- Show Reviews
- Saves the Day
w/ THE ANNIVERSARY / DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL / HOT ROD CIRCUIT
The Vagrant Across America Tour
July 16, 2001
The Trocadero - Philadelphia, PA
I won this contest on Punkbands.com, and I was supposed to get to meet and interview Saves the Day and get into the show for free when they played at the Troc on the 15th. However, that didnt end up working out....fucking bullshit....so instead i just got 2 free passes for the show on monday. Me and Pam were supposed to go together, and we had planned it out like months before, that we were going to, but the night of, she decided she better not go, b/c she had been at work all day, and there was all this other shit going on. So like 2 hours before the show, I get Rich to go with me, and we just up and go. It's all cool that we didnt have to pay, and that i was on the guest list and stuff, but i really wanted a ticket stub, especially for a show that cool. Anyway, we just sat down in the lobby for the first 3 bands, except when i got up to see The Anniversary play "All Things Ordinary," cause that song's pretty rad. Little to our knowledge, all three of the other bands had played already, and we thought we were getting up front for Hot Rod Circuit, so we could make sure we were upfront for STD. So we're just chilling near the front on the side for awhile, then the lights go out and everything. Then i start seeing these guys walk out on stage, and i was like "hmm, that guy looks kinda familiar... oh, there's five guys in this band too..... hmm, that singer looks awful short," and then i finally realized it actually was Saves the Day. So i was like, shit man, and just took off for the front. They barely said anything, and just busted out with one of my favorite songs, "Holly Hox, Forget Me Nots," and it was soooo fucking awesome. At first we were like in the back of the pit, where all the open moshing sections are, but we finally made it up like 3 people or so behind the front of the stage. I just had this big ass smile most of the time jsut watching Chris Conely belt out song after song, and he would be looking into the crowd, and then just throw his head back and yell out the lyrics. The rest of the band looked very focused, and never really looked at anyone in the crowd or anything, which i thought was a little bit weird. But Chirs made up for it, b/c he was so involved with the crowd. All the songs they played were kick ass, and i was singing along to all the ones i knew. but after awhile i was so hot and exhausted that i thought i was going to throw up if i sang anymore, so i just mouthed the lyrics, haha. After they played cars and calories, chris starts talking about the song and how america portrays the perfect person and how we're supposed to be like them. And he was like "You know what i think about that? fuck them!" and then he started saying, "Because all i see here is beautiful people... when you go home, look in the mirror and accept how wonderful you are." It was pretty weird, but cool at the same time. When we were sitting down during the other bands, we kept seeing all these older people walking around with backstage passes on, and were wondering what the hell was up with that. And oddly enough, it turned out that one of the older women was actually Chirs Conley's mom, and during "My Sweet Fracture", theres a part when the lyrics go something like "called my mom last nite, she said 'sweetie, you dont need someone who's more fleeting than fall", and when he singing it he was looking up at his mom... it was pretty cool.
SETLIST:
holly hox forget me nots
cars & calories
always 10 feet tall
my sweet fracture
take our cars now
jessie and my wheatstone
drag in d flat
sell my old clothes im off to heaven
through being cool
shoulder to the wheel
rocks tonic juice magic
all star me
freakish
firefly
the last lie i told
jukebox breakdown
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at your funeral
you vandal
SAVES THE DAY
w/ WHATEVER IT TAKES / THURSDAY / HEY MERCEDES
November 25, 2001
The Recher Theatre - Towson, MD
Why did the stupid fucking kids around here have to ruin this show for me? I hate the Recher Theatre and all the little assholes that congregated there for this show, NONE of them knew how to act at a show, and I couldn't even enjoy myself. That's why people dont play here, cause the crowd is fucking stupid. Anyway, the first band, Whatever it Takes, they were alright i suppose, nothing really special. Except that the singer thought it would be cool to sport a skunk hair-do and die a black strip from front to back on his head. Plus his guitar broke twice. Thursday was a lot better than I had previouslly thought, and they were pretty good on stage. The singer was really good and they did rock whilst up there. The singer from Hey Mercedes started out by passing out stickers to everyone in the front row, how kind. They were kinda boring though, although, the crowd did suck emensely, so that wasnt helping. And then for Saves the Day... the previous statement refers to the sudden wave of idiocity that swept over the crowd before STD came on. And that pretty much sums up the show considering I couldn't concentrate on anything else, everytime I actually started to enjoy myself, someone fell on my head or crushed me almost to the floor. One of the high points was when Chris manned the acoutic guitar and did some solo acoustic tunes. He messed up on "Hold" and it was kinda funny, then did another one by himself. After that they rest of the guys came on and they did one more off the acoustic EP, and Ted brought out a 12 pack of coke for the audience. They played alright I guess, it just sucked for so many reasons and I was really pissed about it.
(1) the crowd was awful
(2) it was only 4/5 of STD, since the Hey Mercedes drummer was filling in
(3) the venue just wasnt a good place for a show
(4) it was raining really hard outside, so we were all drenched to begin with
Maybe next time boys
SETLIST:
As Your Ghost Takes Flight
Rocks Tonic Juice Magic
See You
All Star Me
Certain Tragedy
Through Being Cool
Freakish
Sell My Old Clothes, I'm Off to Heaven
--acoustic--
Hold
Take Our Cars Now
Jessie and My Wheatstone
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My Sweet Fracture
Nightingale
The Choke
Cars & Calories
Drag in D Flat
This is Not an Exit
Jukebox Breakdown
At Your Funeral
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Holly Hox, Forget Me Nots
SAVES THE DAY
w/ SMALL BROWN BIKE / PIEBALD
March 1, 2002
9:30 Club - Washington, DC
Oh god, at one point in time I was going to go with like 7 people to this concert and it took me forever to determine how I was going ot work it out. Ends up most people didnt buy a ticket early, and it sold out like umbrellas during monsoon season. So I went with Rich, Pam and her friends and they met up with Jen right at the door, and I met up with Amy at the end of the show. Small Brown Bike just came out and rocked house, no 2 ways about it. There was this pit that opened up during their set and these total hardcore guys slamming around in it, it was fucking great. Piebald was running a muck during their set, and during one song the singer did this David Lee Roth-esk jump split off of the drum riser, CLASSIC! And they were cracking jokes the whole time too, at one point reciting some Petey Pablo, haha. Saves the Day unrolled a huge banner before they went on stage, and all the little girls and little boys screamed for joy. They must have not been certain that Saves the Day WAS IN FACT playing that evening, due to their apparent scream of relief when the banner arose. Anywho, they played, it was decent... I can't really remember anything special happenening. And it seems to be standard practice now that Chris adorns an acoustic halfway through every set and jams out 2 acoustic songs and then the band joins in for "I'm Sorry I'm Leaving". One cool thing, Amy gave me a setlist that she snagged, so now I can post an authentic setlist on here.
SETLIST:
As Your Ghost Takes Flight
Through Being Cool
Cars & Calories
Certain Tragedy
All-Star Me
Freakish
Holly Hox, Forget Me Nots
See You
All I'm Losing is Me
---Acoustic---
Take Our Cars Now
Three Miles Down
I'm Sorry, I'm Leaving
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Sell My Old Clothes, I'm Off to Heaven
The Last Lie I Told
Nightingale
My Sweet Fracture
Firefly
---Encore---
Rocks Tonic Juice Magic
At Your Funeral