Tyler Connolly can sing. Tyler Connolly can sing really well and he showed his singing prowess with the rest of Theory of a Deadman on Friday May 2nd down at Piere’s. TOADM is an excellent sounding band and this was apparent all night long, they just don’t have a lot of things that don’t work for them.
The night started off with “Invisible Man” which is one of those good rockers to start the night off. The song didn’t have a lot of help with a flashy light show or anything like that, they just used their sound to keep the fans into the song and it worked.
Following “Invisible Man” was “Crutch” which was another one of those really strong sounding songs that had a great hook to keep the fans captivated. Nothing really was flashy again, but once again, if you believe in your music like the band did, you can tell that some other things don’t really matter…OK, maybe they do to me, but I can handle a solid show to go with a beer or two.
“Hating Hollywood” was a song that reminded me a lot of the band Thrice when they were a rocking band. The song was yet again focused and strong, the crowd was getting it and I could write the whole article this way, but I am just going to get to the fun in one second. “Santa Monica”, “:Bad Girlfriend” and “Make Up Your Mind” were cool songs, hits at that. TOADM are damn good, but one of the coolest things of the night was the fact that this band, a band that recently had a record debut in the top 10 of the Billboard Album charts, stayed for about an hour to sign stuff for fans that waited patiently. This was cool, very cool since the second band of the night didn’t show; Saving Abel wasn’t there, so the bands that were did what they could do to keep the fans happy and TOADM did so.
As did Airbourne, oh boy did Airbourne deliver the goods. Now, I am not sure what the circumstances of why Saving Abel wasn’t there, but it meant that the opener was going to play a little longer and Airbourne did this and rocked out hard. There was enough energy to power Ft. Wayne from their set and maybe this is how Airbourne does it all the time, but if not, they came to play and the crowd was into it. BIG time.
Come on, when a band comes out to “Girls School” from the forgettable Brittany Fox (1980’s hair band that sounded like AC/DC or Dirty Looks, who also sounded like old AC/DC) you know they either have connections to the band or really like that straight ahead rock and have an interpretation of that sound to bring to you and Airbourne was just lights out.
I didn’t know the band Airbourne before the show, but afterward I was just a bit in shock, as were some of the fans outside the bar talking and smoking and whatnot. I spoke to more that a few fans that just were taken aback by how hard the band seemed to be playing for the crowd, impressed with a singer that sounds like a hybrid of the singers of AC/DC and plays like Angus Young but also seem to have their own imprint to put into this sub-genre of rock. It’s raw, it’s pretty clear and it’s very straight ahead. I can imagine that someone that grew up on AC/DC would like this band because they are doing something very similar, but it is its own thing so it isn’t some complete rip or something overly negative.
“Hell Fire”, “Fat City” and “Running Wild” were some of the highlights of the night, but to be honest, if you could have exchanged me places on Friday, you would have wanted to be in my area when the band played a killer 9 minute version of “Girls in Black”. Don’t care if you were having a great glass of wine or some great gourmet food, I had the better time watching Joel O’Keeffe sing with every ounce of energy in his body, then lead the guitar to places that maybe it has been before, but here he was on the Piere’s Dance floor jamming for the crowd. It was amazing and if I would have had to be the band that played after them, I might not have been their either. (Once again, due to the multiple listings, might have been Saving Abel opening up or playing second, I just know that it would have to be hard to follow a band like this.)
Just to let you know, this wasn’t a perfect sounding band and that is part of what made Airbourne so refreshing. So many times you swear that you are hearing prerecorded backing vocals at shows, I have been to a lot of shows over the years and I’m pretty sure that it has happened long ago and even recently, but sometimes when a band doesn’t sound perfect, that is the perfect way to play your music. Airbourne might not win a lot of fans with their originality, but if nothing else their energy on CD (yep, I now own a copy of Airbourne’s “Running Wild” CD) and in their show is worth the money that you plunk down to see or hear them. Do yourself a favor and go see Airbourne whenever you can.
Rob