Saves the Day/Pretty Girls Make Graves/Audio Learning Center

live in Seattle (2002)

Tony

I'll admit it…I'm a Saves the Day fan. I like their newest album the most, but also appreciate their older material. That said, I was really apprehensive to go to this show. I recently saw them perform on TV (Craig Kilborn Show, I think) and they were not energetic at all. Maybe they were just nervous, because they were MUCH better in person.

When I arrived at the show, I was surprised to see that there were opening bands. I was under the impression that it would be just Saves the Day, since there was no other information to be found on the show anywhere else. I also felt horribly out of place with my Rancid shirt, spiky hair, and being 21 and all. I was surrounded by nothing but emo kids whose parents dropped them off. Maybe I'm getting too old for this.

First up was Audio Learning Center, based out of Portland, OR. Blah. They were not energetic at all and their lead singer was much too nasal for my tastes, not to mention the fact that they have ZERO stage presence. I'm also not much of a fan of emo either, so that could have been a factor. Their guitar player was apparently sick, and therefore wasn't doing much. I'm just thankful they played a short set.

As a side note, I witnessed something very odd after Audio Learning Center left the stage. Several people just sat down on the floor! It started with 1 or 2 of them just sitting, and soon enough, about 1/3 of the people were sitting on the floor. Emo kids are just lazy, I guess.

Next up was Pretty Girls Make Graves. Quite a pleasant surprise, I must say. They reminded me a lot of At the Drive-In (RIP), but with a female lead singer. I was rather impressed, although after a while, their songs started to blend together. Upon returning from the show, I downloaded some of their songs only to find that it was their energy I enjoyed, and not their music really.

Finally, after another bout of emo kids sitting on the floor, Saves the Day took the stage. I don't remember what song they started with, but it was enough to make the place explode! They played almost all of the songs off Stay What You Are as well as throwing in an older song here and there. Chris (lead singer) was jumping around and having a good time on stage, but the rest of the guys just stood there for the most part. Not a whole lot of stage presence from them, but Chris made up for it.

They came back out for a 3 song encore, but it was still a short set altogether. Chris apologized and said it was because of their new drummer (hasn't he been with them for a while now?). The biggest disappointment was that they didn't play "Jukebox Breakdown" or "Certain Tragedy" at any point during their set.

All in all, it was a fun show and I had a good time. I just hope the next time they come around, their drummer has learned the rest of the songs so they can play a longer set. I recommend seeing Saves the Day if you have the chance as well as Pretty Girls Make Graves (if you like At the Drive-In).