Domingo 8 Fev 2015, 2h:41
Tue 3 Feb – Jukebox the Ghost, Twin Forks, Secret Someones
On Feb. 3 (Tuesday), I went to see Jukebox The Ghost (!!), Twin Forks, and Secret Someones at The Crescent Ballroom in downtown Phoenix with my sister. My sister hadn’t heard of Jukebox The Ghost, but I was able to convince her to go because the singer of Dashboard Confessional was playing. We had dinner at a Thai restaurant nearby and got to the venue around 7:45pm.
The Crescent Ballroom is pretty close to my work, but it was my first time being there. The venue is also home to a pretty large restaurant which appears to be 21 and over, so the under 21s are only allowed to enter a small part of the venue which contains part of the area closest to the stage. So the right side of the audience (21 and over) seemed more into Twin Forks, while the left side of the audience was more into Jukebox. The venue is 550 capacity so I would guess about 400-500 people were there for the concert.
The opening band was Secret Someones, which is an all female group except for the male drummer. Their sound has a 90s feel that reminded me of Third Eye Blind. I’m actually listening to “I Won’t Follow” and I could see myself listening to them more in the future.
As a big Dashboard Confessional fan (but not having seen them live yet), I was kind of disappointed with Twin Forks’ performance. Chris Carrabba seems to have gone through quite a transition from dramatic emo to happy-sounding folk. My sister and I were actually standing near the merch table and saw Chris from a distance, but we convinced ourselves that it wasn’t him because he looked so different. I don’t think his face has aged that much (just a little), but his hairstyle is very different and he has lost quite a bit of weight. They didn’t play any Dashboard covers sadly, and the Twin Forks stuff is…eh. Chris cites Mumford & Sons as one of his favorite bands but Mumford is much better. “Cross My Mind” has a nice melody to sing along to, but some of the lyrics in the other songs were pretty cringeworthy. Also, his stage presence was awkward…either he was a little drunk or he was just acting strange that night. I found this article and minus the romantic parts, I pretty much agree: http://blogs.westword.com/backbeat/2014/05/chris_carrabba_break_up.php. I’d be up for seeing a Dashboard throwback show at some point, but I’m not that into Twin Forks.
It took a little while for Jukebox to set up, but their show was great! They’re a quirky pop/piano rock band that deserves a lot more attention than they have. Ben is such an amazing pianist (you can tell he is classically trained), and Tommy and Jesse are pretty great at the guitar/drums too. I don’t know all of their songs, but here’s the setlist of another show based on setlist.fm that I made a few changes to with the best of my ability.
Postcard
Made For Ending
Victoria
Girl
Hold It In
The Stars
When The Nights Get Long
My Heart’s The Same
Lighting Myself on Fire
Long Way Home
Sound of a Broken Heart
Schizophrenia
Hollywood
Somebody
Static To The Heart
Don’t Stop Me Now (Queen Cover)
Undeniable You
Encore:
The Popular Thing (partial)
At Last
The Great Unknown
Walk Like An Egyptian (The Bangles Cover, with members of Secret Someones)
They played quite a bit from their newest album, which I do enjoy. “Made For Ending” is my favorite song by them at the moment. “I should have known right from the start that we were made for ending!” However, it does seem like their first album contains the most interesting piano melodies. I hadn’t heard “Victoria” before the show but I’ll definitely be listening to it more now. I can kind of see how “Hold It In” is based on the dumbest melody ever (according to Ben), but it’s one of their best songs. I think Ben added in some extra chords which made it even more amazing. “I will not hold it in!” I am really digging “Sound of a Broken Heart” as well, and they got some crowd response with the “whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh” part.
“Schizophrenia” is my favorite track by them! I think the music video is really creative and…kind of schizophrenic. During this song they tossed around a stuffed animal which I got to throw a few times. “Somebody” got the biggest crowd response: “I want it, I need it, I want somebody!”. I hadn’t heard “Static To The Heart” before but that song really impressed me - I didn’t know they had a darker side. The person behind me really enjoyed “Undeniable You”, which is a solo song by Ben on the piano.
They played “The Popular Thing” as a request from the audience. I liked “At Last”. I enjoyed hearing “The Great Unknown” - it’s a little simpler than their other stuff, but I like the melodies and the hopeful lyrics. They ended with a cover that they performed with the Secret Someones.
Overall, great show! Thanks for reading. :)