By snoadmin
LOS ANGELES– The Avalon turned into a place of elegance and grace as dozens of fans waited outside the venue, some in ball gowns, as the rain poured down for the annual Alternative Press Fall Ball on Wednesday, Oct. 14.
With the majority of the audience being female, it was questionable who the lucky ladies would have for their dates for the ball. Luckily enough, The Academy Is…, Mayday Parade, Set Your Goals, The Secret Handshake, and You Me At Six were there to fill the void of princes and also provided the entertainment for the night. As Luis Dubuc of the Secret Handshake said to the audience, “The Fall Ball is all about discovering new music.”
The first fans who were let in were the winners of a costume contest that the festival was holding. The lucky fans were decked out in ball gowns and masks. After, the rest of the line piled into the building and in front of the stage, which some made the occasional stops at the merch tables and the AP Magazine table with subscriptions available at a very reasonable price.
You Me at Six, from the U.K., were the first to perform. Despite being fairly unknown, the audience seemed to like its pop sound and it would be safe to say that the hearts of girls were melting at each word spoken and sang by singer Josh Franceschi with his beautiful English accent. Although Franceschi’s voice sounded strained at times, he acknowledged that he had bronchitis but got the audience psyched when he announced their cover of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face,” which had the entire audience dancing and singing along.
The Secret Handshake delighted the audience with his electronic-pop sound, complete with his voice synthesized for the entire set. During his set, he covered Skee-Lo’s “I Wish,” which had the audience dancing to the hip-hop beat and a new song, “TGIF” that had the audience busting up in laughter as he continuously made references to some 90s television show favorites such as “Full House”, “Family Matters” and “The Fresh Prince.” The voice synthesizers, however, proved to be unlucky as they provided technical difficulties at the end, which ultimately cut the set short.
Set Your Goals was probably the least entertaining of the bands. Although it did open its set with a creative dance with a blow-up doll and wore tuxedos, it wasn’t enough for Set Your Goals to stop its set from turning out rather poorly and sloppy. The six-member group had two lead singers, which seemed unnecessary; especially with one of them having a high pitched chipmunk on helium-sounding voice that just got annoying as soon as he opened his mouth.
A sigh of relief seemed to take over the venue as The Academy Is… got on stage. It played many songs from each of its albums, including some off its newest E.P. “Lost In Pacific Time,” available exclusively on Itunes and at the Fall Ball. Lead singer William Beckett was as dreamy as ever with his intoxicating voice and smile. TAI’s set seemed rather long but that did not mean that the audience was bored. Throughout the entire set, fans were constantly singing and pushing to get to the front of the stage, possibly to catch the many guitar picks that guitarist Mike Carden was throwing into the audience.
Mayday Parade ended the night and despite it headlining the show, the dance floor seemed emptier. However, that didn’t stop the band from showing off its talents and putting on a highly energetic set. The stage was brightly-lit with platforms for the members to stand on. The band played a variety of music from harder songs such as “The Silence” to the soft and heartrending piano-driven “Miserable At Best.” It had three singers, but unlike Set Your Goals, each of them had talented voices and great stage presence, especially lead singer Derek Sanders who moved around the stage and reached out to the audience.
The night ended early before the clock struck 12 but that didn’t stop the night from turning into somewhat of a fairytale fantasy for the fans who attended.
