Tag: Blast From the Past

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Q&A

Blast From the Past: Interview with Sugarcult

A few weeks ago I posted my first interview with Ace Enders featured on Jane Magazine‘s music section of their Web site when I interned there. This week’s edition of “Blast From the Past” is another Jane feature.

Fellow Jane intern Monica Perry and I (check out her amazing blog here — cleverly titled Our Jane) got tickets to see Sugarcult in concert a few years back. I knew some of their radio hits but had no idea what the guys looked like to approach them for an interview (should have done my research!) so when we noticed a bunch of girls talking to a tall man by the backstage area we assumed it had to be one of the guys from the band. We walked over and asked a fan who it was and she told us it was Sugarcult guitarist Marko DeSantis. I was doing a write-up for the school paper of the show so I approached him, asking if they did interviews. He then took my notebook and pen right out of my hands and wrote down his email address adding, “Just don’t go out giving this to everyone.”

That was my very first impromptu venture of going up to a band and getting an interview and it was so invigorating! Little did I know a few years later I’d be doing this all the time and I must say, it never gets old. If I could interview a new band every day of the week I’d be content! Read my Jane feature below and for the full transcription of my interview with Marko click here.

Interview with Sugarcult’s Marko DeSantis

Sugarcult’s latest album “Lights Out” is all about “escapism and the guilty pleasures people indulge in that bring temporary happiness but are ultimately self destructive; casual sex, drugs, pop-culture,” says lead guitarist Marko DeSantis. Intern Annie talks to him to find out what he actually means by all that.

On the track “Explode” you sing, “The radio is here to stay, turn it off and walk away.” Have you been burned by commercial radio?
The music business is all so political, but at the same time we can be happy that some good music is getting a fair shake with bands like the White Stripes and the Killers. It’s just sad when places like Philadelphia and New York City don’t even have a rock station anymore.

If the radio is too commercialized for you, where do you find out about new bands?
I’ve never really listened to commercial radio; growing up it was all about going to shows, word of mouth, mix-tapes, magazines, digging through the racks in indie record shops. Today it’s not much different, but iTunes, websites and file sharing just make it easier to get turned on to stuff. My favorite way to discover a band is to see them play live and unexpectedly be blown away.

So who are you into now?
Lately I’ve been listening to The Adored, TV on the Radio, The Strays, Maxeen, Against Me. I’m always diggin’ old jams by Tom Petty, Smashing Pumpkins, The Clash, Superdrag, and The Cars.

What inspires your music and this album?
There’s an old quote attributed to John Lennon, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” I think the same thing can be said about creating music; you set out to document your experiences and what’s in your head and then it becomes something bigger than the sum of its parts.

—Annie
October 27, 2006
Annie | Music | Permalink | Comments (1)

I love the honesty! Read more of my interview with Marko here and be sure to check out Sugarcult on MySpace if you haven’t yet.

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Q&A

Blast From the Past: Q&A with Ace Enders

The best part of working at my college newspaper was that I knew everything that was going on around campus. So, whenever a band was performing, you bet I was there. Below is my blog post from Jane Magazine‘s music blog portion of the Web site of my interview with Ace Enders, formerly of The Early November.

I’m always excited to find out about good bands from New Jersey, being a Jersey girl myself. This past Friday I saw emo/indie rock band The Early November from Hammonton, put on a show at Rutgers and they really blew me away. After the concert I chatted with lead singer Ace Enders about the concept of the band’s new three-disc album and how fans should listen to it with headphones on because “it takes you to a different place.”

Where do you get inspiration for your music?
I try and reach just from everyday normal life; from watching people and how they react to different things.

You played at Rutgers before right?
Yeah. We played in a classroom one time. It was a little weird. We had a chalk board behind us.

How did you feel seeing your video on MTV the first time?
It was definitely a weird feeling the first time. But it faded pretty quickly when we heard that they were taking it off MTV.

How did you get the idea for the story line on your current album?
It didn’t come out exactly how I wanted it to come out. It was supposed to be not just songs, but more for your imagination. It would follow a whole story. It’s not perfect, but it came out a bit.

