We don’t always leave Vegas for shows, but when we do – it’s to see Saves the Day play “Through Being Cool” all the way through, Say Anything play “…Is a Real Boy,” and Reggie and the Full Effect do “Under the Tray” (well, sort of).
About halfway through Reggie and the Full Effect’s December 20th gig at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip, frontman James Dewees made a joke about how the sold-out crowd of 30 somethings meant that babysitters in West Hollywood must be very busy. The joke got a big laugh but also made me think of just how weird it is that Reggie, along with tourmates Saves the Day and Say Anything, are the elder statesmen of the scene now, celebrating 10 and 15 year album anniversaries with full album sets. It makes me want to go out and buy some “touch of grey” just thinking about how old that makes me!
Reggie and the Full Effect, the emo-by-way-of-new-wave project of James Dewees, best known for his work in The Get Up Kids, was the first band of three that night, all of which were celebrating anniversaries with full album sets. Of course, Reggie – with James dressed like Santa Claus and his backing band, New York’s Pentimento, as his merry elves – immediately chucked that idea out the window. Despite starting with Tray openers “Your Bleedin’ Heart” and “Congratulations Smack and Katy,” they only ended up playing 4 songs from 2004’s Under the Tray, one less than the non-Under the Tray gig in Vegas a few weeks ago. I’m not going to complain though, as that meant we were treated to two of my favorites from Songs Not to Get Married To – “Get Well Soon” and “Take Me Home,” the latter of which sounded particularly good with extremely tight playing from Pentimento.
We also got to hear “Kanji Tattoos…Still in Style?” from newish album No Country For Old Musicians. James jokingly chastised the audience for slacking on that record, which he said had “only been out 16 months,” but then admitted that he wouldn’t be interested in a 38 year old’s comeback album either. The best part of any Reggie show is the jokes, and I have to give James credit for not recycling any material from last month’s Vegas gig. I particularly enjoyed his story about allowing Dashboard to play after him at the very same venue a decade earlier and thus missing his chance at superstardom (though James did end up in My Chemical Romance, so I think it all worked out for the best). For my deeper, sentimental thoughts on Reggie, you’ll want to look at my review from last month.
Saves the Day was up next, closing out a year that proved that they really are one of the best bands ever – playing a completely different set of each day of the Warped Tour, playing 5 hour house shows for Pledgemusic supporters and recording an epic ten song acoustic set for this very site – by playing their sophomore album Through Being Cool from front to back. It’s probably been close to 13 years since the last time I heard TBC opener “All Star Me” live and man, did it sound good. The musicians that frontman Chris Conley has assembled – Arun Bali, Rodrigo Palma & Dennis Wilson – are so on point. I love watching how chill Arun looks on stage while just shredding through song after song. As for Chris, who wore a huge, giddy grin throughout the entire show, he has really perfected his live voice and was just a joy to watch. There might have been some people in there not losing their voice shouting “core of coal and starches in within me” with him, but I didn’t see them.
The band wasted no time, playing with zero banter in an effort to get the most out of their opening spot. The landmark pop punk album was played straight through and in order, with “You Vandal,” “Rocks Tonic Juice Magic” and “The Vast Spoils of America” inciting the loudest sing alongs, the latter of course hits closer to home for the California crowd with the line “California where the mountains climb so tall, And waves crash blue around you.” Once the final notes of “Banned from the Back Porch” rang out, the band quickly transitioned into a second set that started with Stay What You Are opener “At Your Funeral” and mixed in more favorites, b-sides and deep cuts. The rocked up, full band version of “Jessie & My Whetstone,” a staple of their set back around ’03, made a welcome return while I was stoked to sing along with the pop perfection that is “Ring Pop” from the band’s recent self-titled record. They ended things with the crowd surf-inciting “Sell My Old Clothes I’m Off To Heaven,” a song that is clearly in the running for best b-side of all time.
Finally it was time for Say Anything, the youngest band on the bill but still veterans of the scene. Nostalgia plays a big part in the success of these tours and while I’m a little too old to have the same level of nostalgia for Say Anything that I do Reggie and Saves the Day, I do like the band quite bit. I especially enjoy …Is a Real Boy, the album they were playing front to back this night, so this was pretty much the perfect set for me. The set started, of course, with a song of rebellion and the crowd went nuts. Max is a charismatic performer but he didn’t need any charm to get the audience to sing along with the “Hey! This is something I have to do for myself” chorus. What better gang vocals can you get than a sold-out crowd of rabid fans?
Like Saves the Day, Max has done a great job assembling his touring band, with guitarist Kenny Bridges being particularly fun to watch due to his epic jumps off drummer Reed Murray’s kit. These manic stage antics perfectly complimented the energetic crowd. The energy never let up in the room, whether it was released by dancing like in baroque pop influenced “Woe” or more crowd surfing and fist pumping for “Alive With the Glory of Love,” the latter (arguably their most popular song) getting the biggest reaction of the night. For me, I was blissfully happy to hear the sardonic “Every Man Has His Molly,” a song that perfectly mocks the same genre it occupies – break up pop emo. The band even managed to work in tracks from Was a Real Boy, the b-side companion to Is a Real Boy, like “Most Beautiful Plague” into the set before ending with accusatory album closer “Admit It!!!” Like with Saves the Day,
I was actually surprised that Say Anything didn’t take advantage of the fact that Chris Conley was there, as one of their best songs, “Sorry, Dudes. My Bad.” from Real Boy follow-up In Defense of the Genre features a verse from Chris. This would have been the perfect time to pull that out, but I can only hope they’re holding out for another tour that happens sooner rather than later (may I suggest celebrating the one year anniversary of this tour next year by doing the same tour again?).
-Emily Matview
Say Anything setlist:
Belt
Woe
The Writhing South
Alive With the Glory of Love
Yellow Cat (Slash) Red Cat
The Futile
Spidersong
An Orgy of Critics
Every Man Has a Molly
Slowly, Through a Vector
Chia-Like, I Shall Grow
I Want To Know Your Plans
Most Beautiful Plague
I Will Never Write an Obligatory Song About Being on the Road and Missing Someone
Admit It!!!
Saves the Day setlist:
All-Star Me
You Vandal
Shoulder to the Wheel
Rocks Tonic Juice Magic
Holly Hox, Forget Me Nots
Third Engine
My Sweet Fracture
The Vast Spoils of America (From the Badlands Through the Ocean)
The Last Lie I Told
Do You Know What I Love the Most?
Through Being Cool
Banned From the Back Porch
At Your Funeral
A Drag in D Flat
Jessie & My Whetstone
Anywhere With You
Freakish
Jukebox Breakdown
Undress Me
Cars & Calories
Ring Pop
Sell My Old Clothes, I’m Off to Heaven
Reggie and the Full Effect setlist:
Your Bleedin’ Heart
Drunk Girl at the Get Up Kids Show
Congratulations Smack and Katy
Take Me Home, Please
F.O.O.D. aka Aren’t You Hungary
Happy V-Day
Kanji Tattoos…Still in Style???
Get Well Soon
Love Reality
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