Crowd surfing, moshing, and of course music beyond loud, is what faithful alternative music fans have come to expect from concerts, and Yellowcard’s performance last Friday night at Quinnipiac was no exception. Bodies of fans flew over you, onto you and into you, and yet the average fan did not seem upset. Why? Because no matter how rowdy, how sweaty, how crazy some fans got, the overall attitude was as positive as the good boys of punk: Yellowcard. The band put on a glorious show for QU students, something not just any band can supply.
Providing tour support for Yellowcard were the Nashville-based Pink Spiders as well as the Seattle-based Acceptance. The Pink Spiders, who lived up to their name with a pink amp, pink pants, and pink ties, were surprisingly entertaining. Their set, which was close to a half-hour long, culminated with the soon to be hit “All the Cool Girls are Dead,” which left the audience bopping their heads and tapping their feet. The Pink Spiders, whose music style consists of a blend of new wave pop and old-fashioned rock n’ roll, have not yet quite reached stardom, but proved a great opening entertainment for all.
Acceptance, who is on the verge of becoming a force in the punk/emo genre, is first paying its dues as Yellowcard’s second opener. With a sound that is more emotional then that of the Pink Spiders, they have drawn comparisons with more famous bands such as Jimmy Eat World and The Get Up Kids. It wasn’t Acceptance’s sound that disappointed the audience, but rather their stage presence. The audience was able to mouth the words to some of their songs, but not bop their heads like with the Pink Spiders. When the crowd surfing, and moshing became more prevalent, you could tell the crowd was getting restless in anticipation for Yellowcard.
When Yellowcard finally appeared on stage through the midst of smoke and flashing lights, the audience remembered why they had come on Friday night. They came to see a show and to have fun. This is exactly what Yellowcard provided. When asked by the beach-blond lead man Ryan Key, if they were having a good time, the audience replied with a resounding joy that no amp nor speakers would ever be able to reach. The band started off the night the same way they start of their “Ocean Avenue” CD with the slightly harder sounding “Way Away.” From here, they went onto play songs such as “Only One” and “Empty Apartment” which featured the amazing but untraditional violinist. Sean Mackin, the violinist, is what makes Yellowcard different then any other punk band, not just because of his complementary sound, but his unprecedented energy. Mackin, who spent more time leaping around the stage then standing still, kept the crowd pumped through the entire hour set, which ended with the popular hit “Ocean Avenue.”
Throughout the night Yellowcard played a mixture of new and old songs that were all astonishingly accepted by the audience. Their next record, “Lights and Sounds” will be in stores next year. Yellowcard thanked the audience numerous times for listening to their new material, but what the audience really was doing was thanking them for coming to Quinnipiac.
