Sparks The Rescue, You Me and Everyone We Know, Amely @ School of Rock 12.4.10

Sparks The Rescue

By: James McGrath

On Saturday night, the “Christmas Brings Me Down” tour stopped by the abandoned warehouse in South Hackensack we affectionately call the School Of Rock.  The tour was aptly named, as most attendees were in the holiday spirit as the dipping temperatures were trying to drag us all down. The tour features Sparks the Rescue, You Me and Everyone We Know and Amely, but had what was described as “a fucking bonus!” by Ben Liebsch; The Morning of played second to last much to everyone’s delight.

Opening the evening were local bands Nottingham and The Ride Down, from different parts of New Jersey and bringing plenty of classmates with them for support.  Each seemed to be proficient at performing their own material but attempted covers that did not pan out as well as intended.  Nottingham was a few songs into its set list when I arrived to an extremely sped up version of the Beatles’ “All My Loving” while The Ride Down layed down a vocal slaughtering of “Grand Theft Autumn”, originally by Fall Out Boy.  It was apparent that the second band of the evening, The Ride Down from nearby Oradell, NJ had quite a fanbase in the building, but the hooting and hollering got into their heads and obviously distracted them from what they came there to do, play songs.  There was time to squeeze two or three more songs in if the bassist did not do a costume change or if the lead singer did not introduce his band mates.

Both Sparks the Rescue and Amely are signed to Fearless Records, but Amely took themselves way way too seriously for being the opening band on this tour package.  The lighting, the intro, the laptop controlled by the drummer in order to add ‘ambiance’, although I wont bash them too hard because I got into the show on their guest list.  The intro was cool, but it was a bit unnecessary once the band was already on stage.  This band could easily work itself into the Top 40 radio scene because whatever it is that those radio guys are looking for, Amely has it.  I have recently heard Thriving Ivory, Every Avenue and Runner Runner on XM’s 20 on 20 station, and I can foresee this band being the next to make a crack.  I specifically believe Amely can crack the charts with set closer and title track from their debut album, “Hello World”.  Be that as it may, the next three bands brought the crowd to life, starting with one of my all time favorites.

The heart and soul of You, Me and Everyone We Know is lead singer Liebsch, with his more honest than usual lyrics and unusual delivery.  This, combined with the incredible musicians that make up this Baltimore sextet provided everyone in attendance with a memorable performance.  This is a band that needs to be seen live.  There are no words that can do justice to this band’s live show.  With the drummer the only band member who remain on one instrument through the performance.  At any given point, there are two keyboards on stage, sometimes three guitarists, a trumpet player and occasionally an additional snare drum.  Any amount of typing I do here will not allow me to express how much I love this band, please see them live.  They have big things planned the first few months of 2011, so stay tuned.

I realized that if the lead singer of one of my favorite bands is excited for The Morning Of to be a part of the show, I guess I should pay attention.  I am glad that I did.  Not often does a band have an exceptional lead singer, let alone two.  The Morning Of is privileged to have friends Justin Wiley and Jessica Leplon co-fronting the band. This band has found the Billboard Heatseekers chart two times, when 2008’s The World As We Know debuted at #18 and this year’s The Way I Fell In grabbing the #10 spot in its first week.  This band embodies every mention of music being beautiful, great song writing and fantastic execution resulted in them stealing the show from the three main bands on this tour.  I had no knowledge of this band going in but it was funny how up front and honest the band was with its fans.  The highlight of the night was “Tell Me Im Wrong” in which Leplon and Wiley perfect the back and forth that sets this band apart from many other pop rock acts I have listened to lately.  “Bully in the Park” seems to be a fan favorite that Wiley, who occasionally sounded exactly like Billy Corgan, assured the fans he barely knows the words to and will not play.  Aside from the AM radio leaking through the speakers between songs, this band put on a show that left most people speechless and the headliner getting almost no crowd response from his banter.

Sparks the Rescue finally took the stage around 10:20 pm to a slightly diluted crowd, perhaps people went home due to the cold or due to curfews, but it seemed that many people were speicifcally there for the two previous bands.  This does not mean Sparks did not have 50-75 hardcore fans screaming along to all the lyrics of songs from the edgier “Nurse Nurse! (I’m Losing My Patience)” to the poppier “My Heart Radio”.   Lead singer Alex Roy, who looks like Tom Higgenson’s little brother, flew all over the stage with no regard to his own well being a la Adam Lazzarra.  The band tore through most of its new album Eyes to The Sun while peppering in a few oldies as well as “Christmas Brings Me Down” from the ‘Tis The Season to Be Fearless (which was a lot more entertaining than Amely’s take on “Christmas Time Again”).  There was also a decent cover of Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” and a new song entitled “I Get Down Tonight” from an album due out in the spring.  This is an entertaining tour package that is certain to warm you up on the coldest of winter nights.

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