Snakes & Suits tour: Concert Experience (Empires, This Providence, The Academy Is, Evan Taubenfeld)

March 29, 2009, House of Blues Dallas

This show ended up being pretty spontaneous for me; I knew about it, but I didn't know if I was going to go until the day-of. Since I hadn't bought tickets ahead of time, there was good chance they were going to sell out. I called the box office at one point, and when the lady told me they only had “a few” ticket left, I hauled ass to Dallas from my college in Denton. After getting lost in downtown Dallas (as I always do) I finally found HoB. I parked illegally, went to the box office, and was nervous as hell when I asked if they still had Academy tickets. Obviously they did, or I wouldn't be doing this write-up.

When doors finally opened, the first thing I did was go to the Empires merch table and ask the merchie if I could talk to one of the band members about getting a press/photo pass. (Security cockblocked my camera because it's an SLR and therefore 'professional'.) Tom came out a minute later and we spoke, but he said I would have to talk to the tour manager, and he went backstage again to ask around. Well, I never heard back from them. I was stand by the rope that blocked the backstage doors, and there was a bouncer there. Since I already had my mind set on getting my camera in, I began to pester him. Finally after about 30 minutes of talking to different people and repeating “I'm with a blog called The OddNotes” a good 15 times, I got my photo pass. I include this whole story because it was a big moment, not only for me but also for The OddNotes. Our first official press pass!



Now onto the show. The first act was a scrawny blonde dude named Evan Taubenfeld. I had never heard of him before, but I figured I would get some shots anyway. Evan absolutely blew me away! His songs are witty and sweet; I was immediately hooked (especially when he sang the lyric “then Katie, I couldn't get enough, she was just like pumpkin pie.”) He was funny, often telling jokes between songs and even talking between verses! Some might find this obnoxious, but I found it to be such a breath of fresh air, since so many artists take themselves so serious on stage. (I later found out why I liked his music so much, and why his style had a familiar ring to it: he used to be Avril's lead guitar player, and co-wrote many of her songs!)




Next up was Empires, who I was most excited to see. Sure, I wanted to see The Academy Is..., but I had seen them before. Empires, on the other hand, hadn't been to Dallas before. I had been sending them messages and comments and tweets, all demanding Dallas! And let me tell you, they did not disappoint. Their performance was energetic and fun, with many people in the crowd singing along. They had a decent set, playing many songs off of their album, along with a cover or two, ending with Tom and Max laving the stage for Sean to perform “Hayley” solo.

This Providence played next. I'm not gonna lie, I've never really listened to them, so I'm not really a fan, so I don't have too much to say. I will say that they did sound really good live, and their songs were quite catchy. If you're a fan and haven't seen them live yet, I'd recommend it; I'm not a fan but I quite enjoyed their set.




And now last but definitely not least: The Academy Is...! I have seen TAI several times in the past, so I kind of knew what to expect. As always, they were amazing. I use the word “they” lightly, however; the one reason I didn't enjoy the show was that it seemed like the was a William Beckett show, not a TAI show. He played guitar and sang solo for almost the entire set, joined by Adam Siska on bass for only 3 songs. I was disappointed because when they play electrically, Mike Carden and Michael Guy Chislett play guitar, with Siska on bass, Andy Mrotek on drums, and William only singing (and sometimes picking up a tambourine.) For the acoustic show, however, William was the one playing guitar. In short, I felt like the guys who usually play guitar should have been up on that stage as well, making it more of a TAI show and not just William. Band setup aside, Beckett performed wonderfully, as he always does. His voice was clear and perfect enough to melt some young teenage hearts, I'm sure. He had a wonderful set list, comprised of an even mix of songs from all three TAI albums, and even played “The Fever,” which was never formally released. (He said he played it because someone in line before the show had asked about it.) Every time I see The Academy I am blown away by their sound and Beckett's pure genius, and this show was no different.







See more of Katie's pictures from the show at her flickr!