. I love them, but they are just worn out from touring for 6 weeks straight. The guys were losing their voices and it took away from the music. Plus, the sound guy had the one of the mics turned up way too loud which made the band sound really bad. From what they told us, they taped a music video the day before so that took a small toll on the way they felt. They requested a few beers “to help them sing better” but no one produced. A few jerks in the crowd screamed “ You suck”, screw those guys! I’d like to see them get up on stage and perform in front of a bunch of people despite feeling shit! The first few songs played were from their brand new release “Living Well is the Best Revenge”. They were sure not to completely forget about their older songs though and did play tunes such as “Let Go” and “Come On”. And just when you thought they were done, they decide to play just one more song and close with “Sweet Child ‘O Mine” by Guns ‘N Roses. That was interesting, and although I am not personally a GNR fan, I liked that ending. They rocked it out.

I am not a huge Face To Face fan, but I was really stoked all week to see them. They marched out onto the stage like they owned the place (they definitely owned the crowd) and started off with “I Want”. That was the best opener because that is my favorite F2F song ever. I figured I would be ready to go home after hearing it, but no way, these guys were rocked hard. They played so many good songs, such as “Disconnected”, “A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” and had the crowd singing along to “Bill of Goods”. Half way through their set they said “What if Face to Face quit and played Lynyrd Skynyrd for the rest of the night?” and broke out “Sweet Home Alabama”. That was fucking awesome. I was afraid that Face To Face was only going to put in a half ass job since this was their second San Diego show in 2 days, but they were better than I’ve ever seen them before. Although a fight broke loose right next to me, and some weird drunk guy fell on my friend it was a good night. The band closed off with “You’ve done Nothing”. This was one of the best shows I’ve gone to all year. I highly recommend it to the diehard Face to Face fans, and the so-so fans like myself.



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    Posted by maverick on 2002-05-21 15:56:40
    My Score:

    It's hard to get current photos of the concert in question - not every place has photo passes or whatnot, and it takes time and money to develop pictures, so we use "stock" photos like this one [go to the Faint's live show review and see a picture I took of them at the Fireside Bowl 2 years ago for another example].

    But be honest, c'mon - that Midtown picture is cool. This score is for the picture.

    -Scott

    Posted by evildeadalive on 2002-05-20 19:10:21
    My Score:

    I guess that's better than nothing... I just assumed that picture was from the show in question.

    Posted by maverick on 2002-05-20 15:16:36
    My Score:

    1. Because Thrice didn't play this show.
    2. I have no pictures of Face To Face.
    3. I do have pictures of Midtown from when I saw them at Warped Tour 2000 in Chicago. Henceforth, I used that picture.

    Any other complaints?

    -Scott

    Posted by evildeadalive on 2002-05-19 15:53:18
    My Score:

    Umm... why can't we get a picture of either Face to Face or Thrice? You know... the bands people actually care about.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 18, 2002 at 9:43 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Midtown is a joke. I saw them last year and they were the worst band I have ever seen. The lead singer has the most annoying voice in the world. these guys suck. I really lost alot of self-respect after going to see these guys. oh well, it's not like I liked it. Is the lead singer gay?

    Posted by ambiotical_sophisticrat on 2002-05-17 20:41:19
    My Score:

    midtown are horrible, face to face rock though

    Posted by riotgurl on 2002-05-16 13:15:01
    My Score:

    I don't know about the SD show but that tour also came to Montreal and face to face were amazing, they stuck to their old shit and you could tell it was appreciated. Im pretty anti-hardcore but thrice blew me the hell away I had goose bumps for half there set. The line-up was so bad though!! Movielife and Midtown just didn't fit in there at all. It had to of been the worst line up I've seen in a while. But I think after going to see Anti-Flag, and good riddance on the Mobilize for peace tour a few days before didn't help cause that was one of the best shows I've ever seen. Unity at its best!!!

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 15, 2002 at 10:30 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    tell me how exactly one sucks a fuck

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, May 13, 2002 at 10:43 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Midtown sucks. I wish I could have gone to see Face to Face, Thrice and the Movielife when they came to Boston but I refused to go because of Midtown. I saw Face to Face at Skate and Surf fest and GOD DAMN were they great, I also saw thrice and the movielife so it wasnt a big deal that I didnt go. The Movielife and thrice Rock fucking hard, always. THey dont get tired and shit like that because they are true performers...unlike midtown

    Posted by evildeadalive on 2002-05-13 16:53:42
    My Score:

    Can anyone tell me what order the bands are playing in? I'm going to the show in Vancouver on Thursday, but want to go see Star Wars first. I don't really care about Midtown or the Movielife, but definately do not want to miss Thrice. Any help would be much appreciated.

    Posted by ruthless9400 on 2002-05-11 15:41:35
    My Score:

    The show sounded..umm...different....drunk people are stupid...I dont know though, maybe think it is cool to be drunk, well whatever. I do have to say that the whole thing going on with Midtown and all that other crap, is just that, CRAP...i recently got the Midtown cd and i think it is darn good...cant say they put on the best live show, but hey...not everyone is as good live as they are on cd. It is those few bands that really get you with their live shows!! More power to them. And if they arent well hopefull they could get better..who knows?

