Rather than talk about something new today, I’m linking back to a couple of music-related posts I’ve written over the past month-and-a-bit that weren’t included on this blog!
Last Thursday, we attended the Toronto date of the AP World Tour featuring Neck Deep, State Champs, Knuckle Puck, and Like Pacific.
I found out about a week before the show that Like Pacific is from Toronto, so that’s pretty cool that they’re opening for some of the biggest names in pop-punk right now. They’re good – more Knuckle Puck than Neck Deep – and I’m happy that Toronto is being represented on this tour!
Next was Knuckle Puck – I’ve seen them a couple of times, and their live shows are really tight. They bring a lot of energy on stage and get the crowd moving whether they’re playing older songs (“Gold Rush”) or singles from their full-length debut last year, Copacetic.
I’ve heard a lot of buzz about State Champs and I even know a couple of their songs, but for some reason, I just can’t get into them! I don’t know why – they have all the elements of other pop-punk bands I love – but I sort of zone out when I’m listening to them. They’re not terrible, and I think I like them live better than recorded (similar to how I feel about As It Is), but they weren’t my favourite part of the night.
Finally, the moment I was waiting for: Neck Deep thundered out to the sounds of “Citizens of Earth” from last year’s stellar Life’s Not Out to Get You. I’ve only seen them play a short set at Warped two years ago, and I LOVE the new album, so I was really excited to see them headline. They made the most of their set and while there was some on stage banter (mostly between lead singer Ben Barlow and bassist Fil Thorpe-Evans), they didn’t talk forever or pause for too long in between songs.
Their set was a great mix of “old” and “new”, including my favourite song, “Kali Ma”, which was as high energy as I’d imagined. I was also thrilled to hear “A Part of Me” which is my 4 year old niece’s current favourite song (I’ll give you one guess who introduced her to it. Spoiler alert: it was me), and I’m thankful that she’s made me sing it to her so many times so that I knew all the words.
Another highlight of the set was the “jazzed up” version of the normally acoustic song, “December”. As pretty as it is when it’s acoustic, it sounded amazing with the full band. I just found out that it was released on the Target deluxe edition of the album, and now I’m even more annoyed that Target failed to take root in Canada.
Overall, it was a great show! Despite the freezing temperature outside, the venue warmed up once everyone started moving. I’m looking forward to the next time Neck Deep heads to North America.
As usual, I’ve made my list of the best albums of the year, including links to any reviews I wrote on them. You can click here for a playlist featuring two of my favourite songs from each release!
There was lots of other good albums this year, including Knuckle Puck’s Copacetic, The Wonder Years’ No Closer to Heaven, Young Guns’ Ones and Zeros, Muse’s Drones, We Are Harlot’s self-titled debut, and Nate Ruess’s solo release, Grand Romantic.
This year, for my “Best of” lists, I decided to do something a little different. Instead of listing 10 albums, I went with 14 (because it’s 2014, obviously…); and, instead of just making a list, I put them into completely made-up categories, that sort of hint at why I consider them the best of this year, along with my favourite song.
Without further ado:
A favourite band’s new album that took a while to grow on me:
Cavalier Youth – You Me At Six
Latest incarnation of a talented singer:
Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness – Andrew McMahon (in the Wilderness)
Concept album/sequel to another concept album:
The Resistance: Rise of the Runaways – Crown the Empire
“Sing-alongs and headbanging are unavoidable”:
Happiness Is… – Taking Back Sunday
Scottish album that took forever to come out, but it was worth it:
The Great Divide – Twin Atlantic
Country-style old school rock ‘n’ roll:
Big Skies – Nick Santino
“Finally new music from these guys!”:
Losers & Kings – The Downtown Fiction
Dance all night:
The Bad & the Better – The Ready Set
If all female-fronted bands sounded like this, I would listen to female-fronted bands more often:
White Noise – PVRIS
Unapologetic pop-punk (from a Welsh band, no less!):
Wishful Thinking – Neck Deep
Final album from a band that’s been around for over a decade:
Lowborn – Anberlin
Solo music from a guy in a popular (fun.) band:
Strange Desire – Bleachers
Pure pop-rock:
Oh, What a Life – American Authors
Guilty pleasure:
5 Seconds of Summer – 5 Seconds of Summer
BONUS:
Most magnificent/unexpected single:
Centuries – Fall Out Boy
This list doesn’t even include those albums released in 2014 that I haven’t listened to in full yet, such as This Wild Life’s Clouded, not to mention any re-releases (The Maine’s deluxe edition of Forever Halloween), or albums by bands that I love(d) that left me feeling a little “meh” (Breathe Carolina’s Savages).
It’s the most glorious time of the year – Vans Warped Tour is in full swing!
I’ve attended the Toronto date since 2010 – it’s my second favourite day of summer (the first being Ro’s birthday, of course).
In the months leading to Warped, I carefully make a list of bands: which ones I desperately want to see, and which ones I wouldn’t mind seeing if I happen to have time. Because that is Warped’s biggest downfall: timing. Inevitably, a band you want to see will be on one stage and another band you want to see will be playing all the way on the other side of the grounds and you have to make the decision of which one is more important to you. It’s heartbreaking, but sacrifices must be made.
This year was a little more disorganized than the past few years (and that’s saying something!) For one, I hate the venue (the Flats at the Amphitheatre are a pain in the butt on a normal day – throw in a few thousand sweaty music fans, and you get chaos!), plus a lot of the bands were late crossing the border from Indiana, so the schedule wasn’t released until over an hour after doors opened.
I could dwell on the bands I (regrettably) missed (don’t even get me started on Crown the Empire because I might cry), but, after a rocky morning, the day got better.
On Friday, we had the best possible weather – the past two years, rain bursts delayed performances and basically just made a mess (Warped ’12 stands out in particular, as the tour was actually put on hold for almost an hour and everyone was crammed into the amphitheatre because of the storm) – but it was all clear skies and brisk windy periods.
These are the bands we saw (in order) and my favourite song of their set:
We the Kings
The Maine
The Ready Set
Neck Deep
The Summer Set
Breathe Carolina
We also saw parts of RealFriends (they were on right before The Maine) and The Color Morale (we could have seen more but they took forever to set up and we had to walk all the way across the grounds to see Breathe Carolina). Plus I met Rob Dyer from Skate4Cancer (who is one of the sweetest people in the WORLD), and Eric Halvorson and Nick Santino from A Rocket to the Moon (Nick was playing acoustic – stupidly enough at the same time as The Maine – and Halvo was their secondary merch/tech guy).
I was disappointed that there were bands that I missed (*sniff CROWN THE EMPIRE sniff*) (also, if Anberlin doesn’t play a final show here, I might riot), but at the end of the day, I was sweaty, sticky, smelly, and sore…and satisfied. I can’t pick a “best” Warped experience because each year has been so different (in terms of bands playing vs bands we actually saw, weather, etc), but it was still an excellent day of music, merch, and meeting band members – three of my favourite things.
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