The Official Show Review Thread

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Inspired by my newfound interest in the albums review thread, I am creating a separate thread where you can review shows you've been to. These can be for any band, big or local. I personally will be reviewing a lot of local shows since I've been to hundreds of them.

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The first show I will be reviewing is by my favorite local band, STEREOtype. They play a mix of pop punk, classic rock, and modern pop, with some other stuff thrown in. Basically everything that can appeal to people in their 30's and then some. The show I am reviewing was at Neighbor's Bar & Grill in Loves Park, IL on September 10, 2022.

This was my second favorite local show I've ever been to. My band YEBIGAH!!! played an hour-long opening acoustic set, which set the energy high for the rest of the night. A mild break with my friend Zachary Jacoby playing another hour-long acoustic set, and then STEREOtype was on. The energy at the venue was already high due to there being multiple acts as opposed to one usually for these kinds of shows, so it was the perfect setup to start with.

Set 1:

1. Word Up! (Cameo cover) - Very interesting choice of opener, considering that the last time I saw them play a full set, they closed with this song. It set the bar high for the rest of the night and everybody was singing along to the chorus ("Up! Up!"). They rocked this one out.

2. Sugar, We're Goin' Down (Fall Out Boy cover) - They wasted no time and rushed into this one. More high energy and Danny was jumping around while singing this one.

3. Dance, Dance (Fall Out Boy cover) - The guitar feedback from the previous song led into this one. Same energy as before.

4. The Middle (Jimmy Eat World cover) - This is where I started singing along. So many people were on the dance floor and it was fun to watch. One thing I'd noticed is that Cody didn't seem to have as much energy as he usually does when playing drums.

5. I still haven't figured out the name of this song even after hearing them play it so many times. Danny sang the verses through a bullhorn which was interesting. Also during the bridge, he cued the siren sound of his bullhorn. Interesting. EDIT: It was Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous by Good Charlotte.

6. The Rock Show (Blink-182 cover) - I didn't know this song when they played it for the first time, so I mostly ignored it.

7. Inside Out (Eve 6 cover) - Same here.

8. Sex On Fire (Kings Of Leon cover) - Freddy Hernandez joined them onstage to sing this song. This was a return to the energy of the first four songs, and it was awesome.

9. My Hero (Foo Fighters cover) - They always nail this one. Cody's drumming was awesome. At the end, I shouted, "Cody Clark for Foo Fighters drummer!"

10. Semi-Charmed Life (Third Eye Blind cover) - Always a fun one as well. This was the first time Danny walked into the crowd to sing. And he didn't just do that. During the bridge, he went up to the bar and ordered a beer for Cody. Thus, he almost missed singing his next line. It was a funny moment and he joked about it after they were done playing it.

11. Say It Ain't So (Weezer cover) - Over time, I've gotten sick of this song, and it did little to change the feel of the show so far.

12. Badfish (Sublime cover) - Same tempo and feel as the previous song, so I kinda ignored it. But my attention perked up when I heard what they did next....

13. What's Up? (4 Non Blondes cover) - This is something they always do after Badfish. Gage continued playing the chords of Badfish while Danny sang the first verse and chorus of this song. Usually that's all they do, and that's what they did here. If Cody's mom is at the show, however, they will call her up to sing the full song.

14. Tennessee Whiskey (David Allan Coe cover) - Danny introduced this one as the only slow song they do (which is not true - they also play Purple Rain). He also asked everybody to find some partner to dance with, otherwise he would be taking the single ladies as his dance partners. (I didn't have a partner, but since I'm not a lady, I was "safe". Of course it's all a joke.) They did great with this song and there was an extended jam at the end.

15. Because I Got High (Afroman cover) - Always one of the highlights of their shows. It starts out slow but then becomes a super-speed punk version. Danny was struggling a little to keep up with the fast tempo this time around. It's fun to watch what he changes the line "I was gonna eat your pussy too, but then I got high" to, but he didn't change it this time.

16. Don't Stop Me Now (Queen cover) - Here's where it became clear that they weren't following their setlist, because Danny seemed confused when Bill started playing the intro chords. He also struggled to sing the song, but that didn't matter because it brought the energy up once again. This was the closer of the first set, although Danny did sing happy birthday to a fan before they left the stage.

Set 2:

1. Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash cover) - They brought me up on stage for this one. I usually play this one fast, but they're even faster. Cody just sped through the song. It was a really fun time, though, and probably the best time that they've called me up for this song. I was a little confused at the end when Danny and Bill came up to the stage because Danny, not Bill, took the guitar. That's when I knew what was coming next....



