Bamboozle Road Show Rocks Worcester

By: Nicole Baillargeon
Posted In: Entertainment

I love music. All music. I don’t judge until I have given it an honest listen. Therefore, I have no shame in admitting that on April 29, 2009, I drove an hour and half away to the Palladium in Worcester, Mass., to see some of today’s top pop punk bands perform to a sold out crowd.

Most of the bands that played have a younger fan base, and my best friend and I quickly realized that we were possibly the oldest there, not counting the parents who were chaperoning their children. But, it brought me back to my teenage years, and I sang just as loudly and danced just as wildly as the 15-year-old girls and boys.

The first band that played was Mercy Mercedes. I am sure that they played a really great set, but due to traffic I missed their performance. Just as my friend and I arrived Nevershoutnever! was just getting on the stage. Nevershoutnever! is the alias for 18-year-old Christofer Ingle, who may be tiny, but is full of energy, and he revved up the crowd. One of the highlights included the song “Trouble.” For this song, Ingle traded his electric guitar for a ukulele, and it was very poppy and upbeat. It was the kind of song that you could fall in love to. He also covered The Beatles “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” telling the crowd to grab the person’s hand next to them and spread the love while jumping up and down together.

The next band to perform was The Cab, another young band that has a lot of talent regardless of their ages. Their sound is very mature, and reminiscent of Maroon 5, particularly the song “Bounce,” which ended their too short set. They also did a cover of Rihanna’s “Disturbia,” which got the crowd rowdy and only ready for more.

The opening bands only had about 20 minutes for their set, since there were so many bands sharing the stage. Forever the Sickest Kids had about a 35 minute set, and they played their hearts out for every second of it.

Forever the Sickest Kids are proud of the fact that they are from Texas, which was shown through their thematic entrance on the stage. Music from an old Western film began to play, and transported the audience to an old ghost town. The six member band split up, garnishing plastic toy guns and prepared for a stand-off, acting out the scene rather humorously. There was a loud bang, and the whole band fell to the ground, only to be resurrected to begin their set with their song “Whoa Oh! (Me Vs. Everyone).” They have a devoted fan base, and the crowd went nuts for these kids. They encouraged crowd surfing, moshing and to go “absolutely crazy,” which surely annoyed security, but it was clear that they only wanted their fans to enjoy themselves to the fullest. Mission accomplished.

Before ending their set, they split the crowd in half calling the left side “Team Edward,” and the right side “Team Jacob,” and had a screaming match to see which side was louder. They never did establish a winner, but I don’t think anyone cared as they jumped into their song “She’s a Lady.”

Finally, it was time for the headliners, We the Kings, from Bradenton, Fla. to take the stage. I was greatly anticipating them, partly because I have a school -girl crush on the lead singer, Travis Clark, and mostly because all of their songs are fun and upbeat. The lighting for their set was elaborate, even the drum set lit up. They played all of their songs off of their self-titled album, including their hit single, “Check Yes, Juliet.” They also did a fantastic cover of Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle.” For their encore, Clark came out alone with an acoustic guitar, and told the crew to turn off all of the lights, and he began to play “This is Our Town.” In the middle of the song, the rest of the band came out and the lights went back on as the song grew in speed and volume. It gave me goose bumps.

Even though my ears are still ringing from the high pitched screaming from the overly excited teenage girls, the Bamboozle Road Show was filled with good tunes and lots of energy. I would see any of the bands again in a second.