As mentioned briefly in my last post, tonight was the Gym Class Heroes and Rx Bandits show at the House of Blues. I hadn't been to the HOB in many years and had forgotten how small it really is; consequently the show was sold out and we were left to buy tickets on the street. It took us 30 minutes in the freezing cold wind but we finally found some tickets and headed in.
The openers were K-OS, a hip-hop/reggae band from Canada and P.O.S. a rapper from Minneapolis. Both groups were pretty good, but nothing amazing.
Rx Bandits was the 3rd opener, although I had originally thought they were the headliner. If you don't now the Bandits, well it depends on what side of them you want to know. After many years and some line up changes they have evolved from a ska group to reggae/pop to finally progressive rock. Although I always struggle with the idea of bands I like changing their style, Rx Bandits have done a really good job, and their new sound is actually quite good and has lead to two excellent albums, Progress and ...And the Battle Begun.
Their set tonight was solid, but it lacked diversity. They are amazing musicians and have great songs, but they played songs almost exclusively off their new album, and played too many slower songs in a row that seemed to make the crowd lose its energy. Speaking of crowd, this was a hip-hop crowd, so those of us that were there to rock out for a rock band were not too well received. There was a small pit in the back, but for the most part the crowd was somewhat indifferent towards Rx Bandits. With 3 other hip-hop groups on the bill, they were the odd band out. But despite my criticisms of their song choices, the songs they did choose to play they played well as expected with smooth interludes and progressions between songs.
Gym Class Heroes (pictured above) finished up the night. This group has really grown on me lately with their mix of hip-hop, pop, funk, and rock music. The songs are catchy, and they play with a full band which is nice to see. Frontman Travis McCoy is a very talented rapper as well, though tends to be a little heavy on songs written about women. I was very impressed with their set overall tonight. The full band played well together and did a good job of transferring the sound from the cd to a live show. Travis works the crowd real well and has good stage presence. I even enjoyed the backdrop they had along with the lighting effects. The only real problem I had with the set was that they had lots of reverb on all the vocals, I don't know if this was the band's request or the HOB just messing up the sound, but either way it didn't work.
So here's a couple songs from the main groups tonight in case you're not familiar
Rx Bandits - In Her Drawer
Rx Bandits - Decresendo
Be sure to check out Decrescendo, it has one of the best breakdowns in a song and really shows off the talent of drummer Christopher Tsagakis.
And a couple Gym Class songs off their latest album.
Gym Class Heroes - Shoot Down The Stars
Gym Class Heroes - Clothes Off!
The first one is one of my favorite songs of theirs, and the second is a more radio friendly song featuring Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump.
That's it for a week or so while Kyle and I are off for spring break. If you're heading out on break make sure you have a good one.
-Alec
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