Bands: Day of Contempt, Social Code, Good Charlotte

I caught wind that Good Charlotte was rolling through my neck of the woods, and since some friends of mine were going, I figured I might as well check it out too. Had I have known they were going to put on a terrible show, I wouldn't have gone. Once getting passed the almost never ending line of 12 year olds and their parents, we made it into the venue to find that we were the only people in the beer gardens. We found it mildly humorous, but didn't complain since we had a pretty good spot right up front. We stood watching the swarms of preteen girls race in, giggling their little girly hearts out. I had to admire some of the DIY shirts these kids come up with, "I heart Billy". Cute. The beer gardens accumulated a couple more on-lookers, mostly parents making sure their darling daughters were ok. After endless minutes of rolling my eyes at the 'Riot Girls', the lights dimmed and the piercing screams of a few hundred girls began. The opening band emerged on stage, screaming their 'scenester' hearts out. I found it funny that a hardcore/screamo band, such as Australia's Day of Contempt, was opening for pop-punk sensations Good Charlotte. This band was nothing special, your typical screamo band with way too tight pants and black eyeliner. I didn't even know what they were called until they played their last song.

Next up was hometown boys Social Code. A good mix of hardrock with a little bit of a punk vibe and a boy next door look. They were decent. I'd have to say they were the best band of the night. You could tell the boys were happy to be home. They were having a good time up on stage. Laughing and smiling at each other, jumping all over the stage. It was really fun to watch them. They defiantly sported some talent. It's always nice to hear some local talent that really shines. Finally it's time for the main act to play. The band came on stage, looking grumpy and depressed. Typical. They opened with Anthem, which I almost began to sing along with, until I realized how brutal it sounded. They went into some songs I'd never heard of before, which I'm assuming were from the newer album. I was kind of disappointed that I didn't get to hear some of my old favorites. They only played one song from their first album, which wasn't even one of the better songs. Even the half good songs I'd heard of before were crappy. The sound quality was shit. They were obviously having sound problems since Billy kept oh-so-subtly motioning at the sound guy to turn up this, and turn down this. He even walked off stage during a song to fix it the problems.

The band did nothing to catch my attention. They were onstage for a good 5 songs before they actually started talking to the crowd. Once they started, they didn't stop. That was a real killer to the show. They could have gotten in a ton more songs, GOOD songs, had they stopped trying to put on a comedy act, copying the same line every other band pulls. "So, I need a place to stay tonight, who wants to take me home?" Good luck Benji, make sure you ask their mommies first. They had no energy at all which makes for a real dull show. I guess when all you have to do to make a bunch of kids scream is walk on stage you don't really need to do much. But for those of us who don't idolize the boys, it was a bland show. My main entertainment was counting the number of girls the security pulled from the crowd, as well as the number of times Joel spit on stage. Both reached numbers into their thirties.

All in all it was a really big waste of time and money. I would have much rather gone to Black Eyed Peas if I knew they were going to be in town the same night. Good (or so they think) Charlotte is a much better recording artist than they are live artist. Don't bother going to their show, just buy the CD's.

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