Home Grown

with Audio Karate, Plain White T's and Count The Stars

House of Blues, Anaheim

So maybe this wasn't the greatest show in the world. You'll notice above that there are four bands listed instead of one. I'm not going to comment on each of their performances individually. That's because if you closed your eyes, you wouldn't be able to tell one band apart from the other unless, of course, you were familiar with their songs. Those were at least different. This show was pretty much a four-hour Green Day sound-a-like band fest. Not that it was all that bad mind you, I'm just used to a little more diversity from shows at the HOB. If I remember correctly, they actually have "diversity" plastered on the walls somewhere. In any event, it was a cheap show, which evidently sold out, even though the place was empty at the back most of the night. The crowd was very young and seemed to be having a good time. I'll admit it was the show with the largest amount of crowd surfing I've seen to date. Oddly enough it wasn't very violent in the pit, with no bald headed mother fuckers trying to hurt as many people as possible. Just a happy good time from four happy good-time bands. I guess I just like my shows a little edgier, louder, or just plain freakier. None of these bands really qualified on those fronts. Of the four, I'm sad to say that the first opener, Count the Stars, seemed to have their shit together the best. Coming out, playing hard, fast, and keeping the crowd and the pace up through their miniscule half-hour set, they pretty much set the bar for the rest of the night. The rest of the bands came close, but never really surpassed them performance-wise. Don't get me wrong here, they're all decent musicians and all play some good tunes, but they were just all the same thing in different clothes, with nothing of substance to differentiate them from one another. With so many other more original bands out there it's hard for me to feel enthusiastic about bands doing the "same-old-thing." All told it was a ok night ... not great ... not bad ... just ok. Go see these guys at the smaller clubs they normally play, it'll be cheaper, and odds are you'll at least get to see a slightly different band open or headline the show.

You can find Home Grown's website here.

You can find Plain White T's website here.

You can find Audio Karate's website here.

You can find Count The Stars' website here.