Comeback Kid / the Loved Ones

live in Pittsburgh (2005)

Brian Shultz

For the Pittsburgh stop of the Rise Against / From Autumn To Ashes / Comeback Kid / the Loved Ones tour, only the latter two played (AKA the "It's Brian's last night in Pittsburgh So Let's Have One of the Bands He Really Likes Drop Off That Night Only Tour"). I'm not entirely sure why, but at the very least it was a chance to showcase the lesser known bands of the lineup, giving them a bit more "front page" action if you will.

Locals (or 45-minute live away-ers, however you see it) the Abattoir Murders were the first band to take the stage. The band's sound can be described as relatively professional sounding grindcore with some death metal vocals, interspersed metalcore breakdowns, and occasional interludes of whiny, emotional singing. If the band were to do away with those last 3 qualities, they would be rather enjoyable, but as is, is a heavy band with some heavy potential doing some heavily irritable things. Plus that lead singer's mustache needs to go. Seriously.

Shipwreck I Promise played an entirely too long set of really boring, straightforward metalcore.

Now, the Loved Ones: I don't know what it is. I want to like them. I really do. A band with an ex-Kid Dynamite member and one from Trial By Fire playing thoroughly Hot Water Music-influenced punk-pop / punk rock with lyrics seemingly penned by Matt Skiba should be something directly up my alley, but there just seems to be a key ingredient missing, and I'm not entirely sure what. Granted, the band seemed better live here than on record, and "100K" is a cool song and all (not to mention I love the artwork on their self-titled EP in question), but I really have no idea why I'm not into this band as much as I should be. Still, the set was plenty entertaining with a more than fair amount of crowd interaction. I.E.: Lead singer/guitarist Dave Hause early in the set noticed an introvertibly (this isn't actually a word, but you get the point), slightly rowdy group of kids in the otherwise indifferent crowd, and asked if they were under a certain influence. One girl from the group proudly pipes up, "I don't drink. I'm straight edge." Hause, groaning, then proceeded to rag on her both at that point (dedicating the next song to anyone who's straight edge), the song itself (insincerely throwing up some X's occasionally), and near the end of the set ("So what are your plans for after the show? Get a veggie burger? Buy a Bold CD?"). Needless to say, it was a pretty humurous exchange. And by exchange, I mean Hause's chiding.

Eventually, Canada's own took the stage for a fun 45 minutes-ish of melody-tinged hardcore. A fair mix of old and new was brought to the set, and I can honestly state that the band, performance-wise, was nearly flawless. Vocals, guitars, rythym section…it was truly just on, and everyone in the band had excellent energy, constantly jumping around. Vocalist Scott Wade made sure there was enough mic sharing to match the finger pointing aplenty as he ran across the stage left and right. "False Idols Fall" kicked things off, with "Partners In Crime," "Die Tonight," "Our Distance," "Final Goodbye," "All In A Year," "Wake The Dead," and pseudo-encore "Talk Is Cheap" roughly following, with at least one other from Turn It Around I'm sure I left off. They served their purpose greatly that night, managing to aptly finish with a bang despite originally serving as a crowd appetizer the majority of the tour.

Picture by Meg Reinecker