December 7th 2002
Last Best Hope, The Muckruckers, Tragedy Andy, and Desa
The Vibe 650 Shell Blvd. Foster City, CA 7pm $3
Overall I was looking foward to this show greatly. I`m glad I went because it was an all around good show. The bands were good, the people were nice, the place was clean and didn`t smell of urine, and it wasn`t too far away. I`m going to try a new "rating system" for shows and bands to help grasp exactly how I felt about their performance. Overall I would say this show earned 4 out of 5 stars.
Last Best Hope:
I hadn`t heard or ever seen this band so I was looking foward to something new. For the most part they played very well. They had a crowd there to see them, which was nice. I didn`t like how everyone was sitting down for them, but oh well. The kids were hardcore TBS fans so they did a TBS cover (I beleive it was Cute Withough the 'E'). Now, being a HUGE Taking Back Sunday fan myself I didn`t think their cover was all that good but the fact that they did it was enough for me. When they played the fist few chords I jumped out of my seat and went to see the cover. It was just super cool to see people like a band as much as you do. I got a chance to talk to a couple of the band members after the show and we talked about TBS and the cover. I think with a little work on it, they could do it pretty decent. They didn`t sing some of the vocal parts which was lame, but oh well. So they performance as a whole could have used some work but I see a lot of potential with the band. Overall I would say that Last Best Hope earned 3 out of 5 stars. Good job guys!
The Muckruckers
Well Zach told me I HAVE to go to the show because I need to see the new and improved live show, and let me tell you, they played so awesome. Pretty much their whole set went smoothly and perfectly. They played a pretty long set, but that was ok with me, and I most everyone else would agree. Not a lot of kids got "into it" as I would have liked to see but that doesn`t mean they didnt like them because I saw a lot of kids with Muck stickers on and I sold a lot of merch for them. SO that was cool! The busted out the keyboard to "spruce up an old classic" for "Out Cold." But it was on the wrong effect so it sounded weird but it was fun all together. They played one brand new song and one newer song. "3 Days of Misery" (soon to be retitled for the release of the upcoming EP) is the newer one, only been played 3 times/ Doug sings this one and I wasn`t too happy with his vocals. They seemed to be a bit weak, although I was later informed he was a bit sick. I thought his other vocal parts were up to par and great as always. I definetly noticed a change in their live performance. The whole band seemed consistant with the amount of energy both playing songs and during breaks. Zach talked between songs, good job Zach. Thinking back on the performance, I have really come to appreciate the fact that Nick is the singer now (even though the whole band takes part in singing). It is a big change from Eric but a good change at that. Nick is a good singer. Go Nick! They closed with a brand spankin new one for y`all written by Doug called "Sick and Tired." From the look on Dougs face he seemed to be a little uncomfortable singing it, but given this was the first time playing it live and I don`t think it was practiced much, but he seemed to enjoy playing it, as the whole band did. As I said before, their energy level was pretty high throughout the whole show, but for this song, it shot through the roof. So overall, for The Muckruckers, I would give them 4 out of 5 stars. They rocked.
Tragedy Andy
Well as I said before in the message boards I was going to give TA a fair and open minded review. I did only see half of their set, but here is my review based on that half. I don`t doubt that TA kids are good muscians, they play their music very well and they put on a good live performance but in my opinion most all their songs sound alike. That isn`t to say they do put on a great performance there was a good sized crowd amoung them and many were singing the songs, which is an accomplishment for the band. If I weren`t writing this two days later, I would probably remember the song, but I dont... There was one song they did play that I liked a lot. But overall, they aren`t my type of music. I am also one of those people who, even if a band is awesome, if people are mean I just can`t like them. I`m not saying the guys from TA are mean but what was said on our message boards defending TA was downright mean and we saw no apology from TA for their fans, even when Zach from the Muckruckers apologized for someones car being stickered. So overall, they did play very well, they had awesome energy, and I look foward to seeing them again. For Tragedy Andy I would give them 3 out of 5 stars.
Desa
ok. Desa. Desa. Desa. One word: AWESOME! Their whole set, minus the tangle-ing mess that occured was fucking amazing. I have seen them once before and heard their mp3s and I fell in love with them. I was a big Link Eighty fan and I think a lot of people think that Desa was going to be another Link Eighty but it isn`t. They are two totally different sounds and I absloutly love both of them. Their whole set was just amazing and so much energy. It is very clear these boys know how to put on a show. I liked how their singer and guitarist traded vocal parts during the song and Ryan took the guitar, that was awesome. You can`t help but notice the amount of energy the band puts forth in their show. I would have liked them to play a bit longer but sadly it didn`t happen. I just feel like they didn`t play long enough. I bought their demo and it was fucking amazing as well, even with the less then perfect sound quality. It always makes me happy when bands mention how other bands played well, as Desa did. It just lets the crowd know they appreciate the other bands performances. They made a joke about how every new shopping center has a starbucks, which got me thinkin.. Where I live now, there is a shopping center, which is very new, and it has two Starbucks. One in the Albertsons and one across the parking lot. Whoever started Starbucks must be a genious because that shit cought on fast. But back to Desa, they are amazing and I definetly recommend you try to catch a show or download some mp3`s. I promise you wont be let down. I can`t wait to see them again! Desa just plain rocked. 5 out of 5- no question about it.

The last time I was at the Vibe Mel and I hated it. But this time was very different. They weren`t assholes and they didn`t make you pay for bringin in food. I went and got tons of taco bell for us and I was fearing them making me pay for bringing in food, but alas they didn`t. The only thing that I guss I could "rant" about was the fact that once the show was over it was almost immedietly that the kids running it asked everyone to pack up and hurry up when it takes time to get your things together and kids were still buying merch. But other then that I had a good time and the whole show was awesome. No bloody people and no asshole. Clean and straight rock n roll.
xOxO
Jen aka "xMarilyNx"