All Access: The Honda Civic Tour

So tonight I was privileged enough to obtain some all-access passes to the final night of the Honda Civic Tour in Anaheim, California. In case you weren't sure, here's what the tour was all about: Four bands (Phantom Planet, the Hush Sound, Motion City Soundtrack, and Panic at the Disco) got together promoting the new Civic Hybrid. The entire tour is built around the idea of environmental awareness, with part of the proceeds of every ticket sold put directly toward environmental causes.

So Kenny and I made it to the show a little late, and I was sad to find out we showed up exactly as the Phantom Planet set ended. We were actually walked around backstage as they excited the stage to cheers from the audience. To be perfectly honest, we were walking around a little confused, not sure where to go, and nearly ended up stumbling onto the stage ourselves.

So the show really started for us with the always fabulous Hush Sound. The energy was high and the fans (all 8,000+ of them) were ecstatic to see the Chicago quartet. They played a mixture of songs from both Like Vines and Goodbye Blues. Unfortunately, with a few bands left to perform, the Hush Sound played a rushed seven or eight song set.

The ending of the Hush Sound set was probably one of the coolest set finale's I'd ever seen. First they brought out the drummer from Phantom Planet (Jeff Conrad) to "help" with the drum part on the song "Lion's Roar". What they did was split the drum kit in half, with Hush Sound drummer Darren Wilson playing one side of the kit and Jeff Conrad playing the other side. I wasn't sure how it would work, but it ended up making the song rock that much harder.

Next, without so much as a moment's pause, the keyboardist from Panic, who's name escapes me at the moment, strolled out to take over on keyboards while Greta Salpeter strolled the stage crooning out fan (and personal) favorite "Wine Red".

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During the final song, the band was joined on stage by every single member of Phantom Planet, all clad in their underwear, dancing around the stage playing tambourines, wearing random super hero masks. Honestly, it was like Marvel Comics on acid.

As disappointed as I was to see the Hush Sound leave the stage, I was happy to see Motion City Soundtrack for the first time in three years. Last time I saw them they were a huge disappointment -- I didn't think their lead singer, Justin Pierre, could hit the high notes the album delivered on. Needless to say, I was expecting very little.

Motion City opened up with "When You're Around". Wow. Talk about a complete turn-around from last time I saw them. Talk about ON THE MONEY. Every note the band played was on, every pitch the Pierre belted was perfect. I could hardly believe my ears. They had restored the faith I had once had in them as a band.

Motion City, played only a slightly longer set than the Hush Sound did, and due to a shortened set, they were a little constricted to only doing the singles they'd released over the last few years. Among the noteable: "When You're Around", "Let's Get Fucked Up And Die", "Hold Me Down", "This is For Real", "Fell in Love Without You", "Even if it Kills Me", and "Everything is Alright".

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There were two more songs they played that I thought were worth noting: First, Pierre dedicated one of those sappy, sad, heartbreak love songs ("It Had to Be You") off of their most recent release Even if it Kills Me to "the one that got away". The one that got away, he informed the audience, was Kiefer Sutherland.

Finally, their set ended with their first hit, the smash "The Future Freaks Me Out". The crowd happily sang along and the band got way into rocking out on stage (even displaying the first use of "rock and roll xylophone" I'd ever witnessed). It was a real highlight of the night.

And then the headliners, Las Vegas rock adolescents Panic at the Disco, took the stage. In a brilliant moment of concert coordination, they opened the show at precisely 9 PM with the first single off their sophomore release: Nine in the Afternoon. To be honest, I was really expecting the show to be theatrical and over-the-top, based on the their most recent singles. Completely not the case. It was a complete and total rock show, loud electric guitars and pounding drums.

To be completely honest, Brendon Urie can't quite hit the notes that he hits in the studio. Maybe it's editing, maybe it's mixing, maybe it's multiple takes, but he just can't quite hit the notes. Here's the thing though: It didn't matter. He was energetic, drew the crowd in well, and his voice wasn't bad at all. I was not complaining at all with his performance.

The band played a pretty even mix of old and new songs, probably every single off the old album (come to think of it- they really worked that album, releasing like 6 songs as singles), a few lesser knowns, then probably 6 or 7 songs from the new album.

The pleasant surprise of the evening came on the 5th or 6th song of the night: Ryan Ross, the lead guitarist, took over lead vocals for Urie on the song "Behind the Sea". His voice was actually better than Urie's, as far as vocal quality goes. But it's clear he was nervous, and he didn't have near the stage presence Urie possessed.

(NOT FROM TONIGHT:)


They ended their set with another new song "Northern Downpour", going so far to encourage crowd participation they actually put the lyrics up on the giant projection screen behind them. It was a brilliant ending to a set that rocked much harder than I thought it could.

Then came the encore. Kenny and I were headed to the exit when Brendon retook the stage, alone with an acoustic guitar. He added a whole new layer to their song "It's Time to Dance". It was much much different, in all the right ways.