—Annie

November 20, 2006

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Concert Reviews

Blast From the Past: Ben Folds at the State Theatre

Going through my old clips from college, I stumbled upon my review of Ben Folds‘ amazing performance at the State Theatre by Rutgers University, in New Brunswick. I had completely forgotten about this show in October of 2005. If I remember correctly, this is the second concert review I wrote up for the paper that year, with the help of Brent Johnson, The Daily Targum‘s managing editor at the time. Read it below and let me know what you think!

Ben Folds Energizes Crowd at State Theatre
By Annie Reuter and Brent Johnson
Targum Staff Writers

Strolling on stage, Ben Folds walked right to his piano and started pounding out the opening chords to “Bastard.”

The crowd’s energy had already been building, as the more than 1,400 in attendance at the State Theatre Thursday night waited over half an hour for Folds and his band to begin playing.

Folds harnessed that energy with flair, standing over his piano stool like a modern day Jerry Lee Lewis as he thumped through his first few songs of his set. The alt-pop singer-songwriter drew plenty of excitement from the packed crowd, which was much larger than estimated ticket sales showed last week.

Only 1,000 tickets were sold in the first week, but they eventually picked up, said Rich Klumb, a School of Engineering sophomore and member of the Rutgers College Program Council, which organized the event — the first time it had ever hosted a concert at the 1,800-seat New Brunswick theater.

The crowd shouted and sang along for most of the 20-song, nearly two-hour show. The set list included full-band performances of five songs from his latest album, Songs For Silverman, in addition to older songs like “Annie Waits,” “Zak and Sara,” “Where’s Summer B?” and set closer “Philosophy.”

There was also a short set featuring Folds playing solo at his piano. During this segment, he played his biggest hit, the melancholic “Brick,” as well as more obscure numbers like “Lullabye” and “Don’t Change Your Plans” — all of which were from his days as the frontman of the 1990s alternative trio Ben Folds Five.

Folds got the audience laughing during his witty between-song banter, which included stories about how he once delivered wine to an old woman blasting porn music in her house or how he recently fell off the stage in Japan. “I look down, and I’m bleeding all over the piano,” said Folds, after explaining why there was tape marking the end of the stage Thursday night.

The most laughs came when Folds played his version of Dr. Dre’s graphic, “Bitches Ain’t Shit,” complete with a lovely melody and some dramatic acting from him and his backing band. “This is a song I wrote with Dr. Dre,” Folds told the crowd. “I put some pretty chords to the lyrics.”

Folds also coaxed some audience participation, as he taught the crowd how to mimic the horn parts to “Army” and how to sing backing vocals to “Not The Same.” During the latter number, he ended the song by standing up from his piano, conducting the crowd as it sang the final few bars.

Folds closed the encore with perennial fan favorite “One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces,” during which most of the audience stood up and bounced along to the perky melody and sarcastic lyrics.

While many audience members were from Rutgers, some traveled from out of state to see Folds perform. Rob Martino falls into the latter category. Traveling from Temple University, Thursday’s concert was the fifth time Martino has seen Folds live. “Once again he didn’t let me down,” he said. “My favorite part was when he played by himself. That’s when he used the crowd to be his band.”

“There are only a few people in the rain I would wait for, and he is one of them,” said Janaki Theivakumaran, a Rutgers College sophomore. “He made sure we all got autographs. I felt bad though because he was leaving for another city the next morning, so it was great that he stayed to make sure we got autographs.”

Theivakurmaran said she enjoed the concert as well. “It was one of the best concerts I have ever been to,” she said. “I thought [Songs For Silverman] was amazing, but he’s even better live. He really knows how to get the audience pumped up and excited.”

