A lot has changed since eighth grade: Different friends, different personality and different style. One thing that hasn’t changed is my love for The Starting Line, which came to the Golden State Mall Monday Nov. 12, along with The Almost and 18 other bands for the Rockin’ Winterfest.
I hadn’t been to a concert like this in years, as I had mostly grown out of my pop-punk phase. The second I entered the venue, I was reminded why I no longer go to these shows. The sea of 14-year-old hipsters and obnoxious and inconsiderate mosh pits were enough to make me want to promptly turn around and walk right out the door I had just entered. I had to remind myself why I was there: I do actually like one of the bands playing.
The concert was an all-day event, starting at noon. Most of the “18 other bands” were local bands that all more or less blended together. The two bands that stood out the most of the 20 that played were The Starting Line, of course, and The Almost.
I didn’t know much of The Almost, other than that singer and guitarist Aaron Gillespie is also the drummer and backup singer of the much harder Underoath and that both his bands are Christian. I kind of secretly dug their single “Say This Sooner,” when it came on the radio and after seeing them play, I know that song was not an exception. All of the songs were enjoyable, even though their music is not typically my type.
What impressed me the most about the band, though, was not their music but their attitudes and open-minds.? The term “Christian band” has all sorts of connotations, and to secular listeners, most of those connotations are bad. But Gillespie was so respectful when speaking of his own and others’ religions. He made it a point that the beliefs expressed in his songs are his personal beliefs, and if anyone didn’t agree with the beliefs, that it’s OK, and that they’d hang out with anyone, regardless of religion.
I think it was important that, as a Christian band, they speak about their beliefs, but not in a condescending way, like many Christian bands tend to do. Gillespie’s respect for others made it impossible for anyone to not respect his own beliefs. There should absolutely be more people with understanding like Gillespie’s, whether they’re in a band or not.
After The Almost was The Starting Line, a band I had seen three times before. I had the chance to talk to singer and bassist Kenny Vasoli before the band played and told him I was reviewing the concert. He wished me luck saying something along the lines of hoping I got a good story.
While I’ll let readers be the judge of that, the band definitely gave me something to write about. An audience member continually threw change at Vasoli, who calmly kept his cool and let the change-thrower know that the behavior was not appreciated.
When the audience member continued to throw change, the band got up and left during the last song, fan-favorite “The Best of Me,” leaving fans singing along despite the absence of music.
Although the impromptu fan a capella was a bit fun, it was a shame to see the band leave the stage even though they had every right to do so.
But all drama aside, the performance was probably the best of the four times I’ve seen them.
At times, the sound was a bit harsh and loud with tons of feedback, but even that could have been because I was inches away from the speakers, and concerts with perfect sound are rare anyway.
The band played a great variety of songs from each of their albums, including two of my favorites “Inspired by the $” and “Making Love to the Camera,” both on 2005’s “Based on a True Story.” Watching the band really get into their songs and guitarists spinning and jumping made it evident that the band really loves what they do.
Although attending the concert meant dealing with annoying scenesters, it was definitely worth the money, time and patience spent.?