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By Sandra Diaz
By Sandra Diaz
A sold out show at The Glasshouse is practically unheard of, but it makes sense that it would be for an Against Me! show.
The show was held at The Glasshouse in Pomona on March 20.
Against Me! has been growing in popularity over the past few years with a stint on last years Vans Warped Tour as well as their last release, a live album titled “Americans Abroad!!! Against Me!!! Live in London!!!,” gaining the attention of a new fan base, the hipsters.
The quality of the show decreased with the added influence of these fickle fans, standing around looking bored laced with the older crowd.
The unnamed tour offered the best, as well as the up and coming from Florida’s folk punk scene with Fake Problems and Against Me!
My expectations waned when the opening band Fake Problems first stepped on stage. Although they dressed like they were supposed to look better than they sound, watching Fake Problems set was like experiencing a punk rock version of an old fashion country ho-down.
Some parts of their set were weak, like the strange funk guitar break in the middle of some of their newer songs.
At times the singer sounded like he was trying to hard to sound like the headlining act.
The main problem with the first band was the moments when it seemed like they were trying too hard to sound like the headlining act.
Fake Problems 20 minute set was just right amount of time to get a taste for their live sound without being beaten over the head with it.
Fans of the second act, Riverboat Gamblers were more fun to watch then the actual band, singing and jumping along with every song.
Their live energy was contagious with the singer, Mike Wiebe, jumping into the crowd and passing around the microphone. They genuinely cared for their audience but they were still just a mediocre rock band. Riverboat Gamblers kept the rest of the audience’s attention between songs by telling stories and continually reminding us that Against Me! was coming up next.
By the time Against Me! took the stage the venue was full. They jumped right into their set with “Pints of Guinness make you strong.”
The set consisted of older fan favorites like “Reinventing Axl Rose,” and “From her lips to God’s ears (The Energizer),” and some new material from its upcoming major label release “New Wave” due out later this spring. While the new songs were accepted for the most part by the majority of the audience they lacked the energy of what most have come to expect from them and failed to make the crowd move. The meaning of the music was lost on the ears of the audience, partly due to the audience itself. People went to the show to see Against Me! because of the hype, not because they genuinely liked the music. Moments of true brilliance were few and far between like during “Sink.Florida.Sink” when a number of fans lit up lighters swaying from side to side.
While some didn’t want to leave, exclaiming out loud that they didn’t want it to be over, parents stuck at the show waiting to take their hipster kids home were glad when it finally did end. Next time, those parents should just say no shows on school nights and save us all the trouble.