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Concert Reviews

Blast From the Past: John Mayer Concert Review on MTV.com

If you’re familiar with my music taste, you already know that I am a die-hard John Mayer fan. In fact, it’s one of those qualities that seems to be ingrained in my musical makeup and everyone knows about me. Even while interning at MTV News Online I’d get the occasional joke about my obsession with him. But, no matter what anyone thinks about Mayer as a person or his recent stints in all the gossip mags, his talent is undeniable. I wish I could play guitar even half as good as he can . . . but I probably should actually practice my guitar regularly to reach this goal. Below is my review of his Madison Square Garden concert from 2007. Feel free to read it below, or check it out on MTV here with a full photo archive of the show.

John Mayer Goes Out With Alicia Keys — At Sold-Out New York Show
Singer shows sold-out crowd there’s a lot more to him than pop.

By Annie Reuter

NEW YORK — With a guest appearance from Alicia Keys, sing-alongs galore and an intimate two-song acoustic performance on a small stage in the middle of the crowd, John Mayer’s sold-out performance Wednesday night delivered everything a headlining spot at Madison Square Garden should.

After a strong opening set from Mat Kearney, Mayer’s show began with the venue darkened before the sounds of Mayer’s guitar drowned out the screams from younger members of the audience. A blue spotlight revealed him as he began “Belief” solo before being joined by the rest of his band.

(See Mayer dazzle by checking out photos of the MSG show right here.)

As the 90-minute set (consisting primarily of songs from his latest LP, Continuum) progressed, he joked with the crowd often, introducing “I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You)” by saying, “In America, you’re allowed to be an a–hole.” While it seemed at first to be a political reference, he instead described a first date and surprised the crowd by saying, “This song is telling you I’m the type of person that will do you wrong.” With lyrics like “If my past is any sign of your future/ You should be warned before I let you inside,” Mayer got the point across.

The crowd went wild for songs like “Waiting on the World to Change” and “Stop This Train,” but longtime fans made their presence heard on older songs like “Bigger Than My Body,” “No Such Thing” and “Why Georgia.”

But even though Mayer, who won Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album at the Grammys last month (see “Timberlake Rocks; Blige Weeps; Chicks, Chilis Clean Up At Grammys”), has a pop audience many would envy (need we mention Jessica Simpson?), the crowd at the Garden showed that his efforts to diversify musically have worked.

Sure, there were plenty of teeny-boppers in attendance, but there were also parents with their children, couples young and old, businesspeople coming from work, and high-school and college students. And Mayer made sure that his show contained something for everyone: His solos and improvisations with the two guitarists in his band pleased the guitar geeks, and he dipped into bluesy John Mayer Trio mode for “I Don’t Need No Doctor” and “I’m Gonna Find Another You.”

And throughout the show, Mayer constantly let those fans know just how much he appreciates them. “I’m not mature enough to be the kind of person to thank you for how much this means to me,” he said after “Waiting on the World to Change.” And then later, “This [success] doesn’t exist without you. I’m not sure I deserve it, but I’m going to keep writing and playing and doing whatever I have to do.”

Perhaps taking a tip from the Rolling Stones, for his encore Mayer performed two acoustic songs on a small stage set up in the middle of the venue, singing “Your Body Is a Wonderland” and “Stop This Train” just feet away from surprised fans, bringing the intimacy of a small club to the nearly 20,000-capacity venue.

Mayer left the small stage at around 10:30, but had one more trick up his sleeve. Returning to the main stage, he played “Vultures” — saying at the end, “This is the best night I’ve ever had” — before beginning his last song of the evening, “Gravity.”

As the song seemed to be ending, female vocals were heard — and just as cries of “Who is it?” became nearly as loud as the music, out came Alicia Keys, who took over the song’s vocals while Mayer accompanied her on his guitar. “Keep me where the light is,” she crooned, as the song ended with the spotlights shining brightly all over her and Mayer.

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CD Reviews

Album Review From the Archives: Justin Timberlake’s “FutureSex/LoveSounds”

I remember getting a lot of criticism for this review, specifically for giving Justin Timberlake a B+ when everyone else thought it deserved better. In actuality, B+ is a pretty decent rating for any album review. I really did like the album at the time, just didn’t find it A worthy. Let me know what you think! Feel free to read below for yet another blast from my writing past.

