Saves the Day, Taking Back Sunday & Moneen

As mid-level rock shows go, the recent Saves the Day show on the Chico State University campus certainly caused more than its fair share of pre-show ruckus. This ruckus centered around the fact that the show was originally open only to students of Chico State and its feeder college, Butte, much to the chagrin on non-students young and old, as well as the two main bands involved in the affair, who both threw the expected fuss on behalf of their respective fan bases. In the end, the entrance criteria was changed to 18-and-over, somewhat placating the bands themselves, but leaving both a vocal contingent of rock fans out in the literal and proverbial cold, as well as leaving the cavernous venue half-empty.
Needless to say, under such circumstances, the mood of the show was somewhat dour. Upon entrance, the frothing throngs of teenaged girls made up like scarecrows and shrimpy adolescent boys in spiked belts that usually make up the majority of the crowd at such shows were nowhere to be seen. In their place were a lot of somewhat interested college-aged people, who milled about aimlessly while openers Moneen gave it a go. Hailing from Canada, Moneen were more or less what you would expect out of an opening act on this bill: screamy but not obtrusive, catchy but not memorable. The band had its difficulties getting started with the usual technical errors, but after they settled into their relative groove they were respectable if not a trite unexciting. After their diminutive frontman executed a standing front-flip, the band vacated the stage in favor of Taking Back Sunday.
Taking Back Sunday are among the forerunners in the recent crop of bands combining the pleasing aspects of typical new school pop-punk with a sort of screaming, hollering thing that gets the youths all riled up. And what youths were in attendance indeed did get riled up by TBS, as they blasted their way though songs from their Victory Records debut Tell All Your Friends. But despite a couple of semi-enjoyable songs such as “Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut From the Team)” and “You’re So Last Summer,” each from recent compilations that have floated about the mainstream rock world, Taking Back Sunday had a fraying effect on one’s nerves after awhile. Seeking a brief respite from the continuous bellowing of TBS frontman Adam Lazzara, I attempted to venture outside. However, this attempt was stifled by the stern hands of the door minders, who informed that there were absolutely no re-entries whatsoever for anyone. Not even those with innocent faces and 21-year-old IDs. Apparently, the lack of kids at the show prompted the show’s organizers to decide to treat everyone like kids, for good measure. Although it was flattering to feel the injustices of youth once again, it rather put a damper on the evening’s proceedings, especially given the bands’ proclivity for excruciatingly long set changes.
Finally though, Saves the Day took the stage and goddamn if they didn’t almost instantly redeem the show of all its aforementioned failures. Kicking off with the first two tracks off 2001’s Stay What You Are, the band — which featured frontman Chris Conley now on guitar as well as vocals, Face to Face drummer Pete Parada on the kit, and a newfound back-up vocalist/keyboardist/tambourine player who added a gratifying layer to the band’s sound — sounded tighter than pants wrapped around the dorm girl in front of me. As they tore into “Anywhere With You” the first single from their new record In Reverie, it became starkly evident why Saves the Day had graduated into the big-leagues of the rock world: they are a good band, plain and simple. Their sound had a crispness that the previous two bands certainly seemed to have a profound lack of. Conley’s voice has grown increasingly strong and steady over the years, and in a live setting is now almost indistinguishable, quality-wise, from the band’s recordings. A colleague in attendance remarked that it seemed like she was watching a music video and indeed, as the band played through a set balancing old material with new, both the incredible precision and clarity of the band’s performance matched by Conley’s charmingly boyish dance moves made the scene seem entirely too pleasant for the cruel reality which had previously been the night’s standard. If nothing else, Saves the Day proved that in the end, rock music will overcome. And the band promised to come back in February, so kids, mark your calendars.
– Daniel Taylor
– Photos by Alyssa Starkey

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