2. My Own Worst Enemy (Lit cover) - As they always do, Bill took lead vocals on this one while Danny played guitar. Another one of the highlights of their set, and one of my favorite songs they do. I joined the crowd of people that were up front and singing along. And just when I thought it couldn't get any better...



3. Bad Romance (Lady Gaga cover) - This is my favorite song they do, ever since I first heard it. Cody goes insane on the drums here, turning it from a mellow pop song into almost a heavy metal song. The rest of the guys, meanwhile, keep it in the pop-punk style. I was headbanging every time Cody's half-time drums came in. I haven't heard a better version of this song by anybody (not even Halestorm).



4. Everybody Talks (Neon Trees cover) - More clues that they were not following their setlist, because I could see Gage coming up to Danny to suggest this song. It's always a high energy singalong song in their sets. According to setlist.fm, it's their most played song. EDIT: It has since dropped to #2. Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous is now #1.

5. Rebel Yell (Billy Idol cover) - Freddy joined them for this song again. I'm not really a fan of this song, especially the way Freddy sings it. Freddy was having a blast, though, and he even stood up on a chair at the nearest table to the stage.

6. Blinding Lights (The Weeknd cover) - Their cover of this is so good! It kept the energy up, and a lot of people were singing along.

7. She Hates Me (Puddle Of Mudd cover) - Another singalong song. I was standing by Zach for this song and we were both singing along, when Danny came up to us and gave the mic to Zach to finish the song. It was awesome.

8. Bad Guy (Billie Eilish cover) - I love this cover as well. It's one of those that is hard to not dance to, so that's what I was doing for most of the songs. Then the breakdown before the outro came, and I started headbanging. Very crazy.

9. Cumbersome (Seven Mary Three cover) - Freddy was about to leave, so they called him up for one more song. Very cool, but did little to change the pace.

10. I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Whitney Houston cover) - This was another fun singalong. By now the energy was winding down as it was getting close to midnight.

11. I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor cover) - Keeping up with the covers of female pop singers, they launched into a punk cover of this song. Awesome, but again, little change of pace.

12. Straight Up (Paula Abdul cover) - The third straight female cover in a row. Now I was getting bored.

13. The Bad Touch (Bloodhound Gang cover) - Now they broke into the pair of sexy songs to close out the night. This was another danceable song and it finally changed the pace and brought the energy back. Cody looked like he was having fun as well, and according to Danny, it's his favorite song to play. I'm not sure if it was before this song or before a different song, but Milo said something in the microphone, to which Danny responded, "We just made history here! Milo used a microphone!"

14. Pony (Ginuwine cover) - The second sexy song. Danny was wild for this one, walking out into the crowd and dancing with the ladies. Usually they turn this into a medley with Maroon 5's Harder To Breathe, but nope, they continued on through the full song. When it was over, it almost felt like the show was too short, so me and everybody else were calling for one more song, even though it was past midnight already.

15. All The Small Things (Blink-182 cover) - Their encore song. I wasn't paying much attention to the first half because I was busy taking our phone stand down from the ceiling. But the second half was epic, and they closed the night with a bang.

Overall show thoughts - this is the only time that I have stayed through an entire show of theirs. Usually we'd either be at some part of it, or they would only be playing a short set for an open mic or a festival. I have to say that they really brought their A game for this show. There were a few spots where the energy sagged, but otherwise they were consistently keeping it up throughout the night. I can't remember any mistakes by any of the instrumental members. Danny sometimes struggled a bit to sing. Anyway, this cemented them as my new favorite local band. 9/10.

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This one's a multi-act show. And it's not exactly a show, but rather my high school graduation party. We had the full setup of a live show, however - two speakers, monitors, two guitar amps and one bass amp, three mics, a keyboard (which was never used), a drumset, and a Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 recording interface that doubled as a mixer and as something to record the show with. Lots of our friend musicians played, and my two bands Headroom Karma and YEBIGAH!!! played a set each. This was on June 12, 2022 in our backyard.

I was on stage for 26 of the 40 songs played, so a lot of the review may be from a stage perspective. However, I have also listened to these recordings countless times, so maybe I can assume the role of an audience member.

Headroom Karma:

1. Running Down A Dream (Tom Petty cover) - weak introduction by me ("Let's get the music started, shall we?") and we're off. This was the first time we played with Ashton on drums, after not having had a permanent drummer for almost a year. It was also only the second time the three of us had ever played together, so the set was very rough. This song was probably the most consistent of our set. Ashton kept up the beat, and I didn't miss anything vocally. Weak guitar solo by Carson mid-song, and a strong solo by me at the end.

2. Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash cover) - another consistent song, although Ashton did lose the beat a couple times. Otherwise, it was fine. Carson's mom told me at the end of the song that my mic wasn't loud enough.

3. Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison cover) - I introduced this one with "We've only played together once before this, so don't take us too seriously." This was actually the first time I heard Carson sing in over six months, as he avoided singing at our one practice before this show because he wasn't feeling up to sing. It showed here. He was struggling to reach the notes, and hit a major off-key note in the first chorus (a mistake which he corrected in the second chorus). Our vocal harmonies were nice though. There was a little confusion as to who was supposed to sing the third verse before I stepped up to the mic and took over. Overall a weak performance.

4. I Wonder Why - this was the first original song of our set. Carson introduced it, but somewhere in his introduction started talking about how he hasn't sang it in a long time, so he asked me to sing it instead. I was clearly not prepared to do so, and my voice fell flat a few times. Awkward ending as none of us really ended at the same time.

5. Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd cover) - we slowed it down with this one. This was when I noticed that Carson wasn't using any clean tones. He was just playing with a mildly distorted tone the whole time. I've grown to like that sound on some of the clean songs, but it's not strong enough for the distorted songs. He nailed the intro solo, but then weakly sang the rest of the song. I messed up my solo too. Another ending that was kinda awkward as Ashton ended before the rest of us did.

6. Lola Montez (Volbeat cover) - I introduced this with a joke - "If you know me and you don't know Volbeat, I've done something wrong." Carson's dad responded with, "I don't know her." Her? My response to that was, "Do you know Lola Montez?" before I launched straight into this song. I have to say, Ashton's drumming was a lot better on this song than on the previous four. We were pretty consistent, although again it sounded weak with Carson's mildly distorted guitar. I thankfully didn't mess up any of the solos.

7. Free From This - another original. Carson wrote the bulk of this one, but even he had forgotten how to play it since his tablet didn't have the chords for it. So in a hurry, I had to teach him the chords of the song. Obviously, he didn't remember how to sing it either, so I had to take over. Ashton went a little off beat again. Carson's improvised solo was nice, but a little low. That's why it was a jarring change when I played my solo, which is much higher than what he did. He forgot the chords to the third verse, so it sounded very empty and I had to skip my arpeggio part to play chords instead. To apologize for our mistakes, I ended the song with, "That's still a work in progress."

8. Still Friends - I started introducing this song with the story of how I wrote it, but my dad interrupted me because he knew that almost everybody there knew the story already. This kinda made me upset. We started the song, and Ashton messed up the intro drum fill that he was worried about messing up. So he asked if we could start over. We did. He messed it up again, but this time it didn't mess us up and we continued on through the rest of the song. The rest of it was pretty okay, except Carson missed a couple chords, I missed the first note of the solo, and I sounded out of breath during the bridge. Nice ending, though. And our set was over.



(Disclaimer: This video uses soundboard audio. I corrected all the mistakes I could possibly find, many of which are explained above, by replacing parts with other parts from the same performance or from different performances.)

YEBIGAH!!!:

1. The Man Who Sold The World (David Bowie/Nirvana cover) - for the first part of our set, we borrowed Carson on drums. He didn't know this song or the next one very well, so at times it's obvious that he's playing beats where he shouldn't be. The rest of the band was fine, although my dad's guitar wasn't loud enough. The guitar harmony at the end was nice too.

2. Interstate Love Song (Stone Temple Pilots cover) - Carson clearly didn't know this song. So when editing the audio afterward, I simply replaced his drum track with my own. Everything else was fine, maybe a little too fast.

3. Honey Bee (Tom Petty cover) - okay, Carson knew this one. Everything sounded tight. I messed up the solo by playing 5 frets lower than I was supposed to for one lick (I know, what was I thinking?).

4. Man In The Box (Alice In Chains cover) - drummer switch. Ashton played drums for the rest of the set. Dan Tritten also joined us to sing this song because I can't hit the high notes while he can. I have to say, this was one of the best songs of the day. Everybody was on point, save for a voice crack in the chorus by Dan.

5. Rockin' In The Free World (Neil Young cover) - another song that was on point. My dad missed a couple notes in his solo. I didn't miss any in mine. One voice crack by me in the third verse ("gOt fuel to burn, got roads to drive"). That was it.