No More Bubblegum
With high expectations, Justin almost fully delivers

‘N Sync who? Justin Timberlake, formerly known for being a member of boy band ‘N Sync, has finally established himself as a talented solo artist with his sophomore solo album, FutureSex/LoveSounds. Timberlake’s album has had high expectations from everywhere — comparisons have been made to both Michael Jackson and Prince.

Although he hasn’t reached that level just yet, the new album is still impressive. While each song is completely different from the next, they flow into each other smoothly. His current hit single, “Sexy Back,” is the second song on the album, segueing nicely from the first track, “FutureSex/LoveSound.”

Many of the tracks have interludes after each song. “What Goes Around” is comparable to his previous single, “Cry Me a River,” while this interlude and many of the others portray Timberlake’s slower rap style. “Chop Me Up” has a slow, rap feel and features Timbaland and Three 6 Mafia. “Losing My Way” sounds similar to a gospel song. Many of his tracks feature Timberlake’s high falsetto singing range, such as “Damn Girl” and “My Love.” Admist all the club anthems are mellow soul ballads, such as “Until the End of Time.”

Timberlake has moved on from the teeny-bopper icon that he used to be and this album portrays how much of an all-around artist he is.

Album: FutureSex/LoveSounds
Label: Def Jam
Sounds Like: mix of urban, rap, club, R&B;, pop and gospel
Best Songs: “SexyBack,” “My Love,” “Losing My Way”

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Features

Blast From the Past: Gavin DeGraw Plays Rutgers University – circa 2004

Though the concert was nearly four years ago, it’s one of those nights that I remember like it was yesterday. I anxiously anticipated this concert for weeks, telling my editor at the time, Monica Rozenfeld (you can check out her blog here), that I wanted to cover the show for our college paper, The Daily Targum. True to her word, Monica hooked me up with a press pass for Gavin DeGraw’s show that semester.

I had gone to plenty of concerts before, being the concert junkie that I am — always the first to find out about an artist coming to town and constantly informing and recruiting friends to attend shows with me. But, I had never “covered” a concert. Sure, I had attended various college events and meetings and wrote about them, but it never occurred to me to catch a show and write about it — until now.

The perfect explanation of this epiphany is similar to that of the movie Almost Famous and it’s main character, student journalist Will. He just knew music reporting was what he wanted to do for a living, despite his mother’s wishes for him to become a lawyer. Well, I didn’t go on tour with Gavin, but that experience — standing front row of the concert, notepad and pen in one hand, camera in the other capturing the show — made me realize that this is what I wanted to do the rest of my life.

Below you can read my first-ever concert review. I know the first few “newsy” paragraphs are a bit boring, but I was writing a news story for the paper. I’d like to think my writing has gotten better and more intriguing over the years, though. I hope you think that as well! And, as you can tell from my very brief quote from Gavin, my interviews have gotten much better also.

Singer, heartthrob DeGraw croons into college girls’ hearts

Hundreds of students anxiously waited outside the Busch Campus Center’s Multipurpose Room Friday night for the long-awaited Gavin DeGraw concert sponsored by the Rutgers College Program Council. With a crowd of more than 400 students, excitement was in the air, and students patiently waited for the concert to begin.

Lori Smith, assistant director of Rutgers College Student Leadership, Involvement and Programs and advisor for RCPC music committee, said the concert was a part of a variety of music they try to sponsor all year long. Previously this year, RCPC sponsored many different acts including folk, jazz, hip-hop and punk. Next semester, RCPC plans to feature gospel and retro music and will also find three acts for RutgersFest.

Smith said many people expressed interest in having DeGraw come to the University, and they did what they could to get him here. “I hope students have a good time tonight and enjoy the concert and feel excited that Rutgers is bringing cutting-edge stuff here,” Smith said.

Rutgers College senior Michael Worthington, vice president of RCPC music, explained the group decided to bring DeGraw here because, “People definitely knew his music through his theme song on “One Tree Hill,” his music video and being at the Thanksgiving Day parade. We saw him as a rising star.” Worthington said tickets sold out in a day-and-a-half.

