Here at Geekspodcast.com we had the privilege of taking a vacation last night. Our destination? “The Basement” concert venue in the Arena district of the luxurious Columbus, Ohio to enjoy the sounds of Look Afraid, Bad Rabbits, The Young Veins, and Foxy Shazam. In my usual concert fashion, I made Joshua show up at 4:00PM with me so we could guarantee front row. I (tried to) read for my literature class, Joshua played The Simpsons video game on his iPhone and we waited impatiently for 6:00PM to show up.
Around 5:45 we picked up our free tickets (How did we do this? Go here!), and come 6:00 the line had grown considerably and was now running down the street. We entered the venue and despite being about 12 people back in line, still managed to secure front row. Out of all the shows I’ve been to over the years, I am confident in saying that it was probably the most diverse crowd I’d ever been part of: some people were there for the headliners, Foxy Shazam; some showed up for the local band, Look Afraid; some for the Bad Rabbits; and some for the indie newcomers, The Young Veins.
Look Afraid
Look Afraid is a five-member rock band from Columbus. They’ve been together for as long as I’ve lived here too, so I couldn’t believe I had never heard of them, especially considering the lead singer is occasionally part of Foxy Shazam. Look Afraid was the first band to grace the stage last night, and wow, did they break the ice. They were energetic, interactive, and most importantly, it was noticeable that they absolutely loved their music and were comfortable in it. Their music is most easily categorized as ‘rock’, but it had hints of punk and metal, and the lead singer, Alex, even played trumpet for a couple of songs. Check their Myspace here to listen for yourself to the highly-varied, highly-entertaining Look Afraid.
Bad Rabbits
Earlier in the day yesterday I was checking the line-up again and decided to listen to the Bad Rabbits before hearing them live to get a better feel of what their music sounded like. Literally, like five seconds into the first song that started playing (“Stick Up Kids”), I knew I was in love with this band. Its music like that that you know is going to turn some heads. Much like Look Afraid, the guys of Bad Rabbits were lively and playful with the crowd, and the lead singer had some serious moves (well, the whole band for that matter). Their music is deliciously funk/jazz/R&B based – think Kenna meets a saxophone and a guitar. Every tune was very danceable and had an abundance of beautiful, almost jazzy chords. You just seriously have to listen to them to understand how fun this music is. Even Jake, the musical-know-allogist dug this band. Click! Someday I know I’ll be one of those people who got to say “Yeah, I heard them live when they were still playing $10 shows.”
The Young Veins
The reason why I was willing to go out on a weeknight and suffer the next day in my classes? These stylish dudes. The Young Veins is comprised of 
Ryan Ross on vocals/guitar, Jon Walker on guitar/vocals, Nick Murray on drums, Nick White on keyboard and Andy Soukal on bass guitar. It was incredibly surreal to see and hear them live for the first time (well, two of them I saw a few times a few years ago 
) after having listened to their MySpace page about a zillion times. The Young Veins took the stage around 7:30 and unleashed their rockable, vintage tunes for nine songs, which, according to Wikipedia, will all be on their Take a Vacation! album that debuts on June 8th of this year. My faves of the night were “Dangerous Blues” (which is actually a waltz of sorts), “Young Veins (Die Tonight)”, “The Other Girl”, “Maybe I Will, Maybe I Won’t” (sung by Jon Walker!), and of course their first official single, “Change.” With Take a Vacation!, you can expect a dose of Indie with sprinklings of influence from the sweet rock era of the late sixties/early seventies (if I had to pick a sound-a-like, I’d say Wings). It’s perfect music to take a drive to/dance to/stay busy to/whatever. Actually, why am I still using text to explain them? Click this so you can go listen to them! Two of the songs I mentioned are available there for listening.
To make the entire night even more amazing, Joshua, Jake, Jon and I got to chat up a few of The Young Veins for a bit. They’re all incredibly chill, talented and gorgeous and clearly are very excited about the music they’re producing. It’s pleasant if a band makes good music – it’s world-shatteringly awesome if they’re as easy to talk to as The Young Veins. Expect to see them making a return trip around the country to promote Take a Vacation!.
Foxy Shazam, I apologize profusely for not sticking around for your performance, but I had my favorite musicians roaming around and I had to take the opportunity to talk to them. I hope you could have my dilemma.
Over all this tour was unbelievably satisfying, and although it’s about halfway over, you should definitely try to take the opportunity to hear these powerful new bands. I’ll update when more information is given.
P.S. To satisfy your concert-going cravings, I suggest going to see Miss Greta Morgan’s new band, Gold Motel on May 9th. Same place, 7:00. Buy tickets here!
P.S.S. Nick: don’t forget to give me a ring when you’re ready to part with that spaceship-like Korg!
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