Date: December 28, 2003
Location: Axis - Boston, MA
Bands: Catch 22, BigWig, Fall Out Boy, and Punchline
I got to Axis about 15 minutes before doors opened for the show. We bought our tickets at the door and headed inside. I must admit, I was surprised to see such a large turnout for this show, then again I forget about Catch 22's popularity around here. Fall Out Boy has become a recent favorite among the kids in my high school as well. I took a spot on one of the higher levels near the stage and watched the show.
The first band up was Punchline. I really don't have anything good to say about them, so if you're a fan, you better skip this paragraph. Their music was mediocre, at best and the vibe wasn't that great at all. They definitely have a rockstar attitude, and it shows although where and how they obtained this attitude is a mystery to me. They tried to be cool and act funny, but they just looked like lame Home Grown wannabes to me. There were three highlights to their set. One was the chicken running across the stage, the second was Patrick from Fall Out Boy joining in on vocals, and the third was them leaving the stage. I don't think I was ever actually happy to see a band LEAVE the stage until that moment.
For some reason, there was only about 10 minutes between each band's set. Fall Out Boy quickly took the stage. I don't remember the opening song, but their set included the single, 'Dead On Arrival', and one of my favorites, 'Grand Theft Autumn (Where Is Your Boy)' among others off "Take This To Your Grave". They also did a semi-acoustic perfomance of 'Yule Shoot Your Eye Out' from the Santa Cause compilation. They closed with 'Saturday'. Overall I was very impressed with this band's performance. It was only their second time playing in Boston and they did not disappoint. They didn't stand still for a second and it's hard not to get hyped with all that energy coming at you. They talked to the crowd and got them involved. Overall this band had everything to give a great performance: devoted fans, great vocals, and most of all awesome stage presence.
We decided to move to the back to watch BigWig. A lot of the kids were very involved in their set, they definitely got the crowd warmed up for Catch 22. Lots of great circle pits and a hyped performance sums up BigWig's stage time. I've never heard much of BigWig's music, but they sounded pretty good to me. Next came Catch 22 and although I only caught the first few songs of the set, they put on a classic performance playing 'Rocky' and 'Motown Cinderella' before I left.
We ended up heading back to the venue when we saw massive amounts of people leaving. For some reason, no one hung around to talk to the bands with the exception of a handful of kids, and a couple of girls intent on hugging Patrick from Fall Out Boy to death. We saw the guys from Catch 22 walking away from us, and briefly talked to Patrick. Afterwards, we amused ourselves by rapping and acting like dinosaurs in the street, being directed by the one and only Jillie from Overated Mag. I think Punchline found us amusing, but quite frankly we ignored them.
It was definitely one of the better shows I've been too. Overall, the show consisted of excellent performances and a fun atmosphere. You can't go wrong seeing Fall Out Boy, BigWig or Catch 22. Punchline, however, is a completely different story…
For More Information:
• Catch 22 Official Site: www.njcatch22.com
• Fall Out Boy Official Site: www.falloutboyrock.com
• BigWig Official Site: www.njbigwig.com
• Punchline Official Site: www.punchkids.com