Straight Up Random

Concert Review: AP Fall Ball Tour ‘09

When: October 24, 2009

Where: Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room

Line-Up: Mayday Parade, The Academy Is…, Set Your Goals, The Secret Handshake, You Me AT Six

Click HERE to view pictures!

The Review: Scene kids were faced with a hard decision the day of October 24th 2009. It just so happened that the AP Fall Ball Tour and the Glamour Kills tour were booked on the same day in two different venues in Ft. Lauderdale: The AP Tour being held at the Culture Room, and the Glamour Kills tour at Revolution. Both line-ups rivaled one another, and it came as no surprise that both of the shows ended up selling out. Fortunately, for those who went to the AP Tour, they were in for a treat by being able to see the bands they know and love, and the bands that fans are just learning to love, in a more intimate setting since the Culture Room is a way smaller venue than Revolution is.

The theme of the AP Fall Ball Tour, was just that…the Fall Ball. Fans were encouraged to get all dressed up as if they were going to their homecoming, and they did exactly that. For the most part, the fans who dressed up were mainly comprised of teenage girls who had worn dresses and heels and tons of makeup. Unlike at an actual dance, the girl’s wardrobe and makeup was no match for the wild crowd that night and they left the show sweaty and gross like most of the crowd had.

The opening band was UK’s very own, You Me At Six. They were able to get the crowd hyped up, even though not very many people actually knew their songs, and their energy on stage was insanely awesome. A few technical difficulties arose that night while the band was performing, but to pass the time and to satisfy his curiosity, singer Josh Franceschi  asked the crowd of Floridians whether or not anyone has ever gotten bit by an alligator, and a few people raised their hands. Then he asked in his British accent “has anyone ever seen an alligator,” and almost the entire crowd raised their hands. He asked his last question “has anyone ever fed an alligator,” in which only a few people raised their hands again, and by that time, their technical difficulties have been solved. Nonetheless, it was amusing, and it really did pass the time. They went back to playing and finished their set. For such a young band, they were really quite impressive with their presence on stage. They sounded great and really interacted with the crowd well. They just overall, know how to put on a good live show.

The Secret Handshake came on next. Unlike You Me At Six, no matter how hard singer Luis Dubac tried to get the crowd pumped, the audience was not responding well. Maybe it’s a sign that fans are no longer into the trend of auto-tuned, vocoder-styled music where any joe-schmo with no talent can become a “musician.” If this is the case - that fans want to hear real music instead of synthesized beats on a computer – the music scene drenched with these “musicians” will slowly begin to fade away. (Hooray!) However, the Secret Handshake did manage to play a guitar for one song, and he did have a real drummer instead of just hearing a drum track, as well as having an in-person bass player. I guess you have to give him props for that…

Pop punk group Set Your Goals got the crowd the rowdiest that night. From circle pits, to crowd-surfing, there was never a moment where you weren’t getting squished, pushed, or shoved from the people beside you. A constant stream of crowd-surfers made their way on-stage while the security guards quickly pulled them down from their 2-seconds of “fame.” Set Your Goals played in your face, fast-paced pop punk, but came out on stage dressed in semi-formal wear to go along with the theme of the “fall ball.” As their set progressed though, they shed their formal clothing and finally matched the way they look, with the music they make. Their set seemed never-ending that evening, which was good if you were a Set Your Goal’s fan and bad if you were one of the people sick of getting hit in the head by crowd-surfers.

Co-headliner of the Fall Ball Tour was the Academy Is….This band never seems to disappoint live. They sound flawless, always have a lot of energy while performing, and are able to communicate with their fans greatly while they’re on stage. The only one who came dressed for the occasion was singer William Beckett, who was wearing a tuxedo t-shirt to commemorate the Fall Ball. They opened their set with their song “Almost Here,” and played a lot of songs from their debut album, more so than from any other of their albums. They also played a new song off of their Lost In Pacific Time… AP /EP, and played their b-side song “40-steps,” which according to Beckett, “if you heard us [The Academy Is…] play this song live before, you’ve never heard it like this.” All in all, the Academy Is… put on yet another great performance, and easily had the best performance of the night.

The other co-headliner of the Fall Ball Tour was Mayday Parade, and they were the closing band that night. They played a lot of their songs off of their recent release Anywhere But Here, and they put on a great show as well. The band was always right on the edge of the stage during their performance which allowed them to give a more personal experience to their fans. While performing their song “Miserable At Best,” the song turned into a mass sing-along where the collective voices from the fans overrode that of vocalist Derek Sanders.

By the end of the show, it was obvious that the fans made the right decision of going to the AP Fall Ball Tour instead of the Glamour Kills Tour. They got to experience five amazing bands in one night, and if they didn’t know who some of the bands were prior to the show; they walked out a new fan of at least one of the bands.