consider these your recs this week.

Cartel, Holiday Parade, and The Dangerous Summer at Lynchburg College, 4.14.07.

These three bands played LC's Spring Fling event, held in the gym.


The Dangerous Summer.

The Dangerous Summer was up first, and the place was still pretty empty. Most of the people who were there were still doing the other activities in the gym like henna tattoos or caricatures, so there were just a handful of us standing by the stage. I was hoping that they would be a little more energetic than they were, since their music is so poppy they could really have a good time with it. Still, they played all five songs from their EP and were good sports about the whole thing.


Holiday Parade.

By the time Holiday Parade went on, a few more people had gathered. Holiday Parade has been getting a lot of buzz with their latest EP, produced by Zack Odom and Kenneth Mount, both of whom were in attendance yesterday. This buzz is clearly not without reason. Andy Albert's vocals were near perfect, they had great enthusiasm, and are able to almost replicate the sound they have recorded.

Set list:

Crimson Red
Mixdown
My Philosophy
Abe Frohman
Driving Away
Never Enough

Their set was just plain fun - exactly what you'd expect from them. I hope they manage a tour soon, because I would love to see them again.


Cartel.

Cartel went on without much fanfare, but proceeded to rock just as hard as they did a few weeks ago at a sold out 9:30 Club.

Set list (as closely as I can remember):

Say Anything Else
Luckie Street
If I Fail
Matter of Time
New Song 1
JAM
Runaway
Burn This City
Fiend
Wonderwall
Mistrels Prayer (typo and all)
Q & A
New Song 2
Honestly

(Thanks to Elyse for sharing her setlist so it's correct!)

I will never get tired of Cartel's live show - it's really one of the best I've ever seen. Will Pugh just has so much power in his voice. Even though sometimes you can tell he's pushing it to the physical limit, he always hits every note. They play some things faster, like the end of "Matter Of Time," and on some songs like "A," they just turn it into an extended jam session.

I really love their cover of "Wonderwall". Pugh prefaced that one with "Some of you are old enough to remember this song. If not, I feel sorry for you."

The new songs sound great. They are more radio-ready rock, but there are traces of "Q" and "A" in them as well. I'm pretty sure two of them were the same ones we got on the Cobra Starship tour, and then the third new one added in as well.

This particular show was nice since it was in such a small venue, and everyone was of legal age so there was minimal pushing and screaming. It was odd to be right at the barrier and still be able to breathe.

The inclusion of "Fiend" in the set was a pleasant surprise. Occasionally they will play this song or "Write This Down," but not very often. The rest of the band left Pugh onstage with just an electric guitar for a very slow, ballad-like version of the song. It was truly beautiful.

Moral of the story? Next time Cartel comes to your town, make sure you're there to see it.