Bands: Saves the Day, Grandaddy, the Fire Theft, and Hey Mercedes
Venue: the Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA
Date: Saturday, March 27th, 2004
Review by: Josh Blackway

I know this is going to upset a lot of people who read this and I'll probably lose a lot of friends, but something has to be said here. First of all, anyone who knows me knows that I despise most music that falls into the emo/indie rock category. Everyone gets mad about the word emo being associated with their favorite bands, so I'll try not to mention it anymore than I have to. So why would I go to a show like this? There are a few reasons: #1- I talk so much trash on these bands, I figured I owe it to them to see for myself if they're really as bad as I think they are. #2- I got in for free. That means I didn't have to pay $30... $30!!! And reason #3- I wanted to hang out with a friend of mine who works in the balcony of the Electric Factory. Since this show was mostly 13 year old girls, the upstairs (over 21 area)wasn't crowded, except for a few moms & dads.

Hey Mercedes opened up. I've heard their cd before and didn't like it. Seeing them live didn't help either. They did make me laugh though because their singer/guitar player kept doing the arm swing-windmill, but he never hit the strings. He missed every time. I'm not saying I've never missed when I play, everyone misses sometimes, but he missed every time..

Next, the Fire Theft. I've heard really good things about this new Jeremy Enigk (Sunny Day Real Estate) project. This was just a personal cringe. I can't stand the dude's voice. I completely respect the guy and he seemed really nice, I just can't get over the voice. However, musically they were the most tolerable.

Grandaddy was next. Good music to fall alseep to. I think at least half of the crowd fell asleep. They tried to make it less boring while they were playing by showing a video, behind the band, of various old cartoons and scenery.. But even the videos were boring. At the end of their set, the singer sang "Rock-a-bye-baby" by himself. Why? I just don't get it. The big crowd looked so bored.

Finally, Saves the Day. I'll admit, 5 or 6 years ago, I bought their first album, Can't Slow Down, and I liked it. I would've loved to hear one of those songs because they were good punk songs, and I was starting to feel really bad for the kids who paid $30 for this show to just stand there like robots. Instead, Saves the Day came on stage playing some slower, newer songs. Not a single song from their first album. I glanced on the big screens that the Electric Factory has hanging up and it looked like I was watching the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show. The band stood still, slowly moving their guitars up and down, just like Paul McCartney. Come on.. give the kids a show! Some bands, like the Beatles, can get away with that. I was just fed up with these motionless bands. I mean, its an emo show... show some emotion!