3OH!3

11-7-09

Manchester Academy 1

3OH!3

DRTY LUV

Bamboo Shoots

All-in-all it was an alright night. Bamboo shoots did an okay job of opening up, not many people were moving much but they were accepting of them which is good for a support band unlike others I’ve seen who’ve literally been booed off the stage before. During most of their set we were actually stood at the back of the room talking to Sean Smith (DRTY LUV/The Blackout).

As with every time I’ve met him he was a really nice guy. He even wrote out a note for my friend who absolutely adores him - just a shame he’s a guy. We talked, shared a laugh and took a lot of photos with him before he had to leave to go and get ready for his DJ set.

Not long after the lights dimmed and the theme to Star Wars filled the room. Naturally the speakers had to be turned right up due to the amount of Blackout fans in the room yelling deafening screams. Then the DJ set began. He played a bunch of well-known songs that everyone danced to including Omen - The Prodigy and I’m On a Boat - The Lonely Island. Call me ‘late’ but I actually really enjoyed his remix of Katy Perry’s I Kissed a Girl. Everybody knew the song so they could join in but he added his own spin on it. It was great!

Everyone was so absorbed in swinging their hips that time became obsolete so it was a shock when we realised the DJ set had actually lasted for over an hour and Motte & Foreman were late to take the stage. The sound engineers must have found it hilarious to tease such anticipating teenagers as they kept dimming the speakers to hear their reactions - although six times in the space of five minutes was slightly frustrating.

When the Colorado duo finally decided to greet their audience a roar echoed around the room. Much to my surprise they opened with Punkbitch, a personal favorite that I don’t think many expected them to play first. They sung really well which I was pleased with however they didn’t talk too much between their songs, it was more one song leading into another.

That disappointed me a bit due to how picky I am about stage prescence, however that’s just me. If you’re there solely for how they sound then by all means this show is for you - but don’t count on them sticking to schedule.

Another pleasant surprise was to hear them playing Hornz. Hornz is a long-term favorite of mine and hearing them play it live was amazing. However, the audience reacton made my blood boil. Not a single person surrounding me knew the song, in fact most of them only sung along to STARSTRUKK and Don’t Trust Me - typical. In fact when they played STARSTRUKK obviously they couldn’t play the KP version and so had to stick to the original. Not a single person around me had a clue what to do when they skipped her verse, which I ignored and thought was fair considering newer fans may not have known there were two versions.

Although when I was actually singing along to Hornz I noticed I was the only person dancing and received all kinds of strange looks. Some were looks of digust as if I’d grown several heads but no, I was just singing my favorite song. Other people looked confused or in some cases astonished wondering how I knew the words. How do I know they were thinking this? Simple. At the end of the song I heard the girl in front of me turn to her friend and ask:

“Do you know what that song was?”

“No, it’s probably the single for their next album.”

Okay now I’m not normally one to pick on fans for how long they’ve known a band but come on people! This is 3OH!3. They only have two albums. Is it so much to ask that you at least glance through the songs before paying money for a band who you’ve hardly listened to? These girls were in fact some that had turned around to shoot me death glares as I sung and made absolutely no attempt to dance in the less popular songs. All I can say to these girls if they were to read this is to kindly pay attention to the artists and not who’s singing along behind you. I didn’t comment or look down on people because of their actions at that show, not even when a group of guys lit cigarettes in the no smoking venue from right behind me. Want to know why? Because what people choose to do at a show is up to them and I’m not going to make them feel self-conscious or stupid about it. Whether it’s singing along to a song I don’t know or just dancing when nobody else is, I’m there to have my own fun and they‘re there to have theirs.

So on that note feel free to go to a 3OH!3 concert, but you’ll have to tolerate a lot of things that would frustrate most people. Motte&Foreman: You’re good singers, but your fans made my jaw clench. Good day.