Gold Motel concert review- House of Blues, San Diego.

Greta Morgan has a good thing going. The former singer of The Hush Sound has put together her new band Gold Motel, and I am just going to say thumbs up. Last night, I had an oppurtunity to see them play at the House Of Blues in San Diego for the first time and was very impressed by this band out of Chicago.

When I first arrived at the venue, I felt I walked into an art project when I looked at the stage. Above the stage had several pillows hanging and from there, a lightning bolt and blue lightbulbs dangled from the pillow clouds. On stage additionally was an umbrella, and what gave me one of the most unique stage setups I have ever seen.

I was very impressed by Gold Motel. The band played hits off their debut record Summer House, including the title track. With their half hour set, the only thing I was able to really compare the sound of them was Beach Boys mixed with Colbie Caillat sprinkled with a dash of the 60's. These indie rockers really brought me in with their sound, attire, to they they playing style on stage. They could have fooled me if they told me they were a band from 40 years ago.

Overall, a fun and unique experience I recommend trying out.

-Bret Price, KCR Radio

The Wonder Years interview at SOMA

KCR Radio interviews The Wonder Years at SOMA on 10/23/2010.

Four Year Strong, Comeback Kid andThe Wonder Years interview concert review

And the day finally came where I was able to go see The Wonder Years, a relatively new band to my music arsenal but quickly rising to one of my favorites overall.

As Matt (KCR Radio/Music Still Exists) and I got to the venue, SOMA in San Diego, we met up with The Wonder Years tour manager John and got set up with the lead singer, Soupy, in the bands van to do an interview (will be posted on YouTube later today). As we shot him some questions, had some technical difficulties, and talked about cheese steaks, I was impressed by how genuine of a guy he was and how much he really cared about people just by the short time we got to spend together.

As we headed into the venue, we caught the last of local band A Dull Science’s set. The shirtless punk trio we stoked to be playing on the bill as they sold the required 150 tickets to get on the lineup.

Next on was a new band to me, American Fang. This music they played I could only relate to that of the Transplants, with hard lyrics and same style, it made for an interesting 20 minute set.

The Wonder Years were next on the bill. The band came out strong with “Logan Circle” of their album The Upsides. The ripped through several tracks off that album as well as some from past albums, and taking time for Soupy to talk to the crowd. He really emphasized on the importance of this album in his life and how it was meant to be uplifting to the crowd. The band definitely caught the attention of the few hundred fans that were there. They closed out their set with Washington Square Park and My Friends Play in Bar Bands. The high energy and creativity on stage made this band a much watch and made me more of a fan through their excellent live performance.

                                                               Soupy of The Wonder Years 

Comeback Kid came up next, and if you are afraid of contact, this band is not for you. The hardcore band brought their fast paced tempo their yelling lyrics and impressive guitar skills as the crowd responded with equal energy and even larger circle pits. It is quite a sight to see a bunch of kids running around in a circle listening to a band, but it seems to fit and I fully accept it. The band whipped up their 40 minute set with several new songs leaving the crowd stoked and ready for Four Year Strong.

Comeback Kid

As anticipated, Four Year Strong (Worcester, MA.) came out firing and played exceptional. Through the bands 60 minute set, they ripped through crowd favorites and invited the crowd to get amped as they responded throwing their hands in the air and having a great time with their hard core dancing. After getting to close to the dancers and getting a well placed kick to the groin, I moved back to enjoy the rest of the show from the back. Even from the back, I was able to enjoy the show and really made me appreciate what a show in a small venue is like. Seeing the full light show take place, seeing how excited the crowd was and viewing the whole band at once, truly amazing how great music is in everyone’s lives. Four Year Strong came out for an encore after their first part of their set to play one acoustic song and ended with the favorite, “Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die”.

Four Year Strong

Overall, really impressed with the show. The energy brought by the bands, the musicianship presented and the overall crowd led me to have an enjoyable night. If this show is coming through your area, make sure you attend, you won’t regret this show.

The Wonder Years interview and concert w/ Four Year Strong

Tommorrow, KCR Radio will be doing an interview with The Wonder Years at SOMA in San Diego. The Wonder Year recently have signed onto Hopeless Records, re-released their latest CD, The Upsides, and completed a music video for their single "Melrose Diner" which you can view HERE.

The band is currently on tour with Four Year Strong, Comeback Kid, and American Fangs

To check out the bands Myspace, click on THIS LINK
Or check out more detail about the band: visit THIS LINK or THIS LINK 

Motion City Soundtrack Interview and Show Review

Last night KCR DJ, Bret Price, was able to attend the Co-Headlining show of Motion City Soundtrack in San Diego at the historical local venue, SOMA.
This is his account:
Before the show began, Matt Ernest (KCR Radio DJ) and I were able to gain access to an interview with the band beforehand.

