Reel Big Fish/The Starting Line/The Kicks

live in Hollywood (2002)

WussEmoRock

After buying Reel Big Fish' new cd when it came out I was not all that impressed. I have to say it grew on me, but over all it didn't even come close to be compared to "Why do They Rock So Hard?" which is definitely their best release to date. Of course, that is my own opinion, and so is the rest of this review; but what I like to tell people that know me is that I am not telling you an opinion, because what I tell you is a fact! With that in mind lets get to the rocking, or shall I say ska-ing…
The thing I love most about The Palace is that it has an upstairs with at least 200 seats that overlook the stage and are comfortable enough to fall to sleep in, and that is what happened during the opening band The Kicks. Things didn't look to good for these guys when I visited their website before the show and noticed the only links they have on the main site are "tour" and "contact," nothing about their music or anything. So my virgin ears are unleashed to what I like to call a set that consisted of one long song. I swear every song started off with one note played for at least 20 seconds and then annoying 3 chords followed by semi-talented vocals. They were a mix of very soft rock and pop punk, and even managed to have a song called "Pop Star."

The Starting Line came on after a 15 minute wait, and rockd out to "Given the Chance." They played all the crowd favorites which included "Saddest Girl Story" (my favorite tune by them), "Up and Go," "Cheek to Cheek," "Best of Me," and all the other good songs they have. Like I said in my review For TSL's new cd HERE, if you enjoy one of their songs, the whole cd is a gem. They even managed to play "I'm Real" by J Lo, although I thought they should have played their other cover from the movie Manican 2 called "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now." They got to play a 45 minute set having to stop one song early cause they ran over their time, and left the stage with half of the crowd chanting "one more song, one more song," and the other half of the crowd clapping and cheering because they finally got off. And then there was me, stuck in the middle, cheering for RBF to come on next and yelling one more song as well for TSL.

Reel Big Fish, what more can a person ask for? Not much, I know. Now I was very skeptical before entering this show because until the night before I have never been so anticipated for a show, but then I went on their message board and people up in Oregon were saying that the band was not energetic and didn't seem like they were having fun. All I have to say to that is, I don't blame them, I'd be pissed to be in Oregon too, because in L.A. they didn't show any lack of energy to their home town crowd (I know they are from O.C. but there was no O.C. show). After a 25 minute wait the lights went out and the music to the almighty "Thriller" erupted through the speakers. After 30 seconds of remembering our "Artist of the Millenium" (haha) Aaron and company came out onto the stage and dove right into "The Set Up." The band had great stage presence through out the show, had nice break downs during the songs, especially during "Beer," and managed to get the entire place involved with their set; skanking, moshing, even crowd surfing (which RBF HATES-and so do I). Aaron wore a white Adidas jump suit with the pants having red stripes down the side, and half way through the set he took off his jacket and wore a silk red shirt with a white tie and funky glasses that only Aaron can pull off. Here is the set list (in not particular order):

"Turn the Radio Off:"
Sell Out
She has a Girlfriend Now
Beer
Everything Sucks
I Wanna Be

"Why Do They Rock So Hard?:"
Somebody Hates Me
She's Famous Now
The Set Up
In the Pit

"Cheer Up:"
Good Thing
Valerie
Ban the Tube Top
Cheer Up
Boss Dj
Where Have You Been?
Brand New Hero

And also the great cover song "Take On Me" which has stand out horns.
For anyone who was at the show, I was the kid (with my friend) in the front right near the stage that held up the sign that read "All I Want Is More" a few times, yep, that is me, WussEmoRock. Well, that concludes a night of great music, leaving me wanting to hear more, much more from RBF, and hoping they come back soon. I always have the negative feeling that soon the Fish will call it quits, because they are not getting any bigger, in fact they are getting smaller. The show tonight, being the only LA/OC/San Diego date, didn't even come close to selling out. For any of you that care, I personally think it is because of Mojo, because when they released "Why Do They Rock So hard?," that could have had a ton of radio friendly singles (besides The Set Up) and it didn't, becasuse it got ZERO promotion, and the new cd doesn't hold a candle to the last one. Anyway, that is just my two cents…take it or leave it. Until next time, rock out!