Say Anything
with Motion City Soundtrack, Saves the Day and A Great Big Pile of Leaves
November 16, 2010
Revolution, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Review by Diana Poussin
Photos by Katie Condon
The days when shows were hosted outside of Revolution Live and the Florida heat consumed the audience are long gone. Today the shows are stuffed inside the dirty little club space, transforming it into a cozy pit surrounded by two levels of balcony space. This tiny room was packed to the brim with scenesters and ex-scenesters morphed into hipsters. Waist high shorts, loafers, moccasins, V-necks and skinny jeans were everywhere and the blue and purple hair extensions were inescapable. However, this commotion of styles did not interfere with the ferocious attitude that the crowd brought to the night.
Peter Weiland - guitar, vocals
A Great Big Pile of Leaves
A Great Big Pile of Leaves opened the night and truly made an impact on the scene. The leader of the band, a cute kid with a burgeoning beard and dressed in flannel, easily captured the attention of the girls in the audience. The songs were akin to a racy Strokes anthem with a little more soulful, folky feel. While they failed to hype the entire crowd, later on my way home, I could not get “We Don’t Need Our Heads” out of my head.
Saves the Day were up next and they might as well have stayed in their tour bus. The lead singer, an awkward Chris Conley, stayed rooted by his microphone the entire set wailing like a teenage girl and swaying his hips in a not so flattering manner that put a lot of the audience on edge. Three songs in and my companions were left snoozing on the railings waiting for the end to a catastrophic set. For the few Saves the Day fans it must’ve been a dream come true or total disillusionment, because they stayed on stage for about 45 minutes and made complete idiots of themselves.
"When Justin cried “Let’s get f***** up and die,” the crowd broke into a chaos and my ribs were crushed against the barricades, just the way I like it."
Justin Pierre - vocals, guitar
Motion City Soundtrack
After a long wait, Motion City Soundtrack made its way on stage and the crowd went manic. Lead singer Justin Pierre is a god. He’s quirky, adorable, crazy and certainly did not disappoint. These guys finally made the crowd sweat in the air conditioned frost land that was Revolution. When Justin cried “Let’s get f***** up and die,” the crowd broke into a chaos and my ribs were crushed against the barricades, just the way I like it.
To a belligerent and psychotic welcome, the boys of Say Anything appeared on stage, one by one. Lead singer Max Bemis announced his recent marriage and declared to the audience that this tour made it worthwhile being away from his home. Max is a character. His sole presence on stage captivates the entire essence of Say Anything live. The security guards laughed at him as he paraded around the stage with his tight skinnies and gut hanging\ out, discussing the terribleness of modern music.
Max Bemis - vocals - SayAnything
What the security guards didn't understand is that Say Anything is not The Beatles and they aren’t trying to be. Max sings with a love and rage that are opposite yet totally compatible. The fact that he passed out in his tour bus right after the show is not so surprising, considering he left his entire being splattered on the stage.
Good job scenester and hipster kids, I was finally impressed with your concert behavior. It's possible that South Florida may be in fact full of angst and debauchery.
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Send Diana and Katie an email: writers@outloud.com