Hoobastank, Pressure 4-5 & Earshot

It's been a long time since I've seen The Brick Works oozing with people. Tonight the club was packed with Z-Rock adoring, mosh-hungry teenagers who were ready to rock. Earshot began to play and the lead singer, sporting a mane of shaggy brown hair, serenaded the crowd with his sexy, Tool inspired vocals. Girls lined the front railing, straining past its refines, yearning to be nearer to the band. The lead singer threatened the audience, screaming, "We're not afraid of some rock tonight, are we?" With that, they drove straight into "Not Afraid" and followed that up with "Headstrong."
All three bands possessed a refreshing energy, which showed their newness to fame. The groups are all talented, but don't have any qualities to make them any different from the dozens of popular rock / rap-ish acts that now dominate MTV.
Pressure 4-5 loved being on stage. Front man Adam Rich, a Redding native, spoke to his fans every chance he got, and appeared to be having as much fun as the audience, encouraging them to jump up and down and bang their heads harder than ever. He played, what appeared to be, everyone's favorite songs in a husky voice that sounded more destined for punk rock than this cheap imitation. P 4-5 formed while the guys were going to school in Santa Barbara, but they traded in their studies for the Ozzfest stage and a record deal. "Burning the Process," released in October, is their first major record label debut.
Pressure 4-5 wrapped up their set and Hoobastank bounded on stage. It seemed each band was more excited than the next, and Doug Robb, the lead singer, grinned from ear to ear and chatted with the crowd. They started to play, sweeping through power cords and ferociously banging the drums. Robb pranced around the stage, smoothly singing, resembling Incubus' style of music. The four pieces of eye candy shot their first video last week called "Crawling in the Dark," the single off their new album.
They finished up the first song and Robb took a moment to breath. "You're hot!" a girl squealed from the back of the room. He shot her a wicked grin and delved into "Remember Me." Hoobastank just finished touring with Incubus and couldn't be happier. They said they loved everything about touring, except for the occasional pangs of homesickness. They obviously didn't want to be anywhere else this wet Saturday night, and the fans got their money's worth. Six dollars can sometimes buy you more than you bargained for.
- Rachel Krampfner

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