Leinaala & Dave:

1. Ventura Highway (America cover) - after the mess that was my bands' two sets, finally some real musicians took the stage. Lei and Dave plowed through this song like it was nothing. Perfect vocal harmonies, perfect guitar playing by Dave.

2. Somebody Like You (Keith Urban cover) - might be my favorite song that they do. Dave sounded great singing on this one. Funny vocal moment in place of a guitar solo that he always does ("bah-bah-bah-dum-bah-bah-da-dum-bah, this is what you do when you don't have a band"). The one mistake he made in their entire set was missing a chord at the end of the second chorus of this song. Otherwise, they sounded amazing.



3. Dreams (Fleetwood Mac cover) - great performance, unfortunately marred by technical difficulties. My DAW software X'ed itself during this song, causing some constant popping noise in the middle of the song. The mics also went out, so Lei shared a mic with Dave for the rest of the song (although I got her mic working in time, so she didn't really need to do that).

4. Summer Of '69 (Bryan Adams cover) - I ran up to the stage to join them on drums for this one. Epic performance, with a lot of energy. Dave's voice is strikingly similar to Bryan Adams's.

5. Me And Bobby McGee (Janis Joplin cover) - Lei's vocals always shine on this one. The highlight was at the end when I started drumming double-time with Dave's increasingly louder strumming.

Headroom Karma ft. Danny Grams

1. If It Means A Lot To You (A Day To Remember cover) - originally this was supposed to be an encore for Headroom Karma's set, but we decided not to play it until later. By this time, Carson and his family were getting ready to leave, so my dad filled in for him on guitar. Amazing vocals by Danny. Unfortunately, his right hand was messed up from catching a fastball with his bare hand during a baseball game earlier that day, so his guitar playing suffered. Our vocal harmonies were awesome as well. Ashton came in playing the wrong beat, so I had to signal him with the right beat (and I later replaced this part with my own drumming in the soundboard recording). The duet at the end was fantastic and I got chills. This was the first time I had ever played the song electric on stage, and it sounded massive. Definitely the highlight of the entire party.



Unplug The Rock:

1. Rocket Man (Elton John cover) - all then-members of The OGMC showed up to the party, so I was expecting that The OGMC would play a set. However, Kenny and Eddie left early, so it ended up being just the duo of Dan and Ben, which turned it into an Unplug The Rock set. Both of them borrowed our guitars, and there was a little confusion because they were all tuned half-step down as opposed to standard. They pushed along anyway and played almost every song a half-step lower than they usually do, and I don't think it sounded like a problem. This song sounded great, but a little boring.

2. In Color (Jamey Johnson cover) - another boring song. I didn't pay much attention to it while I was there because I was eating cake, but the recording sounds all right. Well, when you've played a song as many times as they have (it's tied for their most played cover song on setlist.fm), it's hard to not sound tight.

3. Colder Weather (Zac Brown Band cover) - I wasn't expecting this one. Dan sounded better on this one than the previous time I heard him sing it. He also played with the lyrics ("a truck stop just outside of Rockton", "Max said 'I wanna see you again'").

4. Bad Moon Rising (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover) - I joined them on drums for this one and Lei joined in on backing vocals. As opposed to the rest of the songs, they played this one in the original key, which messed Ben's solo up because he never plays with a capo otherwise. Other than that, this brought the energy up after the previous three slow songs.

5. Save My Soul - when Dan started playing some chords, I was confused as to what song they were gonna do. Naturally he changed it to the intro chords of this song, so I missed to play the intro drum beat. Ben's son Tate joined us on bass for this song. It was really cool, although I don't remember anyone singing along like they usually do when this song gets played. Considering it's an original by Dan and Ben, it's a fan favorite in our community. At the end, I played the intro drum fill to Still Friends, making Ashton laugh.

6. Take It Easy (Eagles cover) - Ashton's mom, brother, stepdad (kinda - he's not married to Ashton's mom), and stepbrother (kinda - only the son of said "stepdad") showed up at the end of the previous song. Naturally, Dan invited Bill (said "stepdad") and Mason (said "stepbrother") up to sing this song with us. Another cool moment, and probably Bill's best vocal performance of this song. Maybe the lower key helped him.

7. Blister In The Sun (Violent Femmes cover) - always a highlight of Unplug The Rock's sets. Back when I played drums in YEBIGAH!!!, we played this song and I would have a crazy drum part for it. Naturally, I played it that way this time, prompting Dan to ask me at the end, "When did that song become a drum solo?". Almost nobody got down during the middle break (typically a staple of Unplug The Rock/The OGMC shows), so Dan joked that they should get Courtney (Ashton's mom) down. Slightly inappropriate joke. Still a fun time, though.



