The Let’s Make a Mess Tour

Jul 23, 2009 by Jessica Andrews

Hey Monday, This Providence, The Friday Night Boys, Stereo Skyline and The Bigger Lights

Culture Room
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
July 19, 2009

It was 6:15 p.m. at the Culture Room. The clouds overhead were pitch black, and it pretty much looked like death outside. The security guards took pity on the fans waiting in line and let us in 15 minutes early to avoid the downpour. As the first two drops started to fall from the sky, we got in through the door. Not even 30 minutes later, the show started.

The Bigger Lights took the stage first. Lead singer Topher Talley walked out on stage after the rest of the band and came out like he owned the place. They came on to “When Did We Lose Ourselves?” which initially didn’t get the crowd going, but they followed it up with “Closer” and that got the audience jumping around. During “Apocalypse,” the lead singer of Stereo Skyline, Kevin Bard, joined the band on stage. They closed with “Goldmine Valentine,” leaving the fans desperate for more.

Shortly after, Stereo Skyline took the stage and burst into “Shake and Shout.” Not many people in the crowd knew the song, so there wasn’t much going on in the audience. They then played a new song, followed by “Five-Tens in Harlem.” They ended the set with “Heartbeat,” which finally got the audience jumping up and down and screaming the words at the top of their lungs. Jersey Moriarty from Hey Monday came out and sang at the end of the song, which finalized the set.

The Friday Night Boys were the third band of the night. They didn’t have any techs, and they set up everything themselves. It’s really rare to find a band still doing their own manual set up. They were already on stage, so they just started their set with “Permanent Heartbreak” and followed it up with “That’s What She Said.” At one part of “Suicide Sunday,” lead singer Andrew Goldstein asked everyone to make the shape of a heart with their hands. The set was completed with “High School,” and the band walked offstage with the audience swaying their hands back and forth.

Mike told the crowd that “There is no place like home,” and then requested that anything that could light up to be held up in the air.

This Providence came on stage to “That Girl’s a Trick.” The entire time lead singer Dan Young was going insane, jumping all over the stage, while bassist David Blaise stuck to simple head banging. They then followed it up with “A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,” during which Young brought out a tambourine and jammed on it during the first few lines of the song. For the first time on the tour, they played “Keeping On Without You” by request of a friend. They ended the set with “My Beautiful Rescue” and “Letdown.”

The headliner of the show, Hey Monday, came on last. It being a hometown show, the entire band was going crazy, living it up on stage. The band came out to “Obvious,” which includes the line they took for the title of their tour, “Let’s Make a Mess.” They then continued with “Run, Don’t Walk” and “Set it Off,” during which Topher of the Bigger Lights came out. Right before the fifth song of the night, “Candles,” Mike told the crowd that “There is no place like home,” and then requested that anything that could light up to be held up in the air. Shortly after that, they played “Josey,” and they gave out red plastic cups to the audience, so they could throw it back at the band in order to “make a mess.” For the eighth song, they played their first single “Homecoming” and walked off the stage. The crowd requested for them to play one more song, and the band came out, and they followed it up with “6 Months” and “How You Love Me Now.”

The show was over by 10:30 p.m., but the bands packed enough energy into the set that it felt like midnight at the end of the show.

 

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Review by Jessica Andrews
Photos by Danielle Katz