As I am writing this, I just want all of you to know that I am deaf. That’s right. I can’t hear a goddamn thing. My eardrums are killing me. You will see why in a moment.
I have just returned to The Hotel after another killer Take Action! Tour up at the Sunset House of Blues. Before I go into the line-up, let me tell you a little bit about what Take Action! does.
In 1999 Hopeless Records founded Sub City with the mission to make a positive impact that goes beyond music. With over 30 charity releases and counting to go along with the annual Take Action! Tour, Hopeless & Sub City Records has recently passed over one million dollars donated to charity.
Take Action was founded by Hopeless & Sub City Records with the mission to create a better world, one voice and one action at a time. Take Action strives to educate people about the positive difference that can be made by each of us in our community through activism and charitable work. To date over $450,000 has been raised through the efforts of Take Action.
I got involved with Take Action! four years ago when I was still living in Philly. I believe Hawthorne Heights, Taking Back Sunday, Senses Fail, and Coheed & Cambria were on the bill, but I could be totally wrong. Anyway, I went b/c it was a good line-up, but when I got there, all of the bands kept thanking everyone for coming and having fun, but also to remember why we were all there. The last couple of years, the big charity the Take Action! was donating to was 1-800-suicide due to the fact President Bush cut all funding to the National Suicide Prevention hotline. Last year it was the Youth Suicide hotline b/c he cut the funding for that as well. This tour is what brought the suicide problem to light for me. Suicide prevention and awareness is very important part of my life. I’ve dealt with it a number of ways in my own personal life, and although personally it hasn’t completely affected me on a family level, I’ve seen 1st person the affect it can have on siblings and children.
A few quick facts about suicide in general:
- An average of 32,000 people die each year in the United States of suicide.
- Suicide is the 4th leading cause of death in the US with people btw the ages of 18 and 65 with 26,500 people.
- Overall it’s the 11th leading cause of death in the US.
- Each day, approximately 80 people take their own life, and another 1500 attempt to do so. That works out to one death by suicide every 16 minutes, and an attempt about every minute.
Youth suicide:
- Suicide is the 5th leading cause of death for kids btw age 5 and 14
- It’s the 3rd leading cause of death of 15 to 24 year olds
- The suicide rate of 10 to 14 year olds has doubled in the last 2 years
Sorry to bring the house down, but it’s a huge problem in the United States. This year, the tour took a more large-scale approach and was sponsored and backing DoSomething.org which is a site people can go to and find out how they can volunteer and donate and (literally) take action in their neighborhoods. This tour has been a very positive influence on me and on my generation as a whole.
Now for the good stuff.
So I park my car in the cheap outdoor lot up on Sunset Blvd. and like a complete idiot, I walked nine blocks in the wrong direction before I realize I am walking away from the HOB instead of towards it. So I had to turn around. Due to my stupidity, I missed THE HUMAN ABSTRACT perform and only caught the last two songs of AUGUST BURNS RED. From what I caught, those guys could throw down. Wish I could have caught more. I knew it was a good show though b/c when I walked in the door, security was escorting a guy with a bloody mouth to the medic room.
THE BLED took the stage next. Killed it, of course. The lead singer, James, reminded me of Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw. (If you don’t know who that is, hit yourself.) He spent most of the show standing on the barrier btw the stage and the crowd making sure they were part of the whole BLED experience. The guitar-work reminded me a lot of At The Drive-In with their screeching guitars, but had the heaviness of a classic hardcore band.
While I was watching THE BLED, I ran into good ol’ Joe Hursley. I worked with him on Punk’d; he was one of the punkers. Since then, he’s been in all kinds of movies like Accepted and he told me he recently did a little piece in Fast and Furious 4, and been in commercials for Doritos and VW, and apparently will soon be the new face of the “Got Milk” campaign.
Next FROM FIRST TO LAST took the stage. The first time I saw them play was back in 2004 opening for BAD RELIGION. It was a really weird tour for them to be on. It was one of their first tours and no one really understood them. Tonight, I kinda got the same feel. I do, however, think that since they got rid of the whole “emo” (I fucking hate that word) look and went for a more traditional rock look they are much more everyman type act. Also, I think FFTL is a much better band without Sonny Moore. There I said it. He is a great lyricist, but he’s only like 19 years old or some shit, and I remember seeing him on stage, and I felt like he didn’t really do much. The rest of the band did all the talking. No stage presence at all. Matt Good did an awesome job as front man and fits the roll much better. He pumped the crowd up and I felt the band, as a whole, were more connected to the audience than before. I remember telling a guy four years ago when I saw FFTL they were going to become a huge band, and I believe I called it. I feel they are still a highly underappreciated act and their best stuff is yet to come.
Finally, the act I went to see, EVERY TIME I DIE. These guys destroyed the stage. I mean, they have to be the best southern rock/metalcore act out there. The kicked so much ass, my fucking testicles are sore. That’s a fucking show. I always loved their albums, but now I have a brand new kind of passion for ETID. These guys knew how to put on a show. I don’t think I’ve seen too many acts have as much fun as they did on stage. I mean, I know a lot of the bands I go see are doing what they love, but these guys become like the little kids dancing on the stage during Charlie Brown’s Xmas play rehearsal when they plug in. During the third song, guitarist Jordan Buckley got a huge running start, and like mother fucking Jesus Christ, ran clear off the stage and crossed the crowd like he was walking on water. He made it out into the middle of the pit before he lost any momentum. I don’t know if he flew, or walked on shoulders and heads, or the guy is literally a rock god, but he did it. And didn’t miss a note. Andrew Williams, the other guitarist, has the best beard I have ever seen in rock. He puts ZZ Top to shame. ETID was all about getting the crowd involved. During the last song, Keith invited everyone up on stage with the band b/c it was “our show, so come join us in the fun.” Only about 50 people made it on stage. Security kept pulling people off. Jerks. So instead, Keith came off the stage and crawled along the crowd’s pumping fists to become one with his fans.
I can’t really think of a good ending for this except EVERY TIME I DIE is now one of my favorite live acts and I suggest, like the type of music or not, you need to go see these fuckers play. It’ll fucking rule.
Yes, that, and more important, go Do Something! Get involved.
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