One of the most disturbing moments in recent concert history came last night at the AP Tour at Marquee Theatre.
Local boys The Summer Set asked the crowd how many ladies were sluts. The vast majority of the crowd cheered.
The average age of these enthusiastic "sluts?" Probably about 15.
So, yeah, just how slutty were these girls? Well, the crowd also cheered when asked whether they'd ever been cheated on, or whether they'd cheated on anyone, and not one, not two, but three bras were thrown on-stage during the course of the night.
Then again, the audience also cheered loudly when asked if anyone was experiencing divorce, so hopefully they're just the type to cheer at anything. Or else the Valley is full of little provocative cheaters.
Luckily, there weren't many parents in the crowd. I'm pretty sure that, at
age 25, I was the oldest person in the crowd not chaperoning kids. I was also probably
the only person to notice the poor sound quality the majority of the
night.
Think: muffled vocals, popping microphones, screeching
feedback.
The bill featured five Alternative Press-approved bands: Scottsdale's The Summer Set, Every Avenue, Hey Monday, The Cab and Never Shout Never.
They all fit the pop rock category, but the first three groups strove
to be more rock, since the vocals were turned down, and the guitars
turned up.
The Cab, who, like the other openers, had about a half-hour set,
sounded truest to their recordings, with vocalist Alex DeLeon sounding
the best before Never Shout Never took the stage. It's respectable that
the band put on a classy show and concentrated on performing well,
rather than just seeing who could rock out the hardest.
"I feel like everybody these days is so freaking sad," Drew said, before telling the audience to smile in unison.
Drew, who often records acoustically, was joined by a full band, who rounded out his sound, not ruined it. He still had some soft moments, in songs such as "The Past," and those were some of the nicest moments of the night since Drew's voice was showcased so beautifully.
In-between every song, Drew gave encouraging words of advice to the young crowd, such as, "Be exactly who you wanna be," and "Live with love, and be selfless." After all the slut talk, that was very refreshing.
Drew was one of the youngest people on this tour, yet one of the most professional for his charismatic banter and excellent musicianship, bouncing in-between strumming acoustic guitar and ukulele. And his age doesn't negate his ambition -- his catchy, meaningful songs (about everything from leaving your hometown to witnessing your parents' divorce) made him worthy of being the headliner.
"We never gave a damn about much of anything," Drew said of he and his musician friends, "and that's pretty much what got us here, honestly."
Thank God for that.