I was pretty stoked on this 1. Because I had never been on a tour bus before 2. It was their first show off the tour 3. It is Motion City Soundtrack, come on! We were invited on the bus and were able to spend 15 minutes with Tony Thaxton (drums) and Matt Taylor (bass/vox) talking about the upcoming tour, music, and Twitter among other things. After we completed the interview, thanked and thanked the band, we headed inside to catch the first set at 7pm. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE INTERVIEW ON YOUTUBE!

Check out the interview on YouTube

First on was Valencia, the four piece group from Philadelphia. I was pretty stoked on seeing them because I picked up their last record, We All Need A Reason To Believe, and liked what I heard, so I was hoping for it to transfer live. In their 20 minute, 5 song set, the band used its time to the fullest playing some songs from their new album Dancing With A Ghost, which was released on Tuesday. It was a great way to start to concert.

Next on was the classic New Jersey powerpop/punk band, Saves The Day. They had a 40 minute set and fed off the high energy from what looked like long time Saves The Day fans. They put together a solid set, stringing together several fan favorites. Only complaint I could have was I wish they were more active on stage, but I cannot discount their awesome musicianship and ability to get the crowd stoked. This was a great way to prepare for the two headliners to come.

Saves The Day

Many people there were amped up for Say Anything, and when the first song played, I could instantly tell why. The kind of energy they bring to the table, it made it fun as someone generally new to their music to enjoy their set tremendously. I can now understand why Max Bemis (lead vox) has almost a cult like following from the fans. His lyrics, dancing, vocals, and just the way he presented himself on stage was able me to categorize him as one of my new favorite front men. The band even gave the fans a special treat playing and old song called “Color Blind” which came off their album Baseball. Additionally, Max invited out Chris Conley and Arun Bali of Saves The Day to perform “Crawl” off of Max and Chris’s side project, Two Tongues. Say Anything tour it up and set the table nicely for Motion City Soundtrack. 

Max Bemis and Chris Conley performing Two Tongues

The band everyone was waiting for, Motion City Soundtrack, came out to great ovation as they ripped through classic songs to newer songs from My Dinosaur Life. It was awesome to finally see this band live and so close because I really got to see how it all worked. From Justin Pierre’s amazing lyrics and side jokes for when they weren’t to watching Matt and Josh play guitar and bass on the side, Tony getting it done on drums. I especially loved how Jesse (keys) was so intense into everything, including how he drank his water. Picking up on the little things of how much fun the band was having really made it an enjoyable experience.

It was great to see they played a lot of the fans favorites and even came out with some previously unperformed songs with “Weekends” and “Hysteria”. Only thing that was sort of a buzzkill was the time constraints at the venue so the band had to cut its set slightly short, but overall, I do not feel they left the fans disappointed by their performance. 

Justin Pierre and Jesse Johnson of Motion City Soundtrack



This show was awesome and I think I should leave it at about that. Make sure you check out one of the other dates the bands will be on this tour:

October           14^th      Soma                           San Diego, CA

                        15^th      Avalon                         Los Angeles, CA

                        16^th      House Of Blues           Anaheim, CA

                        17^th      Regency                      San Francisco, CA

                        19^th      Sodo                            Seattle, WA

                        20^th      Crystal Ballroom         Portland, OR

                        22^nd      Avalon                         Salt Lake City, UT

                        23^rd      Summit                        Denver, CO

                        24^th      Sokol Auditorium         Omaha, NE

                        26^th      Pageant                       St. Louis, MO

                        27^th      The Rave                     Milwaukee, WI

                        28^th      First Avenue                Minneapolis, MN

                        30^th      House Of Blues           Chicago, IL

                        31^st      House Of Blues           Chicago, IL

November        1^st        Bogarts                       Cincinnati, OH

                        3^rd        Fillmore                       Detroit, MI

                        4^th        Sound Academy           Toronto, ON

                        5^th        Starland                       Sayreville, NJ

                        6^th        Lupo’s                          Providence, RI

                        8^th        House Of Blues           Boston, MA

                        9^th        Nokia                           New York, NY

                        10^th      Electric Factory           Philadelphia, PA

                        12^th      Sonar                           Baltimore, MD

                        13^th      Amo’s                          Charlotte, NC

                        14^th      Variety Theater           Atlanta, GA

                        16^th      Revolution                   Ft. Lauderdale, FL

                        17^th      House Of Blues           Orlando, FL

                        19^th      Palladium                    Dallas, TX

                        20^th      Warehouse Live          Houston, TX

                        21^st      Stubb’s                        Austin, TX

KCR covers Motion City Soundtrack Interview/Concert

KCR Radio DJ, Bret Price, will be interviewing Motion City Soundtrack this Thursday, October 14, 2010, when they come to SOMA in San Diego.

Along with the interview, there will be a coverage of the concert who also includes bands such as: Say Anything, Valencia, and Saves the Day.

To full a full description of the tour, check out another blog post from Bret's blog, Music Still Exists.

Tickets are still available for the show at SOMA for $20.

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