A Day To Remember / Papa Roach / Falling in Reverse / Devil Wears Prada - 2018

03/17/2018

This is the 1st of the 2 shows I got my daughter tickets for xmas.
Was looking forward to this quite a bit. Saturday show, on St Patrick's Day weekend. In Pittsburgh at a venue neither of us had ever been too. The plan was to meet up early to explore a bit, get something to eat, then hit the concert.
I was somewhat hindered, due to having the flu for a few weeks at this point. So I was kind of hacking and coughing, as well as not eating well and a little weak. (SPOILER - 3 weeks later, I was in the hospital with pnuemonia! )

Drive down was nice and uneventful.
We'd decided to meet at a used book store not too far away from a parking garage near the venue. Had some fun finding the garage, as it was mostly underground. Then I went and found the book store. No sign of my daughter though.
So, I hung out in the area, walking around the block several times until I finally ran into her. She had run into traffic issues which caused the delay.
We then checked out the book store, and a couple other stores in the area.
Then we wandered around checking things out.
The venue was part of the college in the area. So, that meant there were several interesting things to see in the area.
Lots of very interesting architecture and buildings.
We found a pizza place to get something to eat and get out of the cold for a while. (it is mid March in Pittsburgh, not freezing, but chilly and windy so a bit uncomfortable after a while)

Then it was time to head to the venue.
The venue was somewhat unique. This being Pittsburgh, things were kind of hilly.
Had to go up a hill to get to the venue. Then when you go in, you enter in at the bottom, which is unusual.
The only concourse is at the top. Which meant, since we were on the GA floor, if we wanted anything, we had to go all the way up the stairs to the top of the venue. So I only made one trip outside for a smoke. It just wasn't worth the effort. Especially since I wasn't feeling well, and had already had a busy day.

I knew nothing about this band going into the show. I had heard of them, but don't think I had heard anything by them.
I wasn't impressed. Typical growling band. Heavy guitars, fast playing. Zero subtlety. I just sat on the floor by the sound desk.

I knew next to nothing about this band. I'd heard the name, but that was about it.
Imagine my surprise, when they came out and blew me away!
First of all, when they took the stage, the singer was wearing a Penguins jersey and had a Steelers cape. Talk about knowing their crowd and playing to it.
They also came out full of energy. This instantly got the crowd into it. The music was uptempo and fun.
Heck, the 2nd song caused me and my daughter to do a double-take. He was rapping with cookie-monster vocals! Not exclusively, there was actual vocals for much of the song. But is just brought another layer of fun. The rest of the setlist was uptempo and fun as well. Lots of places for the audience to join in on choruses.
The singer was very good at working the crowd too. A few shout-outs here and there. Some exhortations to jump, put up your fists, are raise your finger.
Not a ton of talking between songs kept the pace from dropping off.
Turns out I had heard a couple of the songs on the radio before. Just never knew who did them, and only heard them once or twice.
They were lots of fun, they sounded good, and worked the crowd well. I wouldn't mind seeing them again at all.

Finally. The reason I made the trip.
I love the new album (Crooked Teeth). I couldn't wait to hear and experince the songs done live. And I was not let down.
Ont thing to note. I still don't like Papa Roach's habbit of starting a set with a lot of bright white flashing and strobing lights.
I want to see the band take the stage, not be blinded and disoriented by the lights.
That said, I really loved the show. The song selection really worked. Nice mix of classics and new, great blend of up tempo and slower tempo
to give the show some ebb and flow. Give the audience a bit of a breather before winding them up again.
A couple neat surprises in the setlist too. The Blur cover really went over well with the crowd. As did the tribute to Chester.
One of the things I REALLY liked was the use of 'Traumatic' for the Wall-of-Death. The song has such swing between hard and soft it works great.
When it kicks in, the pit explodes, then it slows down, gives you chance to catch your breath, then it kicks back in and you charge back into the thick of things.

I knew a few songs, and liked them, so I was looking forward to seeing these guys.
Sadly, I was wipped out by the time we got this far. So I spent most of their set, sitting by the rail on the side of the floor.
They sounded good. They were lively and interacted well with the crowd. They had some cool video screens in the back.
All the components were there, I just wasn't feeling it
I was tired and just wanted to go home, but still, I didn't want to leave until it was over. So, them doing 4 encores just seemed excessive

The venue was cool. Kinda small. I checked, says it holds 9000 for end-stage concerts. Most of that is up on the sides though. Floor is smallish, which was great. Sides were tall and steep, which kinda sucked as we had to go up to the top for bathrooms, concessions, and for me to smoke.
The sound wasn't horrible, but it could have been better. But considering the place is a basketball building for a college team, I'm glad it was as good as it was. If they would have just dialed the volume back just a touch, it would have been so much better.
The vibe of the place was great though. On a college campus, on St Patrick's day, people were there to have a good time. There were a few of the 'too drunk frat boy' types, but they weren't around long.
Especially once the pit really opened up.
Hell, there was even an impromptu dance competition on the floor between bands. They were playing some good fun music, and a couple of dudes started breaking out some amazing moves. Next thing you know there was a huge crowd around them and the people up in the seats were cheering.
I was just too wiped out by that point to really be able to appreciate most of it.
Getting out of town after the show was a bit laborous. Lots of stop-and-go traffic.
Once I got out on the highway it was smooth sailing.
I did have to stop at a rest area and take an hour long nap before continuing home.

I had fun, and made some great memories.

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