Goldfinger is a band that has taken a whole lot of shit in recent years because of their pretty different recent releases. I got back into Goldfinger when I bought their live DVD for old times sakes, and it only took a few songs before I was reminded why I used to like them so much. I bought their new CD only to discover that they had almost eliminated everything I liked about their music, but I still liked a few tracks that still had that Goldfinger feel.

Before the show, I was given a sticker of the first band that would play; they were called the Bottom Line. I asked the girl handing stickers out what they sounded like; she said the description was on the back of the sticker. I looked to see they were pop-punk and I discovered they were the newest band working with John Feldmann. Their set started off, and they were pretty energetic; the sound was pop-punk like New Found Glory with the whiny voice. They played a few songs and Feldmann came out to sing along for one. I didn't like them, but I figured they were alright for what kind of music they played.

In between sets, I went down to check out what kind of merchandise Goldfinger was selling. I was distracted, however, when I saw a guy that looked exactly like Goldfinger's original guitarist Charlie Paulson standing near the VIP elevator. I wasn't sure if it was him though, and he was gone before I had the chance to ask him.

theSTART had a pretty cool introduction to their set; they played the whistle track from "Kill Bill," then came out, and their sound completely took me by surprise. I had never heard theSTART before; I was expecting something completely different though. They were really good, and I really liked their stuff. They had Kelly Lemieux from Goldfinger come out and play a song with them; it was the best song of the set.

Goldfinger took long to set up, but I figured it would be worth it. They started out their set with a weird metal-ish march thing, but transitioned into "I'm Down;" it was a pretty cool intro to their set. They played "Spokesman" after that, then "Counting The Days," then "My Everything" off of their newest release. Feldmann said it was time to mellow out, and they began to play "King For A Day," but only got to the second verse before they started playing "Mable" and invited the whole crowd on stage. After "Mable" they played their newest single "Wasted," with their bass player playing the mandolin to the song in the intro; around three-fourths of the way through the song, the venue erupted wirth confetti. Feldmann talked about how they had been together for 11 years and how 11 years ago, before they were on a label, they played the next song at The Whiskey down the street. They played "Miles Away" which if not for an event that occured later would have been the best part of set; in the middle of the song Darrin came down to have someone eat a twinkie out of his ass, then he crowdsurfed around the whole venue; instead of Feldmann picking up the guitar, Darrin did. Darrin, Kelly, and Brian flipped their guitars around their necks and then continued with the song and ended it perfectly. They played "Open Your Eyes" next, then "Here In Your Bedroom." Feldmann said the next song was for all those that came out wanting to skank; they played "Superman" and ended the beginning of their set.

I was expecting them to close with "99 Red Balloons" and be done; I was wrong. Goldfinger returned onstage and Feldmann said a good friend of his came out to the show today and that he was going to play a few songs with them; his name was Charlie Paulson. The crowd went crazy; he came out and they started to play "Question," and he had more energy than the whole band did during the song, and did some moves on his guitar that were amazing, like his super spin where he is pretty much like a tornado while still playing the guitar. The time came where Charlie's part normally was in the song, and he sang it; it was seriously amazing. They played "Fuck Ted Nugent" next and Feldmann said he wanted to see the whole crowd turn into a pit. There was a guy in a rabbit suit being chased by a guy that was supposed to be Ted Nugent with a bow and arrow on stage. The song was great and once agan Charlie was amazing. They closed their set with "99 Red Balloons;" by this point it felt like I was seeing Goldfinger in their heyday, and I couldn't have been happier.

I could have the set a little mixed up, but overall it's pretty right. There is a video of Charlie playing question at the show on the link added.