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Saturday, May 12, 2012

Live Review: Go Radio & This Providence, Baltimore Soundstage (4/3/12)

The Fearless Records/Fueled By Ramen pop-rock scene seems to have stagnated over the last year. Between 2008 and 2010, bands such as Mayday Parade, Every Avenue, A Rocket To The Moon, Forever The Sickest Kids, The Maine, and basically every other band that has supported All Time Low on a tour were amongst the biggest bands in the Warped Tour crowd, selling out large clubs and receiving herds of teenage fans. Their popularity led to hundreds of copycat bands, very few of which were amounted to anything. But as the new wave of pop-punk rose up, it seemed as though many of these bands fell off the face of the planet. Luckily, This Providence's independent return to the scene and Go Radio's sure to be strong sophomore full length have brought some of that energy back into that mostly forgotten scene.

It had been over two years since This Providence had toured before hopping on this tour in place of There For Tomorrow, and the band had been generally inactive in that time period. Lead singer Dan Young cleared up pretty much every question that a fan would have had before the performance. It turned out band had written two full records that were turned down by their label, Fueled By Ramen, before finally being dropped. The tour was the band's first time that they could premier brand new songs, and they played all four of the new songs on their recently released Brier EP. The band showed a slightly more rocking edge on three of the new songs, while Young passionately took it solo on the acoustic guitar to showcase the cutesy "You're Mine."

The reception that This Providence received was quite disappointing based on the fanfare that they had prior to their two year disappearance, but the band still played the older material as passionately as they had in the past. Personal favorites "Waste Myself" and "Letdown" were highlights of the night, as the band was sounding tighter than ever before. Bassist David Blaise kept the groovy "That Girl's A Trick" powering through, making a song that's average on record sound much bigger live. Luckily, the band got the response they deserved the whole set when they played fan favorite "My Beautiful Rescue," which finally got everyone singing along. This Providence played a perfect "welcome back" set, and if Brier is any indication of the band's future material, then Fueled By Ramen will face the consequences of letting this extremely talented band go.

Go Radio's popularity has skyrocketed as the fans from Mayday Parade finally realized who the songwriter was that made the band exceptional to start with. Jason Lancaster's stage presence is exceptional, always captivating the crowd with every word of his powerful voice. Upbeat rockers like "Any Other Heart," "Fight, Fight," and "Kill The Beast" kept the band's fans on their feet, excitedly jumping and singing along. The band's cover of "Rolling In The Deep" from the deluxe edition of Lucky Street was another obvious crowd favorite, as even the parents of the teens that they brought were singing along excitedly.

Lancaster's strength is singing slow ballads, especially when he's in front of a piano. No fewer than four songs out of the setlist allowed Lancaster to belt his heart out in lyrical form, and you could see the emotion pouring out of him. Piano ballad "Why I'm Home" was another highlight, as one of the band's first songs is still one of their best, and Lancaster always kills those high notes. "House Of Hallways" and the rarely played "The Truth Is" also saw the band slowing it down, adding to the list of heart-wrenching moments of the night. A new song titled "What If You Don't" began the encore, adding another ballad to a set that featured almost as many slow songs as fast ones. But as every Go Radio show usually ends, this show ended on its most emotional moment. The absolutely beautiful "Goodnight Moon" translated perfectly over live, as Lancaster's initial solo performance was joined by the rest of the band on stage, ending in a blissful crash of instruments. Lancaster isn't simply just a master at crafting excellent tracks, but he's also a wizard on stage, able to manipulate people's emotions to a T, and made sure that every member of the crowd came out both happy and crying.

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