Reviewer: Ashley Granillo
After a long and extensive tour with Fall Out Boy on the Believer’s Never Die (Part Deux) Tour this past spring, one would think that the boys in All Time Low would be ready to take a break and breathe in the success of their almost-teen-idolness. Guess again. After the release of their junior album Nothing Personal this summer, ATL shows no signs of stopping to smell the roses just yet, living up to their reputation of being road warriors who rarely stop, except to hit another venue each night.
Despite that I was not particularly fond of the band back when they toured with FOB, I found myself drawn into them more so once that tour was over. And despite that fact All Time Low is once again touring with Hey Monday on the Glamour Kills Tour, I feel that (FOB’s) Pete Wentz’s marketing tactics may have only worked with one of the bands he brought on the Believer’s tour with them, Hey Monday unfortunately (but for who?) not being that band. Also on the GK tour were the Friday Night Boys (on Fueled by Ramen), and We The Kings (on S-Curve Records), who had canceled their performance that night for unknown reasons.
Arriving sometime after 8 pm on November 7th at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, I was surprised to find that the crowd was just being allowed inside the venue. As fans clad in bright colored pants, vests and v-neck shirts filed in, I felt completely undressed in my yellow plaid shirt and black jeans. Despite my appearance however, I was ready for a dance party. With the large demographic of the audience being that of 16 and under, I could only expect a massive amount of enthusiasm from the young concert-goers. However, after getting my 21-and-over wrist band, I did decide to avoid the milling, teenage crowds and the supporting bands that I had no interest in either. I immediately walked back outside to sit and await the one band that I actually came to see. A security guard sat with my friends and I and questioned why we would spend $30 to sit outside and see only one band. Our response was simple: “We only like one shitty band on this tour.” And what seemed to separate the one “shitty band” we loved so much from the other two playing that night, was that they are charismatic, entertaining, and let’s face it – Alex Gaskarth has some ever-developing pipes that make my 16-and-under heart swoon.
From the time we arrived until around 9:30 pm, we waited miserably outside, watching barely-legal, drunk fans and listening to the screeching of the generic female voice of Cassadee Pope, lead singer of Hey Monday, outside. But once Hey Monday had successfully finished their set, my friends and I were back inside again, pushing our way through the crowd to get a better view. It was all very exciting, but ATL could’ve done without the blinding strobe lights that took away from the crowd looking at the stage. Many of the fans were looking down at their shoes, trying to shout and scream as the strobes continued on with every drum tap. Once the drapes came down and the strobe lights settled though, a massive dance party ensued. The only way one could survive this crowd was to push back or jump up and down with the person standing next to them. All idle concert goers ended up not making it past the 3rd song, pushed out of the crowd, with all the pushing and shoving going on. It was during this time that lead guitarist Jack Barakat pointed out to the audience. “This girl is crying. Why are you crying?” He continued on, trying to make a joke, “Are you disappointed that we’re ugly in person?” But unfortunately this was no joke. The girl was actually crying, already needing to get out of the dance-crazy pit. “Oh shit! She’s actually crying!” Barakat said again in realization. This time lead vocalist Alex Gaskarth took the mic and said (with such sympathy and collectiveness), “Back up, guys. She needs help,” and again my heart swooned (as I’m sure others did) at Gaskarth’s caring toward his fans.
As the show continued on, it seemed that most of the songs played were from ATL’s newest album, Nothing Personal. It wasn’t until the familiarity of “Six Feet Under the Stars” reached my ears that I felt the party really got going, however. But despite all the jumping, dancing and endless sightings of younger, smaller girls falling down and out of the crowd, there was a moment where everything came to a standstill. This was when Gaskarth’s lone voice, accompanied only by his acoustic guitar, came to sing to the audience. By this time, my friends and I had reached the third row in the pit. It was a great view, and while slow songs are always appreciated – the awkwardness of the crowd was even better. During “Remembering Sunday,” as Gaskarth sang the lyrics “I’m gonna ask her to marry me…” Several of the young fans called out all the same time “I’ll marry you, Alex!” It made the 21-year-old Gaskarth smile and shake his head with subtle embarrassment. Then it wasn’t long before Cassadee Pope came to join him on stage to sing (what was originally Automatic Loveletter’s Juliet Simms’ solo) somewhat in tune along with him. Personally, I felt Simms’ recording captured the essence and soul of the song while Pope’s rendition did little to that effect.
Shortly after the slow down, the pace picked up once again with an encore following. The band ended with the ever so famous song “Dear Maria, Count Me In,” in which the crowd got rowdy again, making the young girls around me once again look desperately for a way out of the pit. And while there was none, their wait to reach safety was short-lived as the crowd quickly depleted once the band was offstage, hoping to find their beloved heartthrobs outside for photo ops and conversations.
The Glamour Kills Tour headlined by All Time Low runs through December. Dates can be found by visiting All Time Low on MySpace at www.myspace.com/alltimelow.