8. Piano Man (Billy Joel cover) - Dan did this one by himself. He forgot a lot of the lyrics, but made it up by playing with some of the rest ("It's a pretty good crowd for a graduation party", "and he knows that it's Max they've been coming to see").

Tate Medina:

1. In The Jailhouse Now (Jimmie Rodgers cover) - Tate is always an entertainer, and this is one of the best songs he plays. He sounded perfect this time around.

2. I Hope That I Get Old Before I Die (They Might Be Giants cover) - Tate and I look very much alike, so there was one time at an open mic where we pretended to be the other and played each other's songs. So I knew all the lyrics to this one, and I joined him for a duet. Very fun. We both held the long note before the last chorus for 17 seconds!



3. Old Black Train (The Blasting Company cover) - this is where the energy started to sag. It was an unknown song, it was getting dark, and people were leaving.

4. Look Out! (Peach Pit cover) - same here. Even I didn't stay for this one, as I went to the garage to get more cake.

5. Lucky Ball And Chain (They Might Be Giants cover) - Tate was pulling out some songs I hadn't heard in a while! I told Ashton that I hadn't heard this one since my birthday party six months earlier.

6. Number Three (They Might Be Giants cover) - another one I hadn't heard in a long time. Very short song, though. Kinda weird. After this song, Tate said that he might as well just do a set of They Might Be Giants covers. Which prompted me to come up and ask if we could play "I'm A Believer" together. But we dropped that when somebody requested the next song.

7. Country Roads (John Denver cover) - the energy was back and people were singing along. Lei and Dave even joined him for this one. Finally it was getting to be more of a jam.

8. I'm Henry The VIII (Herman's Hermits cover) - Lei requested this one and sang it with him. It's funny how Tate's voice becomes increasingly British for this song. The other time I heard him and his duomate from Squeegee & Da Mop play it, they went for an obnoxiously British fourth repetition of the verse. I was waiting for him to do that again, but he stopped after three verses.

9. Chicken Fried (Zac Brown Band cover) - another singalong. Courtney joined him to sing this one, and Ashton suggested I go play drums, so I did. It was a rough performance since I didn't know the song, but I tried my best. Tate intended for this to be the last song, but I had one more song in mind.

10. Cowtown (They Might Be Giants cover) - another one of the songs I learned when I pretended to be him. Tate's duo Squeegee & Da Mop always closes with this song, so I felt it fitting that we could close his set with a duet of it. It was very fun, like the other duet we did. By this time, it was getting really dark and most people had already left.

Old Soul Radio:

1. Seven Bridges Road (Eagles cover) - when Lei and Dave suggested that Old Soul Radio play a set, I didn't know what to do. It was already getting past the time we had intended for the party to end. But we can't say no to Lei and Dave! Old Soul Radio is a great band and I'm glad to see how they've evolved since first forming in early 2022. Back then, they were an acoustic act consisting of Courtney, Lei, Dave, and Dan. Dan had already left the party, so we needed to make it be something else. We went for a full band lineup of Courtney, Lei, Dave, me, Tate, and Ashton. I played rhythm guitar instead of Dan, Tate played bass and Ashton played drums.

I didn't play guitar on this song, only sang the bass harmony. This four-part harmony is always epic whenever they do it, and I'm glad that I have been a part of it a few times. Ashton's drumming went off a few times, and I had to show Tate the way with the bass notes as he didn't know the song.

2. Hey! Baby (Bruce Channel cover) - this sounded tighter than the previous song. That's really all I have to say.

3. Fast As You (Dwight Yoakam cover) - I suggested this one, and I played the main bass line on guitar. Courtney's and Lei's harmonies were great, as was Dave's guitar solo. I took the mic for the interjections ("Aw!" and "Aw, suck it!"). And that was it. We closed the song, and the party, with a big ending.

Overall show thoughts - due to the variety of acts that were up, this is a really enjoyable event to go back to and relive. Lots of rough spots particularly when people were playing together that hadn't played together much (read: Headroom Karma's new lineup). Great selection of songs. The best part of the experience was not how the music went, but the fact that we had different people from all the communities I'm in all in one place. People from the music community, people from the neighborhood, family friends, people from school, etc. You could also say it was my highest paying gig as I got about $1400 in gift money. (Now don't go stealing this from my bank account.) 10/10.