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 10, 2002 at 10:45 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    person below me.please stop namedropping. You're gunna break a toe.

    and midtown are rockstars. and guy who went to this show, unless it was free you're stupid.

    that about covers it.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 10, 2002 at 8:53 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Ya, Thrice was great the night before.
    Another thing is I can't say I know anyone at DTR but I did interview Gabe that night and met the rest of the guys in Midtown before the show. You guys who called them rock stars must not know them, because they were all totally cool to me, no attitude at all. Drive Thru has been nothing but childish in the whole thing, regardless of who is right and who is wrong.

    And the genius that said referred to her as a "die hard face to face fan" obviouslly didnt read it good enough, because she never said she was. So ya, your local juinor college might have some reading classes for you buddy.

    Posted by sickboi on 2002-05-10 16:52:43
    My Score:

    I saw the show in DC, Thrice opened which was pretty fucking bomb. Midtown can eat my ass. Those guys are nothing but a bunch of pseudo-rock stars. And as far as Midtown covering GNR, those pussies better hope that Slash doesn't catch wind of this...

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 10, 2002 at 4:02 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    i saw the show the night before when thrice and movielife played. thrice made all the other bands looks silly. they were incredible.

    Posted by Phillip on 2002-05-10 14:38:53
    My Score:

    You complained about some guy's voice because it wasn't as good as the tard from Union 13? What the fuck is your problem.

    Well... I suppose it's to be expected from a "die hard" Face to Face fan.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 10, 2002 at 6:37 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Like i and many face to face fans know already,the mighty face to face kill it every time-oldpunker-

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 10, 2002 at 3:09 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    fuck midtown, i believe drive thru when they say midtown are a bunch of spoiled wanna be blink 182(only for girls and money) pretty boys. first off they fuckin suck , if you can't see this go listen to the goo goo dolls like you did last year. no self respecting punk would spend $250 on jeans. gabe definatley only called that girl on the real wolrd to get free exposure. did anyone see thier photo in seventeen magazine? it's pathetic, midtown can go suck a fuck.

    Posted by LimpguyUCLA on 2002-05-09 21:02:14
    My Score:

    "They requested a few beers “to help them sing better” but no one produced. A few jerks in the crowd screamed “ You suck”, screw those guys! I’d like to see them get up on stage and perform in front of a bunch of people despite feeling shit!"

    *I'll* take that bet. When this whole midtown/drive thru thing errupted, Drive Thru (in their response) said that they had made Gabe aware of the fact that bands would KILL to be in Midtown's position (duh). I'm in a small time band in Los Angeles where it is fucking impossible to really get noticed by anyone and having a label to promote you is really the only way to get a name. I would do almost anything to play a show for that many people. But rather than seem greatfull to the audience or for the opertunity to be able to make money doing what they love, Midtown seemed to take the "We have the mics and the guitars and so you have to listen to us" attitude which is thouroughly presumptuous, self-righteous and repulsive. Midtown have been categorically unimpressive the two times I saw them and they seem to be assholes to boot (at least Gabe and Tyler). There are tons of really good bands which slave away and tour incessantly and never get a break. I went to the F2F show last night in LA and Thrice went up on stage with no pretensions of rock stardom and put on one of the more solid and technically precise sets I have ever seen. I think Midtown are lucky that they actually got signed to a major and they should never forget that it was Drive-Thru's promotion that got them there. Midtown needs a dose of humility. They need to understand that without the fans they would be nowhere. I think they deserve to be booed. I'm sorry to take up so much space with something which is probably not that important but I just wanted to get that off my chest.

    Posted by Sheena on 2002-05-09 18:36:38
    My Score:

    I understand enough spanish to get by. One song didn't sound different from the other because of the way they played their music. I guess I wasn't clear about that. And unfortunately neither Movielife nor Thrice played this night.

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, May 9, 2002 at 5:54 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Hey Wyzo - I agree with everything you say. You're so cool, and I wish I could be your friend. Maybe we could solve our problems together......NOT!

    Posted by maverick on 2002-05-09 17:40:08
    My Score:

    The tour was doing a multi-night stand in San Diego. They had different openers each night, I believe. They have done this in all the places where they did multi-night stands.

    -Scott

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, May 9, 2002 at 2:57 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    uh, ok....apparently the movielife and thrice didn't play

    Posted by wyzo on 2002-05-09 14:51:34
    My Score:

    Every band plays sweet child of mine and sweet home alabama. I can't go two shows without hearing of those. Cute funny covers arent fucking cute anymore, especcially when you play them every night and its no longer interesting.

    As for midtown, yes I would yell you suck at them. Because yes if I was being paid mad money and had 1000 red m and m's sorted in a bowl backstage at my request I would play despite feeling like shit. Boo hoo for midtown. Their a little tired from shooting a video, too bad the rest of the world has real problems that don't involved exhaustion from promotional work. Luxury problems for the clean cut white boys.

    The mexican band sounded the same because if you don't speak their language no matter what it is going to sound like one constant song. If your not used to picking apart their words and intonations, it will blur whether or not your racist or the most open minded person. I would have liked to have seen them.

    wyzo

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