University College junior Rone Alonzo, RCPC music chair committee member, said that the group started planning the event two to three months ago. Alonzo said he was impressed with students’ reaction to the concert and that RCPC received a lot of e-mails asking about the concert. He said that he was looking forward to “a very relaxed concert with good music” and said there was a great turnout with DeGraw being the last concert of the semester.

Christina Krupinski, a Rutgers College sophomore and staff member for the event, said this was one of the better concerts this semester. “The buzz is pretty big tonight,” Krupinski said.

Worthington said that due to some late arrivals, the show started 40 minutes late. But fortunately, all groups involved – security, facilities, parking and transportation, and the student center operations – were understanding and worked with RCPC throughout the night, he said.

Opening Act from New Jersey Chris Batten and the Woods took the stage around 10 p.m. to an excited crowd, playing a 40-minute set including some songs from their albums, the 1960 song “Shake” and a Christmas song. The crowd showed much enthusiasm toward the rock ‘n’ roll band, singing along, dancing and clapping to various songs while Chris Batten, singer of the four-member band told the crowd, “Please do not be afraid to dance tonight.”

Many students were impressed with the opening act. “I really enjoyed the opening artist. They had a really original sound. Out of all the concerts I’ve seen, they were the best opening act,” said Jess Frey, a Douglass College sophomore.

Shortly after 11 p.m., Gavin DeGraw arrived on stage to a crowd chanting, “Gavin, Gavin,” and some screaming, “I love you Gavin!” DeGraw and his band performed many songs for the next hour from his album “Chariot.” Playing for an hour, some of his songs included “Just Friends,” “Crush,” “Follow Through,” “Chemical Party,” “Belief,” “Nice to Meet You Anyway” and the obvious crowd favorite “I Don’t Wanna Be,” theme song from WB show “One Tree Hill.”

DeGraw was quite the crowd pleaser, with audience members singing aloud to all of his songs and going crazy when he entered the crowd to shake hands, thanking students for attending the concert. His performance concluded with his song, “Chariot,” and he informed all who attended he would sign autographs right outside the room after the show.

Douglass College sophomore Celine Tardy, who attended the concert, said of DeGraw, “He’s a really good performer live and has an amazing voice. He really gets in touch with the audience when he sings.” She said she went to the concert because she really enjoys his music.

Tina Madan, a Rutgers College first-year student, attended the concert with some friends and said DeGraw is “an artist that has a lot of soul.”

“The concert really united many different kinds of people that were there to enjoy his music,” said Ally Tseng, a Douglass College sophomore.

Batten, the lead singer of the opening act said he really enjoyed playing Friday night. “It was great, a really amazing crowd. We really appreciated [the audience]. They were one of the best audience’s we’ve played for. It was nice to open up for a band that’s actually good.” This is the second time Chris Batten and the Woods played at the University, the only college they have played at. Batten said the group previously performed at the University last year for Livingston College’s Springfest.

And after spending the evening performing at Jingle Ball, Gavin DeGraw came to the University and stayed until 1 a.m. signing autographs, where he said he enjoyed playing at the University. “I had a great time. It’s as good as the people think it is,” Degraw said.

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Q&A

Interview From the Vault: Kristopher Roe of The Ataris

Just about two years ago I interviewed lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Kristopher Roe of The Ataris when they performed for the first time in over a year at Rutgers for Springfest. Live bands, food, and games in a carnival type setting on Livingston Campus is the typical Springfest setting. Kris opened up to me about the renovated band, their future album, Welcome the Night (which came out in February of 2007) and playing for a college crowd. Be sure to catch their show Friday, February 15 at Maxwell’s in Hoboken with Army of Me. For more info on future tour dates or to hear some of their latest songs check them out on MySpace.

When was the last time you performed?
October of 2004, we played our last show in Florida, some random show we flew down to do for Halloween. I just remember it was one of those things that we didn’t know if it would be our last show as that band was. It was me, John, Mike and our old drummer Chris. It came at a point where the band felt like it was very limited. What we did on our last record I felt was the best that band could do.

