by Gordo
So to start off, I have been to more than a few concerts in more than a few places. I’ve been to several venues in Manhattan(NY), Montclair(NJ), Baltimore(MD), Homdel(NJ) and many other places. Most concerts run pretty similarly. A couple of small name bands open up for usually one or two headliners. More often than not, the smaller bands just happen to have less experience on stage, less variety and this leads to a bad opening set.
When I saw Say Anything, Modern Baseball, Cymbals Eat Guitars and Hardgirls at the Baltimore Soundstage this was not the case. I showed up at doors time, which is normally about an hour before the first band plays. I was passionately looking forward to screaming my head off for Modern Baseball and I did not get a chance to look at the opening bands. People filed in and got some drinks and bought some merch and then the opening band started playing.
No sound check, no prep, just came out swinging. I paid attention to the opener and tried my hardest to hear the lyrics to the song. After the first verse I had noticed that my arms now were covered in goosebumps. I have never in my history of concerts been this moved by an opening band. Hardgirls is a three piece band that utilize progressive sound to dictate the lyrics of the song.
Up after that was Cymbals Eat Guitars. Honestly I didn’t know what to expect with a name like that. A distinct way to describe my experience seeing this band live was, “This isn’t a show, it’s a performance”. They are a 4 man rock band from New York with their very own blend of slow, melodic, passionate rock. These guys put everything they had into this show and it truly came across as an amazing set.
I started listening to Modern Baseball when I was in high school and I’ve been dying to see them live since. Their brand of emo, pop-punk, rock sincerely hit home for me and I became instantly addicted. After one night of driving around at 3 am with my best friend in NJ I begged him to tell me who we were listening to. And since then I’ve been listening to Modern Baseball regularly. I had been waiting for their set to start all night and I knew that it was going to be an amazing set no matter what they played. It just so turned out that they played the few songs that I had been in love with for years along with some songs that I was unfamiliar with. I don’t think that I can say I have ever enjoyed any set by and band so far.
And finally Say Anything took the stage with a string quartet, which was the first surprise of their amazing set. I used to listen to Say Anything about a year ago and since then I haven’t heard much of their new stuff. They played a good selection of their music, most of it was stuff I hadn’t heard before. The lead singer had the uncanny ability to command the crowd to sing along and everyone absolutely loved it.
