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The B Complex is one of the
hardest venues I've ever had to find. There's virtually no signage indicating
it's location, and the door to the venue is squeezed between two buildings.
You really have to look to find it. But once you're inside it's one of the
better venues in the Portland area in my opinion. Tonight's show was packed
full of kids, I didn't expect to see quite so many kids at this show. Goes to
show I'm outta the cool loop I guess.
My Chemical Romance opened up the show, and they blew me away. I'd only
heard one or two tracks from them and wasn't really sure what to expect. High
energy, great stage presence, and an act that never seemed to lose speed. MCR
sports a definite hardcore sound, with some songs featuring a more melodic and
soft feel, while others could almost be metal. I was really impressed with
these East Coast boys.
Next up on stage was Recover.
They put on an entertaining and energetic set of their own brand of poppier
hardcore with some metal influences. They were well received by the crowd and
at the end of their set the singer took a dive into the crowd, along with
parts of the drum kit. Lots of fun.
From Autumn To Ashes was 3rd up, and I wasn't too impressed with their stuff.
They had a ton of fans, and were decent, but rather monotonous after awhile.
Scream Scream drums drums, etc. If you're a fan of the pop side of the whole
metalcore genre you should check them out. I was a bit let down by their
set, as I'd been told how great they were live by several people.
Eventually
the banners and stage decoration for the next band was unveiled and Taking
Back Sunday took the stage, much to the glee of the hundreds of kids in
the audience. I've been a fan of TBS for quite some time now, but
tonight was one of the biggest disappointments I've yet encountered from a
band. To be blunt the lead singer was terrible. He sang less than half of the
lyrics and spent most of the night hopping around on stage doing things with
the microphone instead of singing. The only thing that saved the show was the
energy of the crowd, who sang along to every single song, regardless of
whether the lead was singing or not. Kids were crowd surfing and eating up
everything the band threw at them. The lead singer attempted to be
entertaining, at one point climbing some amps to hang upside down from a pipe
in the ceiling. This is entertaining, but I'd have rather heard him sing. I
have to say that I thought the best band of the entire evening was the opener:
My Chemical Romance. At this point I'd much rather see them live again
than any of the other bands I saw this evening.
