The Donnas, OK Go & Rooney

As I entered the sprawling confines of the Bell Memorial Union Auditorium, I was faced with a harsh reminder of my own mortality — this most certainly was an all-ages show. With the exception of the few moms cool enough to take their kids to shows chilling on chairs in the back, I was quite possibly the oldest person in the venue. I felt like an aged rock dinosaur; a bad feeling that only got worse as the opening band, Rooney, took the stage.
Rooney could be the most non-threatening rock band I have ever seen. Consisting of five fresh-faced, Beatles-esque, shaggy-haired youths from sunny Los Angeles, the band in both sound and style hearkened back to artists from the ‘60s. Rooney laid down a smooth and breezy set of bright and shiny power pop, and it didn’t take long for the band to win over the still-forming crowd with their catchy, melodic songs; and with good reason. Rooney sounded like a poised, well-rounded outfit with especially tight harmonies courtesy of drummer Ned Brower and frontman Robert Carmine, who did an admirable job of heading up the band with his easy-going presence. While Rooney’s style of music wasn’t really my kind of thing, it would be hard to fault them — they played well and put together a good set.
Up next was OK Go, another power pop quintet, and about midway through their set, I was reminded of another unfortunate aspect of the all-ages show: no alcohol service. Though I’m not really sure a good buzz would have made OK Go sound any better. It wasn’t that the band was sloppy or ineffective — their performance was polished, though I thought they used the most irritating keyboard sounds imaginable, and they got a good reaction from the crowd — but they seemed to lack conviction. One exception, however, was when the band performed a Specials cover, during which, OK Go’s rhythm section pounded out the song’s heavy, danceable beat and lead vocalist Damian Kulash thrashed around the stage howling out excited vocals. This performance made me wonder why OK Go didn’t play their own material with the same tenacity — it would have made for a much more interesting set.
Rounding out the bill were media darlings the Donnas, who proved themselves worthy of all the attention with an effective performance at the BMU Auditorium. The near-decade that the band has been together was apparent — the Donnas ran through a set of tawdry pop-punk rock ‘n’ roll as a time-tested, cohesive unit. Guitarist Allison Robertson served up furious riffs and arena-ready leads over a suitably steady low-end provided by bassist Maya Ford, petite drummer Torry Castellano solidified the rhythm section and frontwoman Brett Anderson’s resonant vocals and feral demeanor commanded attention. Perhaps best of all, the Donnas were as fun to watch as they were to listen to — with long hair flailing, the Donnas whipped about on stage with much of the same capricious, youthful exuberance as those gathered in attendance.

– James Barone
– Photo by Alyssa Starkey

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