Concert: Boys Like Girls, All American Rejects and The Ready Set ~ Exile From Conformity

It finally happened.

Boys Like Girls finally hit the road again, and I was finally agreeing to going, making a plan and getting tickets and all that. I went with my good friend Casey and we figured, what they hey, let's splurge for Meet and Greet passes with Boys Like Girls because really...Why not? (Don't actually answer that.)

I was pretty geared up and so was Case, so we wound up getting as close to the front as possible, lined up on Paul's side of the stage, right in front of the microphone set up for The Ready Set.

I'm not sure I'd ever heard a song by The Ready Set, minus "Love Like Woe" and a cover of "Give Me Your Hand" that I didn't realize I knew (as part of the promotion for it The Endless Summer covered it). I was pleased though once they were on stage. Their music has great energy, the kind to get the crowd jumping up and down, bouncing with it.

I was actually pretty proud of myself for getting so into it, and remembering a few of the song (the two that I had heard). It was a great set up though, and while there was a deviation into "gangam style" or whatever the hell that song is, it was a great set.

Up next was Boys Like Girls (AAR is a bigger deal in Atlanta and they were the headliners), and I was a level above anxious, but not quite to freaking out. It's been a stressful two years being a BLG fan with the essential break up so Martin could do solo work and the boys pursued other things. Then the whole Bryan issue and getting back together and it's been a rough road. I do still love their music, but the new music isn't quite what I would have liked to hear, not that it needs to be the self titled album again, but I was hoping for something less all over the map. I was anxious because I know my emotions were running high and my expectations were way up there.

And the boys, well the boys impressed me. I'm still not a huge fan of "Life of the Party" even live (it's kind of stupid, and they made it way too long), but I did like "The First Time" more live.

My heart broke during "Five Minutes to Midnight" and I was missing Bryan something awful. That was a song he used to sing so well and it was hard for such a fan to see hear Morgan sing his parts (that said Morgan did do a great job, not filling shoes, but playing a different role).

The old songs sounded great, not too re-worked, keeping the best parts of what we loved. And Martin...well Martin's reverent about his music. His voice is in great condition, his playing is spot on and he seemed to cherish every moment.

There were a few awkward moments, with a girl being brought on stage to sing "Two is Better Than One", an odd birthday celebration bit (though kudos to Martin for pointing out that he was 27 and too old to give the 16 year old her first kiss on her birthday. Kudos to her for not wanting the kiss from anyone he'd picked out of the crowd for her. "Hey that guy, that guy over there is cute."). And yeah it sort of threw off the flow of things when Martin forgot their names and tried to get us to sing, but it was cute. It was him trying, trying to bring the fans back.

But he was in it, he was giving us so much and as much as I've been frustrated with him? I fell a little in love with him again. Of course him finding me in the crowd and singing part of the medley of 'deep tracks' (that started with "Holiday") to me probably helped. Yeah the girls next to me asked me about the 'moment' we had after the set. Fantastic. (I might have cried. Okay I did cry.)

And then All American Rejects and...well I was disappointed. I love their music, even if I'm not as familiar with the new music, but this was not what I remember from when I saw them years ago. Tyson was in short a mess, he looked a wreck and he didn't sound all that great either. I guess he sounded fine, but he went off on tangents and he seemed to not actually be carrying his own music.

And he screwed up "Paper Hearts". The lyrics to a song he's been singing for a decade. Possibly over a decade. It was upsetting. And it took away from such a great feel that BLG had (part of me can't believe I just said that).

All in all? Ready Set? Yes. Big yes. Boys Like Girls? They are back. We'll see how the rest of the album sounds. All American Rejects? You need to get on a real level. Please.