By snoadmin
LOS ANGELES—Boys Like Girls and four other bands played a rumbling performance at Club Nokia that made people dance.
The dance floor was literally shaking like an earthquake, as the whole crowd was on its feet and moving to the music of VersaEmerge, A Rocket to the Moon, The Maine, Cobra Starship and Boys Like Girls. The night was also filled with audience participation to make the fans feel closer to the bands.
VersaEmerge began the night with songs from its C.D. “Perceptions” and its self-titled debut. The female-fronted, four-piece band recently signed to Fueled By Ramen Records. It has a sound similar to Paramore, only darker in a Tim Burton-esque sort of way. Vocalist Sierra Kusterbeck has an angelic voice that sounded wonderful live and almost identical to the recording. Although its set seemed rather short, it was still enjoyable and brewed excitement for the rest of the show.
A Rocket to the Moon opened its set with a cover of AC/DC’s “Shook Me All Night Long.” The band performed songs from its debut album “On Your Side.” The audience sang with songs like “Mr. Right” and its hit “Dakota.” Guitarist Justin Richards used a wawa instrument, in the tradition of Peter Frampton, which gave the songs a cool feel. It was an unusual experience to the music but provided a somewhat futuristic and peculiar warble.
Hundreds of girls elicited ear-piercing shrieks of joy as soon as The Maine came on stage. The band delighted fans with a cover of Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me” and played several songs from its album “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop.” During its final song of the night, “Girls Do What They Want,” the band invited a lucky fan on stage to take the mic from lead singer John O’Callaghan and sing the final chorus.
Hands went up in the air, forming fangs, as Cobra Starship came on stage. The group delighted fans with its hit “Snakes On a Plane.” Lead vocalist Gabe Saporta told the audience the song wouldn’t have been possible without the talents of Gym Class Heroes’ Travis McCoy and they needed someone to rap his verse. Eager hands went up in the air, and one lucky fan was chosen to spit the rhymes onstage with the band.
Saporta joked about guitarist Ryland Blackinton’s excitement on finally getting a cordless guitar by saying that it was normally something guitarists get in the beginning of their careers and Blackinton waited until the group went platinum to get his.
About halfway through its set, Cobra Starship performed “Pete Wentz Is the Only Reason We’re Famous.” During the song, the audience members’ jaws dropped as Wentz (guitarist of Fall Out Boy) hopped on stage to sing with the band and sexually joke with Saporta. By the end of the set, Saporta’s microphone was cutting out and he thought it was “Wentz playing a joke.” The technical difficulties were resolved just in time for the band to end its set with the dance numbers “Hot Mess” and “Good Girls Go Bad.”
The headliners of the night, Boys Like Girls, opened its set with its latest single “Love Drunk.” Certainly, that song was similar to the emotions of the hundreds of screaming girls who were singing along with vocalist Martin Johnson. The band played many songs from its sophomore release “Love Drunk,” as well as a few from their self-titled 2006 release. Johnson showed that he was devoted to his music and fans by continuing to perform even after his fingers started to bleed from playing his guitar so hard.
To slow things down, Johnson announced that he would play their love song “Two is Better Than One,” featuring Taylor Swift. To replace Swift for the night and sing the female vocals on the song, Johnson invited Kusterbeck to sing with him.
Instead of playing a traditional encore, the band skipped it by immediately going into the last song, its first hit, “The Great Escape.” Johnson said he wanted all of the audience on stage to dance with them, so the fans pushed to the stage in a frenzy of excitement, jumping over the barriers and shoving their way through security guards. By the end of the show, Johnson was surrounded by fans busy snapping photos and grabbing him.
The night seemed to end early at around 10 p.m. but that didn’t stop it from being a night of surprises and excitement for fans.
