Show Reviews.

Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 - 449 Room

For those that haven't been to 449 Room I suggest you check out this little venue. With a vegetarian restaurant on the side, a pool table, some couches, tables, and a small stage, this room is quite quaint and really nice for small shows such as the one that took place on June 18th with Counter Culture Superheroes, Sidetrack, Johnny 9 and the Racers, Awful Waffle, and The Sneaky Sea Lions.

(I'm joined in on this review at random times by Garrett "Cheech" Weber)

The first band was Counter Culture Super Heroes. The crowd started to come in when this band came on at 8. It wasn't much of a crowd but it was something. The band came with their own little entourage of fans and friends and they danced for them and sang along. Some of their songs gave me an Irresponsible Records vibe, kind of like 5 Cent Deposit, but just a few. It was interesting to see their horn section AKA a soprano trombone. Overall they had a really upbeat sound, and seemed like cool guys.
What stands out in my mind for their set is the bassist saying, "I'd like to say my mom is here and 16 years ago I came out of her vagina." Now, his mom is standing near us and turns to us and says "He was an ass baby, he didn't come out of my vagina." Then later on in their set he asked the crowd to say hello to her again by saying "Hello Vagina!"
Then there was the one guy theory: there is always that one guy that dances like crazy to make up for the lack on enthusiasm from the rest of the audience.
Now I'm not saying they are terrible, but I didn't dig them. They were funny and somewhat entertaining but nothing to brag about. They're young, not very developed, and with practice they could be good. But I'm not really holding my breath. What it comes down to is they are: NOT SKA MOM APPROVED.

Second band was Side Track (Sidetrack? I don't know. It's Side + Track, take it whatever way you wish). This band first came on and I remember Cheech saying "Open handed drummers rule!" But ummm, we got our hopes up. They were the typical white suburban pop punk band in my mind. I mean they were decent for what they were but that's pretty much the extent of classifying them to a genre. They had nice harmonies but other than that I remember being completely bored throughout the set. I took notes on all the bands that played and this bands consisted of : I'm Bored.
-Harry Potter 7 comes out Saturday
-Cheech is ticklish (just so everyone knows)
-Rain sucks because people in NJ can?t drive in it.
-I wonder if their neighborhood watch program gets noise complaints.
-The amount of "punk rock" you are/scene points you can accumulate MUST somehow correlate with the angle of your cap. Which leads to
-The Hat Theory: The cap straightens out within time (it starts off backwards and works its way up and around), and as such, so does your spirit for youthful teenage rebellion.
So if you couldn't tell, this band was NOT SKA MOM APPROVED. And now I quote her "Slam dancing is dead."

Third band of the night: Johnny 9 and the Racers.
FINALLY! A band that didn't make me want to rip off my ears or take a nap! This band really brought the crowd back in the room, and by the crowd I mean the people that were there for the music and not just to support their friends crappy band.
I really like them, they are wicked fun, and upbeat, the crowd really got together for these guys. They might be a little generic but there is nothing wrong with that. They had a great vibe and I wish I knew the songs so I could sing along. Also, it was really nice to see some horns, the lack of a decent horn section with the first 2 bands was really disheartening when I expected to go to a ska show.
Sorry I don't have too much to say about these guys, the only thing left to say is that they were SKA MOM APPROVED.

Next band was none other than Awful Waffle AKA the reason I was there. Although this had been my 3rd time seeing them 6 days. Yeah, go me! I love A-dub. They always get the crowd dancing and everyone has a great time when they play. Because of this I was not sitting and actually reviewing them, but instead standing in the audience and dancing and enjoying the set. They have such a great stage presence and catchy music you can?t help but love them. I'm pretty sure that anyone that has gone to some NJSka shows they have seen Awful Waffle at least once and know exactly what I'm talking about.
My one complaint of the night was NO BEESWAT?! WHAT!?
This band is of course: SKA MOM APPROVED
PS: It's a lot easier to review bands you have either never seen before or don't know.

Finally, The Sneaky Sea Lions. This was my first time seeing these guys, I missed them when they came up to Syracuse, I heard good reviews from my friends that went but I didn't really expect this. They have quick lyrics, smooth riffs and some sick drums and horns. You can definitely tell that most of the audience came out for them.
These guys have a totally goofy stage presence that the audience just eats up. I can tell why Syracuse liked them. I'm just surprised I haven't heard more about them. I was just really taken back by how talented they are. I loved the Green Day cover! And then to top the night off they asked the audience to waltz! It was good times.
SKA MOM APPROVED

Reviewed by Allison Coe.