rookie of the year, 07.17.06, northsix

i'm going to keep this short and sweet because that's exactly what my show experience was. at northsix, rookie of the year was one of the openers, and seeing as how i had to take an hour and a half subway ride back (and pick up a cake pan... don't ask) i didn't stick around long after their set was finished. i'm sure blackpool lights were fabulous, but i'll have to catch them another time.

awk-WARD
night kills the day were the first openers. i don't know what happened there. it was a mix of too much influence and too little good originality. the attempt at dirty rawk wasn't working with me. it was like axl rose with alice in chains with bad, bad, BAD joy division. when the lead singer would do his own epileptic version of the davy jones crab shimmy, it just made me really confused. anyway, there were two awkward people in the front totally getting down to their music, so i suppose someone out there appreciates them, but i personally had to hold back giggles because it was so ridiculous. i think most people in the audience were doing the same. the moral: don't spend ticket money on night kills the day. they need to get their act together as far as being their own band goes before they're worth seeing.

the sweetness
and that's what rookie of the year are. sweet. a slightly more wholesome, slightly less bitter answer to a young chris carrabba. this isn't to say that there isn't angst-- there is plenty of it. but for some reason, it takes on a far less condescending, throat-choking-up semblance than dashboard confessional; instead, it's more of a melancholy, bittersweet, one-tear-falling kind of angst. far more subtle and forgiving. the guys are young, all around the age of twenty, and still have a fresh-eyed look regarding the world, love, heartache, and life. everyone in the band is also pretty cute, in that boy-next-door kind of way. it just adds to the whole sweetie pie factor.

their music, however, is also good. they're a tight band, and they're just as good on stage as they are on the album, which is pretty well produced considering the small crowd at northsix. songs such as "poison like your own" and "blue roses" were well-played with a bevy of emotion. the mix of acoustic and electric, plus the tenored voice of ryan, the lead singer, was enough to keep the crowd excited, yet cool ( i would compare it a little to emery's sound, but with less throatiness). i was happy i could show my support.

my final thoughts: rookie of the year are doing pretty okay for themselves. right now, their music is good when i'm in a lighter mood for emo. and that's fine. however, what i'm really looking forward to is the band maturing as time progresses and they begin to tour more. maybe they'll always be kind of sweet, but i want their influences to grow and change and see something from a different perspective. i'm willing to wait for it.

/jen/




next up: brand new