Concert: $2 VIP Platinum Holiday Show

Another trip to Boston (again, it's my thing) and another show. There was a joke that Bryan didn't have a show that weekend until about four days before it and then suddenly he was playing at the big show that weekend. I had to laugh just a little, but I did scrounge and manage to get my hands on a ticket at the last minute.

The show was call the $2 VIP Platinum Holiday Show, a play on a local band that was charging $40 to get VIP passes into a show in their hometown. Thinking it was a ridiculous idea, this one was much cheaper to get into and every ticket was VIP. A collection of local bands were each playing a cover set of a more well known band.

The afternoon started with One Step Away a local group out of Andover, MA covering Boys Like Girls. Just a little awkward yes with Bryan there, but he wasn't in the room for their set, rightfully so. They sounded fantastic though, taking on one a few of the harder songs in the BLG line up. I was impressed when they busted out "Heart Heart Heartbreak" even more so when they went with "Dance Hall Drug" as well. There was a mess up where the lead singer seemed to have forgotten the lyrics to the second verse of Dance Hall Drug, but luckily for him, the entirety of the crowd was able to power through, a good set of fan girls.

The local BLG girls were really pleased when the lead singer busted out Martin's line from the live shows for "Hero/Heroine" where he asks the crowd "What do I got?" then sings the second verse of the song. I know Rana next to me got all excited. It was a really good set overall and I was pleased to see the crowd support the guys despite the awkward feeing it left a lot of us with.

The location seemed to know and as Bryan and the guys from Small Talk finished setting up for the next set, the house music started playing "Chapter One" by Early Morning Blues. It was a ton of fun to start singing the lyrics as loud as Rana and I could. It was also fun to watch Small Talk's front man Jimmy Welsh ask Bryan if it was him and Bryan shake his head to say it was weird.

Decked in his Ghost Thrower t-shirt, Bryan took the stage with the two guys from Small Talk for an acoustic set of Brand New songs. They didn't do a full band show because I believe they are in a bit of a transition between band members, but there wasn't a need for the full band set.

Jimmy has an amazing voice that lent to the music well and Bryan provided perfect back up vocals. I lost my breath a little during "The Quiet Things That No Ever Knows"; it was that good. The set was solid, especially as Jimmy finished it up with two songs, just him, the guitar and the microphone.

I have to admit that it made me ache for an Early Morning Blues ballad. Bryan's obviously got the chops for it, but i do realize that their sound doesn't exactly lend to ballads. Or nothing more ballad-like than "Never Leave" at least. Still, a girl can hope that maybe one day.

During the Dear Zim set Rana and I took a break and snuck out the back for a chat with Bryan and Jimmy, then heading out in search of a snack. They were play an All Time Low set and neither she or I like ATL that much (or at all?). I am glad we got the few moments with Bryan as he left not long after, needing to be somewhere else that afternoon. He did seem pleased to see that I'd showed up and mentioned one of my tweets about my trip being worthwhile if he played a show.

We got back just in time for The Jealous Sea to play their Fall Out Boy set. Overall their sound was great and I thought that they did FOB justice. I really liked the song choices, ranging from older tracks off the first album to some of the more recent singles.

Their stage presence was fun, a little silly from time to time. There was a moment or two where it was a little uncomfortable for those of us who weren't huge fan girls, but the fan girls ate it up. There's something to be said about appealing to your target audience.

Last up was STAY, a local group that I was pretty sure wasn't going to fit on stage there were so many of them. They played a Blink-182 set with tons of energy from the get-go. Again I'm forced to admit that my old self loved the set and how old all the music they picked was (or maybe Blink is just that old..) It was like an instant transport back to the better moments of high school, which were few and far between, but they all had either a FOB or Good Charlotte soundtrack.

The show definitely left me interested in all of the bands, except maybe Small Talk, but more because I already have their music. The true highlight though was seeing all my friends once more before the winter (and I don't make the trek because of the snow). I had to go out of 2011 with a great show and I think I did just that. It's been a great year, but I'm already looking forward to what's coming in the next year.

Posted in: bryan donahue, concerts, one step away, small talk, STAY, the jealous sea