I didn’t feel like it represented me anymore and I didn’t enjoy playing music with our drummer anymore. He really wanted different things than me. He wanted to be the hugest rock band in the world, whereas I just wanted to get in a van and play shows with my friends and have fun. I didn’t really feel like we had a friendship bond anymore. And our bass player went off the deep end and got involved in things that I wasn’t so proud of. I hated seeing my friends succumb to those things, and it’s like tough love. I had to be like, “This band’s here for you if you want it, but you’ve got to sort your life out first.” A year went by and I never talked to him, so obviously he chose the other elements over me and over this band, and it happens.

John and I started playing music with a few of our friends out here in New York where he lives and we recorded a bunch of demos and from that the band took its own shape. After we had the five-piece going, our friend Angus (who played cello) and our friend Bob (who played keys) and we were like, well with the three guitars it sounds atmospheric and is very full and special but it still needed more layers. I wanted to have a certain sound and I knew when we all played together – the seven of us – it really just clicked and I felt the chemistry and that was what we were looking for. When we recorded the record we recorded it all live, we all got in a room together, all seven of us, and we played and recorded. The only thing that was over dubbed was the vocals so pretty much how we sound on the record is how we sound live. It’s an honest representation of what we sound like now, which was what we were going for.

What is to be expected of your new album, Welcome the Night? Is the sound similar to your previous record?
It’s completely different. At first it sounds like a different band. Musically its way more um, I don’t really know. There are seven people in the band, there’s three guitars, cello, keyboards, and we got a new drummer and a new bass player. It’s very atmospheric, it’s more dreamy, spacey, it’s like a big wall of sound. It’s more akin to all the British bands, like Radiohead, Muse, Snow Patrol, and Doves. We came to a point where I don’t really feel the music we were creating was the music I listen to and the music that I wanted to represent me. I think that we just kind of had to step outside ourselves and be like, “What do we really want to do and what do we feel feels really honest?” We just started writing a bunch of songs and eventually after two years off with a year of writing, rehearsing, and recording, the record just kind of wrote itself.

Where do you get inspiration for your songs?
Lyrically, this album is like a story about questioning yourself. There’s a lot of existentialist thought in it, about how in life there is so much more out there. It’s me questioning myself, asking what is out there in this world and what is beyond this world. The title of the album is Welcome the Night and it’s based on this concept that to me, everything in this earth and this planet is like, we are in transit and everything prior to our lives and after our lives is darkness. Welcome the Night is me thinking of the time where there’s not going to be me having to question myself and what my purpose in life is and that there is something better beyond this life.

Is there any venue or audience that you hated playing for?
Hated playing for? Oh good, I usually get the other one. I hate playing radio festivals. That’s the worst. It sucks! Usually, for the most part it’s always at these dumb, Clear Channel type amphitheater type venues where a lot of people are just sitting down with no atmosphere whatsoever. You’re playing outdoors during the day probably and there’s just no vibe. It’s too open and there’s just no feeling whatsoever. Too much hate, man. I can’t get on a tangent.

Usually it’s all pretty good, as long as people keep an open mind and don’t like to shout for stupid songs. Occasionally, you’ll get the one random punker guy. I’ve learned to ignore them. Back in the early days I would get kind of irate and get stupid. I broke my hand getting in a fight with a kid because he threw some shit at me, and I never did that shit ever again. Just don’t let people get to you. One time in Australia I got pegged in the head with a bottle and I was like fuck it, I’m just gonna keep playing because I knew it was the night of some Australian soccer championship. I knew it was some crazy, pissed off soccer fan and I knew he could kick me to shreds. So I was, like, “I’m just gonna deal with it.” If you don’t call attention to it, usually people will just go on about their business.

