This is far and away the smallest venue I have ever seen Cobra Starship at, and it was every bit as exciting as past shows. Cobra’s music is built for packed rooms where everyone is wedged in, sweaty and dancing like crazy.
DJ Skeet Skeet was the first opener, playing a bunch of dance remixes along the lines of Fall Out Boy, Katy Perry, and 3OH!3. The crowd was kind of into it, but clearly saving their energy for the real show.
As for The Friday Night Boys, this was a hometown show for them. It’s the first time I’ve seen them since they signed with Fueled By Ramen, and they haven’t changed a bit. They’re still dance rock, still having fun, and still not taking it too seriously. The new songs sounded good – as a whole their music has become more rock and less electronic over time. It was a bit sad that there was no "Sorry I Stole Yo Gurl," but I probably would be sick of playing that one too. The funniest part was when someone in the crowd catcalled, "My Favorite Highway is better!" which launched a discussion among the band about Andrew Goldstein’s tenure in My Favorite Highway. Their setlist was something like:
Suicide Sunday
High School
Permanent Heartbreak
That's What She Said
Molly Makeout
Stuttering
The Audition was next. Their shows are always solid, and last night was no different. I’ll be honest – I haven’t listened to them in a long time, and I was surprised at how dance-oriented their new songs were. Not a bad thing – a very good thing, in fact. They were fun, and working hard to get the crowd motivated for the rest of the night.
My Temperature's Rising
You've Made Us Conscious
Love With a Motive
Hell to Sell
Los Angeles
The Way You Move
Warm Me Up
Don't Be So Hard
After a seemingly interminable interlude from DJ Skeet Skeet, Cobra Starship took the stage to dozens of screaming and grabbing girls. Gabe Saporta was loving it, and loving playing to a small venue. I have never seen a lack of enthusiasm from these guys. Gabe dances and slides all over, spending plenty of time right at the edge of the stage. Due to R&R’s lack of air conditioning, he was quickly dripping everywhere, and so was the rest of the band. Vicky T. wore a purple tube dress that was shorter than short, and everyone was just having the time of their life.
Pete Wentz is the Only Reason We're Famous
Send My Love to the Dance Floor, I'll See You in Hell (Hey Mister DJ)
The Church of Hot Addiction
Kiss My Sass
Damn You Look Good and I'm Drunk (Scandalous)
The Ballad of Big Poppa and Diamond Girl
My Moves are White (White Hot, That Is)
Hollaback Boy
The World Has Its Shine (But I Would Drop It On A Dime)
Smile for the Paparazzi
The City is at War
Bring It (Snakes On A Plane)
***
Good Girls Go Bad
Guilty Pleasure
"Damn You Look Good…" through "Hollaback Boy" were performed as a sort of medley. It was odd that for the "Hot Mess Across the US" tour, there were only three songs from Hot Mess on the setlist. Gabe did make a comment along the lines of "this is the last time we’ll be playing some of these old songs," and kept saying the old songs were for the old fans. This tour is clearly a sort of send off for them – a gift to the fans before they head out on a couple of big name, big venue tours. Sad, but I am glad I caught this round. A few people came up on stage throughout the set, including Friday Night Boys’ Chris Barrett covering one of Travis McCoy’s raps, and a young boy named Connor who got brought up to do the "Guilty Pleasure" dance and generally just hang out on stage for being so young and in the front row.
One of the best things about seeing Cobra Starship is watching how much Gabe interacts with and thanks the crowd. He took a number of small gifts from people in the audience, and he always spends much of the banter between songs talking about how dedicated the fans are and how grateful he is that they have put the band where they are today. It’s nice to see someone give back a little like that.
Overall, Cobra was just as explosive and entertaining as always, and I can’t wait to see where they go next.
