REVIEW: All Time Low at the Eagles Ballroom
Several friends of mine have seen All Time Low in concert before, many of them multiple times. Over dinner last night, one of my friends counted and realized that she had seen them 13 different times in concert. Before Saturday, I had never seen All Time Low live before, so the question of the night would be whether or not they live up to the hype.
The Eagles Ballroom at the Rave welcomed quite the lineup of acts Saturday night. The Wrecks opened the show, followed by Waterparks and SWMRS. The three groups gave great, high-energy performances with each adding their own unique flavor of pop-punk. For me, the clear stand out was The Wrecks. I have written about how much I like their sound before, but seeing them live only made me more excited for them to release new music.
The three opening sets were great, but I was admittedly tired after trying to hold my place in the crowded ballroom for hours. I kept my eyes on the prize and waited for All Time Low. I am happy to say that it was worth the wait.
Alex Gaskarth and his band mates emerged from the dark stage to waves of cheers as they started the titular track from their latest album, “The Last Young Renegades.” They played a mix of their newer, more pop-sounding songs like “Dirty Laundry” and “Life of the Party” and their older punkier classic like “Lost in Stereo” and “Dear Maria, Count Me In.” The two styles were mixed together well, which kept things interesting.
As good as the music was, it is the way the band interacts with the audience that keeps people coming back to their shows. After years of bringing fans on stage to sing “Time Bomb” with them, people are expecting it, so the band made a big ceremony out of choosing the people to come on stage.
I was always told that the banter between Alex Gaskarth and Jack Barakat was one of the best parts of their shows. Other than a brief exchange about pouring queso on the audience and Barakat rapping a few lines of Nikki Minaj’s “Anaconda,” I felt like they did not talk much. Maybe their banter was over-hyped for me, or maybe they decided to focus on the music for this show.
In the end, the show was great and I had a lot of fun. The band was proud to announce that it was their 16th time performing at the Rave, and I was proud to say that I was finally there one of them. I can easily see why they are a band worth seeing again and again.