How is it playing for a student crowd?
Playing colleges is always a good opportunity to bring your music to people that sometimes wouldn’t often get the chance to hear it. Because usually when you’re so absorbed with studying and probably a lot of partying I would assume as well, the music seems to take a secondary position in your life. Where a nerd like me, all I do is listen to music and pretty much sleep in all day and play music.

Is it a lot different from Warped Tour and headlining shows?
Yeah, I just feel the crowds are a little bit more narrow-minded [at Warped Tour]. I think that Warped Tour is more of a young audience and they already have their mind made up a bit more, whereas colleges are a little bit more collective and willing to listen to more different and daring things.

Do you choose the songs you play based on your audience?
Well for this tour, there are two songs we play in the set because we know people would be bummed if we didn’t play them. Two older songs we’ve been playing for a while that we reinvented in a way with this band that I think come across different so that we still like them. If you play a song a million times you also have to realize that some people will be hearing them for the first time ever. So you might be sick of it and it might not mean anything to you lyrically anymore, but to somebody else it might. I try to be 25% compromise, 75% just us being honest to ourselves and doing what we feel is best. So, overall I think the main thing we stick to is we try to play a set that is comprised of songs
that are lyrically relevant in this point in our lives and try to get more of the story telling of The Ataris across. Nothing that is really too silly because there is some stuff that I wrote when I was way younger and it’s just not really me anymore. We do half new and half old. The old songs I feel had a lot more to say and still fit alongside the new songs we do.

Categories
Q&A

3 Questions with Tyson Ritter from the All-American Rejects

I’ve been a fan of the All-American Rejects since their first single, “Swing, Swing” came out when I was in high school. Since then, I have been to various concerts of theirs at completely different venues. Everywhere from an intimate concert at Starland Ballroom to a crowd of hundreds, maybe even thousands, at Giants Stadium for the Bamboozle Festival a few years ago. So when my friend invited me along to help cover a concert at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton last summer, naturally I went. She was working on a piece for the Trenton Times about the venue and how it’s trying to attract a younger crowd. Hence, the concert, entitled Popfest, was put on by local radio station WPST 94.5 attracting many of its younger listeners. In addition to the All-American Rejects, performers included Nick Lachey, The Fray, Bo Bice, and The Click Five.

My friend was promised a press pass to interview some of the bands, but for some reason it fell through. This is where my ingenious Plan B came in. “Let’s just go find their tour buses,” I remember telling her matter-of-factly. And to preface the interview below let me just tell you once again, I am not a groupie, despite the fact that I did take a picture with some of the guys from AAR. They were really short on time, so we only got to do probably less than a 5-minute impromptu interview. But hey, I’ll take what I can get!

How is it for you playing a show like Popfest at a smaller venue vs. your bigger arena shows?
Our first time to step out in an arena was with Fall Out Boy two months ago and we just got off that tour. So I guess coming off that tour this might seem smaller, but this is still a large show to us. Definitely a different energy though. At a pop show, people don’t move as much.

Do you enjoy playing shows like Bamboozle more?
Oh yeah. That’s like [Bamboozle] the voice of a generation all in one spot at the same time. They’re the future leaders of America. Even though they may listen to music that’s not contemporary or run of the mill, those people are a lot different when they go to Bamboozle. The people who go to Bamboozle are definitely…I don’t know, more cerebral than normal people, I find. Whereas at these shows people scream and go crazy like five seconds after they see us. At Bamboozle a kid will be like ‘What’s up Tyson?’ and try to talk to you, as opposed to try to bombard you or scream until you give into some weird wish that they want. But it’s all fun.

Would you consider coming back to Trenton?
Oh yeah. It was great, the kids were loud, girls were giggly. The next time we come here we’d like to come and play a proper show. We had the option to headline but we wanted to make The Click Five look bad. We don’t like bands that don’t rock their instruments. There’s a difference between playing your instrument and rocking it. I don’t play my instrument. It’s really kind of, I like to call it ho-hum music because after one song you kind of go ‘ahhhh’ [referring to bands who don’t rock their instruments].

Gotta love the honesty…here’s some pics with lead singer/bass Tyson and drummer Chris.